Sunday 29 October 2017

The Difference a Week or Day Makes.

Thursday 19 October.

My brother was visiting the Sunshine Coast from far north Queensland, as his wife Michelle, had a conference to attend. Jim thought it a great opportunity for us to get in some hiking time together. 
Thankfully, but unfortunately, the weather Gods chose to break the drought, so little hiking was done, but it was wonderful to see the countryside turn from brown to lush green, from the heavy falls.

Two weeks previously, the Great Noosa Walk was cancelled because of the extreme dry, heat and wind. My friends and I still visited because our accommodation was separate to the walk and was non-refundable. We were heartbroken for the local farmers when we saw how brown everything was. On my second day with Jim, we returned to the area, to hike Mt Cooroora and a sea of green greeted us.

The sea of brown.

Mt Cooroora   -  The circle indicates where we had stayed  2 weeks previously.

The magic of rain transformed the view from the top of Mt Cooroora, across to where we had stayed.

It had rained just about every day for a week. This is the scene that greeted me on arrival on the 'Sunshine Coast'! We spent the day driving slowly to visit the old haunts of our youth.

Our flooded swimming hole at Diamond Valley.

Soggy Glasshouse Mountains from Mary Cairncross Park, Maleny.


I almost thought we had been transported to the UK, with this lush green farmland.

The roaring Gardners Falls, Maleny.


A damp view of the Obi Obi Valley from the Mapleton Falls.


Nature washed fresh.




24 hours later, the blue skies had returned, well at least for one day.

I was enjoying a beach walk by 6am. These mothers had obviously had to start earlier, to have their young children down on the beach for surf life-saving training. The children looked to be 10 to 12 year olds.



The colours on the beach in this early morning light were magical.





I will write another post about our hike on this day, but for now, move on to Saturday's events'.

The day dawned dull, but we were hopeful that it would remain dry. We decided to find Lake MacDonald, the starting point of the Great Noosa Walk and cover as many K's as possible. 

I discovered that Lake MacDonald, wasn't a lake but a dam, with water cascading over its spillway.

A white crane surveyed the scene.

The starting point of the trail was easily found.

Looking back to the spillway.




The rain became far too heavy, so we about turned and returned home.  Later in the afternoon, I made the slow, wet journey back to Brisbane.

I hope you too have enjoyed this green transformation. Another storm has just rolled through with spectacular sheet lightning keeping us entertained. Just wonderful.

I would love to read your comment.

6 comments:

  1. Loved the shot of the crane--- And except for the oddly shaped hills (mountains?) it did look seem to resemble Merrie old... Its good that you do these things. And it's good that we get to share.

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  2. Happy to hear that this drought stricken region received rain! It looks lovely in green. Cool beach scenes too.

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  3. Wow - rain makes such a difference! Lovely to see the lush countryside.

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  4. Relieved to hear that the rains have fallen and things are turning green again. Love those colourful photos of the stuff washed up on the beach

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  5. You live in such a fascinating place!

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  6. What a difference rain can make. The landscape is so beautifully green and lush. Love your beach captures. The colours are indeed amazing.
    Have a wonderful week :)

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