vendredi, février 16, 2007

Glasshouse Mountains Eco-Lodge

We spent a night at the Glasshouse Mountains Eco-Lodge and boy, were we excited to share about this little piece of heaven to everyone.

I found this place by internet and as part of our Sunshine Coast trip, I planned to spend a night at the Glasshouse Mountains and another night at Noosa Heads.

The Glasshouse Mountains Eco-Lodge is located at Barrs Road right beside Mt. Tibrogargan. Living up to its name, everything here is eco-friendly. The water here is collected from rain water and is fit for drinking. There is a coffee plantation (left photo shows some coffee beans) and fruit trees grow in the orchard in front of our room. Everything is recycled as mush as possible, even food scraps.


Once we had checked in, we started to explore the region of Glasshouse Mountains. We drove up to Montville, the Baroon Lake and also Mary Cairncross park where we had a magificent view of the glasshouse mountains.
Before heading back, we went to an alcohol drive-thru' shop and got a bottle of white wine. There were two lanes. A browse lane and an express lane. It was funny to us.

Over our glass of chilled wine and with the view of Mt. Tibrogargan, we chatted with Paul. He showed us his perserved chillies which were harvested from his chilli plants and even offered us some chilli sauce to go with dinner. Tim and I agreed that it tasted like chicken rice chilli.

Paul also showed us how to play with the aborignal instrument, the didjeridu. It looked easy but it was really difficult even to make an audible sound. It is amazing how one can make music with it. All of us had a go with it.

That's Seb concentrating hard to make a sound.

For dinner, we cooked in the train wagon that was converted to be a kitchen and dinning area. It was really a great concept and we appreciated the cleaniness of this place and the various recycle bins available.

After a good night rest, we walked along the 3.3 km trail starting from the foot of Mt. Tibrogargan. There were a few lookout points where we could see the other nearby Glasshouse Mountains.

We even spotted a big spider web with the owner at home. The only peace disturbance were the mosquitoes. Apply insect repellants and wear light color clothes. That helps to reduce the bites.

After our morning walk, we packed up and had to sadly leave this green place. Our next stop was the beach. We promised to stay longer here the next time we visit Brisbane. Also, we will definately promote this place to friends who will be visiting Brisbane.

This place is calm and tranquille and so relaxing. There are several relaxing corners and each of us found our niche. It is really a great corner to forget about all the stress of city living.

samedi, février 10, 2007

Brisbane

Seb and I are in Brisbane visiting Tim. It is hot and dry here. We had spent two days in Gold Coast, two days in Brisbane city and tomorrow, we will spent two days in Sunshine Coast.

Yesterday, on our way back from O'Reilly's, I drove to Sunnybank Hills, Grandchester Street. This is the place where I stayed when I was staying at Queensland University of Technology nine years ago. The estate looked the same. The trees were taller. As I was just walking outside the gate, I saw the old lady of house unit 23. She recongised me and opened the gate for me. She was Jo's neighbour as Jo stayed at unit 24. She invited us for tea and we had a good chat. We looked at old photos and chatted about old times while eating the home made cookies. Visiting Brisbane did not bring me much memory until I came to Sunnybank Hills. I stayed in a big estate where there are over 90 houses. I was at unit 2, Jo was at unit 24, Claire was at unit 27 and Moohan and Rachel were at unit 30+. Thinking back to my life nine years ago, I did spent such a great time here in Brisbane. These people that I met then are still the most cherished friends.

It is 8 pm and I am starting to feel sleepy. Due to the 9 hours difference with Paris, we really had a problem trying to sleep. On the first night, we slept at 9pm and Seb woke up at midnight. As the days went by, we adjusted better. We will be here for another week of sun, beach and fun. It is great to have a tan while back home in France, it is winter time and we can show off our tan. ;)