Day 224 - Wednesday 9 August - Blackall Range Tourist Drive

Day 224

Wednesday

9 August 2017 –

Eumundi – Maleny – Montville

I am so glad I have my books on ipad, it means my arms don’t get cold when reading, unlike Paul who has his sticking out and is oh so happy to share them with me when I least expect it. Grr.

After reading until 8am, we were up and out and into breakfasts and showers before finally heading out at 9am and into Eumundi to check out their market. OMG, we were not ready for the mayhem. We thought of this place as a quiet, sleepy little town and I guess most days it is, but Market Day brings them in from far and wide and they clog the streets.

The markets are huge and we took forever wandering up and down the various aisles and checking out the different wares, they weren’t cheap. I was taken by a beautiful macaw, Jasmine, part of the Maleny Botanical Gardens. I happily had her sitting her on my shoulder and plenty of others taking my photo.

We completed the lap of the maze and then Paul was off to the Imperial Hotel once again, this time he was after the owner, Paul who gave us a quick run down before handballing us to the brewer Chris. We were taken through the brewery and shown the set up and the huge performance space above the tanks. The brewery doesn’t open for another 6 weeks though, so there were no beers to taste.

By 11am we were ready to make our way along the Blackall Mountain Trail and on to the hinterland town of Maleny. Once off the highway, we followed the road along the ridge of the mountains, they were awesome roads with ridiculously plunging sections followed by the rollercoaster ascents, all the while twisting and turning left and right.

We stopped at Gerrard Lookout for a great view to the coast and the buildings of Caloundra. The sweeping paddocks below were stunning and the houses much the same.

We drove through the town of Montville and noted a brewery to return to. I particularly liked the architecture and arty feel and wanted to make it back to check it out. Maleny was a further 15km down the road. Once we fuelled up, our next stop was Brouhaha Brewery. The was located within a number of units all dedicated to health care in someway and had Paul sprouting that Beer must be good for you and have medicinal qualities.

The brewery was a funky little establishment and Toby, the barman was happy to walk Paul through the 12 beers they had on tap. I could see Paul was happy with their selection not finding a single one he didn’t enjoy, though the Raisin’ Hell was his favourite and one he was putting in his top 5.

After completing the list, he bought a pint and we sat out on the deck to enjoy the view over the trees. I was given the keys and we then drove back in to town and found “Cooke Park” to have our lunch, it was well needed to soak up some of the alcohol.

We walked the main strip, admiring the various buildings and checking out the real estate, this is another town we would feel at home in. It is much like your Kalamunda, Mundairing and Roleystone of Perth, there is obvious money here as well as the arty scene.

We stopped in at the local bike mechanic to get the scoop on the proposed TT, but it is currently caught up with council. It would be a great addition to the town with the awesome biker roads. Guess we will have to see if it comes to fruition.

We returned to our car and drove out the main road on to Macleod Brewing where Paul could once again try the range on offer. We spent some time talking to the brewer, Davy, inside his brewery, which has only been open 8 months.  Paul was impressed that he knew of and liked many of the SA breweries he enjoyed.

With the tasting complete we were free to begin our journey home. We stopped in Maleny for a quick food stop and then went on to Montville to post a card to Chell and to do a walk of the interesting main street, checking out the various buildings and wares. The brewery, Wild Rocket, was closed so Paul missed out, but I figured he had had plenty to keep him going.

The drive home took about 40min arriving at 4.15pm. Once unloaded we were both onto the computers to work on our various projects. Mum rang with an update of home and for Dad who was now in Greece. 

As the sun started to slip away, I took myself off to the oval to walk a few laps. There was a Jayco caravan club taking up spots along the edge of the rugby pitch and a group just finishing up with their frisbie training. I completed four laps, Paul joined me for part of the last and then we returned to the van ready for dinner.

It was then back to the computer things, trying to catch up on the past couple of days before crawling into bed once again.

And the answer to the riddle.

A fish and chip shop owner commissions a sign for his store. When he finally takes possession of it he is not happy with the layout and explains to the owner of the sign writing company that he feels there should be more space between FISH and AND and AND and Chips. 

There you go.