Saturday 17 December 2011

EMU MOUNTAIN

The weather looked a bit threatening, but we decided to do a walk up Mount Coolum as we heard that the track had been changed. When we arrived at the start of the walk at about 7am (I know, that's late for us, I don't know what happened !) there were about 20 cars parked near the entrance of the walk, well we're used to seeing no one on our walks, we've been spoilt, so we decided to change to Emu mountain instead.
There, to our delight was no one! 
The start to the walk had slightly changed, the road is now a cul de sac, and to park you'll need to turn left onto a concrete driveway at the end of the road as described on our CD:
52 of the best walks on the Sunshine Coast available from our website: www.sunshinecoastbushwalks.com.
It didn't take long to get to the top, but the view was great especially on a day when it was overcast: 
the light was great!

We could see the whole range of mountain peaks of the area from where we were: 
Mount Ninderry, Mount Coolum, Mount Cooroy, Point Glorious and Mount Tinbeerwah.
Coming back down we started spotting a whole lot of flowers we hadn't seen going up, busy as we were with the track. The flowers were small as is usually the case in australia, but beautiful and delicate.
The walk is great to take the kids on as it is not too demanding, the top is also a great whale watching spot during whale migrating season in July August.
We finished the morning with a coffee at the Coffee Club in Coolum opposite the caravan park.

Saturday 10 December 2011

Buderim Palmwoods Heritage Tramway Walk

This short walk (3.2 kms return) is a little gem and perfect for these hot days as it is in the shade and not very long, perfect for a stroll in nature with the kids or the dog in the early morning or late afternoon.
The start is at Telco Road in Buderim. The entrance to the walk has an impressive wheelchair access ramp, and there is a sign that dogs on lead are allowed.
The track is part of a tramway that ran from Buderim to Palmwoods in  early 1900 and has been lovingly restored and maintained by volunteers. It has recently been extended and the entrance now has a great information board and picnic tables and sheltershed.
There are benches along the way to have a rest and take in the history of the track and the lovely surrounds.
Allow at least about 1 hour return for this walk.