The glasshouse mountains

The Glasshouse Mountains are something I've wanted to see since I arrived in Brisbane. Initially, I didn't have the proper footwear, and by the time I did (December) it was way too hot for me to consider climbing anything!

I've obviously seen the mountains driving up the coast, and also from the air, but never actually been on one.

Unfortunately, a couple of the mountains were 'closed' due to rockfalls, but Mt Ngungun boasted of a 2 hour hike and was 'open'. Class 4 out of 5, so promised to be a decent climb.

Either I'm a superhero, or the website lied, as it took just 20 minutes to get to the top - a decently steep climb, but not the hour's workout i was expecting. I guess I'm a superhero.

Only a few hundred feet above the surrounding terrain, the view was still breathtaking.

The mountains were apparently given their name by Captain Cook, who saw them from his ship and thought they looked like glasshouses. They're apparently volcanic, and 'inert' rather than 'extinct'. The area around them is incredibly flat, and as they are jaggedly steep, they stand out like... like... glasshouses... (actually I don't think they look remotely like glasshouses, so what drugs was Mr Cook on?)

The photos obviously don't really show the view. To the east, the clear blue of the Pacific Ocean, and then swinging to the west, cultivated fields of fruit trees, macadamia plantations and of course the bush itself.

I will stop rambling on now and simply add the photos...