Gardner Falls are located on Obi Obi Creek just a short drive east of Maleny. The falls are a great place to cool off on a hot day, and if you are inclined to a bit of adrenalin there are a number of ways to take the plunge.

Last Monday was a stinker, high temps and humidity so I went for a drive through the Blackall Ranges on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland to escape the heat. The drive up through Maleny is very colourful at the moment with the many tibouchinas out in flower. The purple is Tibouchina alstonville and the pink is Tibouchina kathleen.

The following information is from the Gardening Australia website by Colin Campbell

Look out for include Tibouchina ‘Kathleen’, with its beautiful, mauve-pink flowers. Another that’s popular is Tibouchina mutabilis ‘Noelene’ – the flower starts white and turns to a mauve-pink. Tibouchina lepidota ‘Alstonville’ which is covered in masses of purple flowers from autumn right through to winter.

The plants filmed by Gardening Australia are in a garden in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast where the soil is acidic – absolutely ideal for Tibouchinas. If the soil is not acidic enough the leaf burns at the edges, turns brown and eventually the leaf dies. If that happens correct the soil acidity by adding sulphur on the ground, around the roots, or use an acidifying fertiliser.

Tibouchinas originated in South America, where they grow over a wide diversity of climates, and that means they’ll do the same in Australia. They don’t like hard frosts, but give them a warmish spot and they’ll do well from Melbourne to Cairns.

Obi Obi Creek runs through the middle of Maleny. The creek provides and idyllic home to platypus, water dragons, tortoise, native fish and bird life.

There is plenty of time to soak up the peaceful solitude of the creek at Gardner Falls, accessed from Obi Vale Road about 3 kilometres east of Maleny. The water is cool and clear as it cascades over rocky bars and there are some deeper holes for swimming and many areas for lazing in the shallows.

The carpark is small, catering for about 20 vehicles and a gravel path leads the 300m to the falls themselves. There is plenty of grass areas and a couple of picnic tables here.

Woodgate Beach is a small community located in the Wide Bay area of Queensland. It is fronted by a long sandy beach protected by Fraser Island and bordered by Theodolite Creek to the north and the Burrum River to the south. Most of the surrounding land is National Park. Access is from Childers to the west or Bundaberg to the north.

The township is also home to mobs of the indigenous grey kangaroo – Macropus giganteus. There are also swamp wallabies – Wallabia bicolor, however they are not as forthcoming as there larger relatives.

Old man roo keeping watch for the mob.

There is accommodation availabe at the local caravan park (tents, vans, cabins) and the pub. Meals are available from the pub (extensive menu in Feb 2009) and the bowls club. There is bush camping (toilets and showers) in the National Park at Burrum Point, to the southeast of the town. The track in to the National Park camping grounds is 4WD only over portions of heavy sand. Camping registration and fees apply and can be booked and paid for online or at the self registration point in the camp area.

During the school holidays we took a day trip up to Toowoomba to see the Carnival of Flowers. Our first stop was Gus Beutel lookout near Ravensbourne.

Ryan

Karen

Rebekah at Spring Bluff

flowers at Laurel Banks Park

Paper Daisy – ?Bracteantha sp.

Gerbera

Clivea

Ranuncula

Sunset near Esk.

On the way home we stopped for dinner at the Stanley Hotel in Kilcoy. The meals were filling and great value, although the kids, of course, had there staples of nuggets or pizza. I enjoyed a grilled rump steak topped with bacon, avocado and bernaise sauce – absolutely delicious.

I took a trip up to Somerset Dam yesterday to see how full it was after our unseasonal winter rains. The weather was cold with rain clearing to a fine day.

Somerset Dam was sitting on 88% full and the valves were open allowing water to flow down to Wivenhoe Dam.

We originally planned to go to Alexandra Headland from Sunday 6 July, however the weather turned unseasonally wet and we had three days of rain. We decided to defer til the following Wednesday and spent four glorious days on the beach.

The mornings were cold but clear and the sunrise foreshadowed the promises of the day. The daytime temperatures were low 20’s. The water was perfect and the children had a ball.

Birdlife was always evident over the beach. Pelicans, cormorants, gulls and turns. The little ‘park’ behind the esplanade was home to black swans and ducks.

The view from our oceanside apartment at Oaks Seaforth.

Today, Ryan participated in an episode of ‘Descent – Journeys into the Dark’. He chose to play ‘Conan the Slayer’ – a mighty warrior from a far off land. In the photo above we see Conan about to burst into a raging wall of flashing steel and lop off all the Hydra’s heads. The game ended when Conan drove his enemies before him and crushed under his sandaled feet all those who dared to oppose him.

With many thanks to Danny, who is a brilliant model painter (as well as an evil overlord); and to Jeff and Daniel for helping’ we had a fantastic day of high adventure. Needless to say, Conan saved our skins during many dark and despairing moments.

Becky reassured Prudence the guinea pig that those nasty monsters weren’t coming to get her.

A nice finish to a wonderful day…

Grevillea show

The beauty of a pickeral rush bloom.