One or two things happened toward the end of last week that got on my nerves a little. Things I don't need to go into here, but they were things that gave me the incentive to slaughter Mt Tamborine en route to a hike on Saturday. Actually, it took me a little while to get going. I'd negotiated only one kilometre of the ride (and about three sets of traffic lights) before realising I'd forgotten my camera and had to go back and retrieve it.
Once this was done, the ride was able to start in earnest. The excitement of this one doesn't really begin until about 40km in, with the opening climb of Wongawallan. It's one of those climbs that threatens to do some damage with a 12% gradient, but it doesn't really sustain it long enough to cause any serious problems. This would be a theme for the day. Mt Tamborine did exactly the same thing, and I was surprised how quickly the summit was reached. The remarkable thing here was the temperature. I reached for my jacket upon reaching the summit, I think it must have been around 16 degrees C with the big southerly wind screaming across the plateau.
There were basically two hikes on the mountain, the first was a simple "rainforest circuit" which was extremely short and similarly muddy. The rainforests on this mountain are actually more spectacular than I recall from my previous visits. I've always regarded Tamborine as something of a poor man's Springbrook, but I was soon dispossessed of that theory. The lunch in the botanical gardens was also extremely pleasant. I intend to set aside a date to visit this place during the winter months when there are more flowers in bloom.
The afternoon involved a walk of around 6km on the western side of the mountain around Witches Falls. Despite the huge amounts of rain that have fallen, there was surprisingly little water coming over the falls, but the walk was a beautiful one regardless. The most remarkable thing about this track is the speed with which the vegetation changes from eucalypt to dense rainforest and back again. At times it was almost like walking through a doorway from one to the other.
After an afternoon tea at a winery, and a discussion to plan the group's next adventure (I've had some input into that one, but won't be revealing it just yet), it was left for me to ride home. The descent of Tamborine passed easily enough, albeit the steep sections of the road were a little bumpy. Having seen the earlier roadwork around Hope Island, I decided I didn't want to negotiate it a second time, so I took the Kreideman Road/Birds road detour at the foot of Wongawallan toward Nerang. Unfortunately, I discovered that a bridge on that road had been closed for some time. Lifting the bike across two fences was difficult, but I just about managed.
After this, the ride home passed by relatively uneventfully. If GCCC ever finish with that bridge and re-open it (that was scheduled a month ago according to the sign), the detour around Wongawallan will provide an interesting alternative, albeit one with slightly more net climbing. The day overall was also a memorable one. Mt Tamborine actually offers quite a bit more than I had realised, and I need to make some time for some other visits of this kind. That said, I have more than enough to keep me occupied over the next six weeks or so.
Two Fridays ago I was at Avila while the sun was setting. It also happened to the night of a windstorm, and 50-mph gusts were sandblasting me as I took this photo.
The Psycowpath mountain bike racing season kicked off this morning with the Maskenthine XC Classic. Tired of winter, shaking off cabin fever, over 100 riders took to the trails.
It's very hard to woof with your mouth full, but we gotta turn this bloggerino into a braggerino today. Me? Nahhhhh... I 'nq-ed in my Open B class and luckily there weren't any photos. Jes' didn't feel like dropping on the recall, if you know what I mean. Today, it meant that Momma expected me to come running towards her at 122 m.p.h. and... any time now, Mom.... yell "DOWN" in a loud voice, which is what I am supposed to do - yeah... like in motion - hah! I crouched intead of "downed" and flunked. Anyway, here to tell another story.
See my sister, Avalon up above there? She qualified in her ginormous Novice B class and guess what? She earned her third leg and got her CD title! Congrats Avalon! She got that nice little medallion! And there's more...
Above is a picture of Ronan, Avalon's brother, who qualified in his Novice Rally class on Saturday afternoon, then today, got second in the same class! Congrats to Ronan! There is more...
Above, right (in an awful picture... c'mon Momma!), is a photo of River. Well today, he got a second prize in a runoff in that ginormous Novice B class that Avalon was in. We are so furry proud of him! Congrats River!
And in the picture above... is Sporty (Mom - that's a terrible picture of Avalon's purty Momma) who is River's, Ronan's and Avalon's Momma standing next to Christine! Congrats to Sporty! She got a second in her Novice class and earned her CD title as well today!!! 
Twin CDs - mom and daughter! Thanks to Don McKee of Topflight Photography for providing the above photograph!
... last, but certainly not least, here is our pal, Shanti, who already has her UDX, but is working on her OTCH and will probably get it soon. She passed 10 UD trials in a row - yikes! In another Utility class today, she nailed a fourth - congrats to Shanti and Sue! What a weekend! Thanks for letting us braggerino!
I promise I am going to write a bit about the great resort/campground at which we landed yesterday, but I am hoping the sun will come out first so I can take pictures.
In the meantime, we were adopted this morning … if only for a brief time!
This nice doggy showed up at our site today and made herself at home.
She was very playful, asking for a belly rub as soon as I stepped out. I obliged her. Turns out she belongs to a neighboring house and visits frequently because campers feed her.
Camera shy
she playfully laid down for a belly rub, but turned her head away every time she saw the camera.
She stayed until she saw another coach pull in several sites over.
No wonder she prefers the newcomers … they have a dog that she can play with!
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| click to enlarge any image! |
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| No image 'thinnification', this is what he does, I simply drained the colour for added effect. |
I saw these 'Red Gem' marigolds growing in the Kitchen Garden of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. They were really vibrant, and each plant was covered with hundreds of flowers.
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum really is a great place. There are thousands of different species of plants spread across multiple acres. Bog and hosta gardens are some of the noteworthy sights.
It's just sad to think that the whole place will be covered in snow within a few months...
