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The Blackall Range
Montville, Australia |
Montville, Australia
After leaving Mum at home all day yesterday with Aidan, I felt she deserved a good day out, preferably somewhere as far away from the Gold Coast as possible.
We took the Blackall Range tourist route from Mapleton through to Montville and Maleny. The drive up through the hills and into the cool tropical mountain air was a relief after we kept the “M” theme and drove through Maroochydore for a quick look. The last time I was up here I stayed in Maroochydore with one of my best mates back in 1993. It didn’t seem so big then, but the place is huge, full of malls and apartment blocks.
The drive up into the mountains was fantastic, and a relief after the motorways of the previous day. We spent half the day in Montville, an unabashedly “olde” tourist trap for elderly folk who wear sensible slacks and hush puppies. It reminded me of Sassafras, one of my favourite little towns in the east of Melbourne – chocolate stores, crafts, cuckoo shops, lots of cafes. I didn’t mind. In fact I found the elusive blank dice I was after in a games store there and Mum and Jo had a great time in the Clock Shop and the antique stores. If we hadn’t forked out so much money the day before, Jo may have gone crazy here.
We ran out of time after waiting too long for a cheesy lasagna and chips (we should have stuck to sandwiches), so we didn’t see much of the other towns. But I was determined to take a look in at the castle at Landsborough. Rosa was disappointed we couldn’t go in as she caught a glimpse of a fairy kingdom, but it was getting late by this stage.
I took Jo out for Thai later in the night as a belated wedding anniversary. There’s something about eating Thai outside in the blamy night weather. I think it’s called drunkenness. The beer went straight to my head and Jo had some sparkling wine which had the same effect. A good way to wind down before leaving home the next day.
We had seen a lot in a week. In fact, we only went to the beach once! With Mum around, you don’t sit around the pool drinking ginger beer (though I did once or twice). We pushed it a bit *************, and there’s always teething problems mixing the families, but we enjoyed ourselves. The weather is beautiful – I can see why retired Victorians get up here quick smart – and the Sunshine Coast has a relaxed feel that refuses to change. It was good to come back.
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