Dec 08 01 |
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One of the objectives of visiting Brisbane was to climb at the Glass House Mountains. These are strange looking vertical lumps of rock about an hour north of Brisbane – remnants of volcanoes that were active about 25 million years ago.
Why the Glass House Mountains...
We had a few logistics to sort out early Saturday morning, so by the time we got to Tibrogargan – the mountain with the most climbing routes – the day was very hot and very humid. We decided we should just attempt Caves Route, a scramble that gets you to the top. However, after being attacked by a million mosquitos and with sweat just pouring off us, we had to abandon the route, down climb, and make our way to the beach for a refreshing splash in the surf.
Anna and Ian on the scramble just before we turned round
Not to be deterred, me and Pete decided to get back to Tibrogargan the next day. We chose the even easier route to be sure we got to the top.
It was still a scramble, but at a more friendly angle. The sun was very hot, but the day wasn’t quite as humid.
Pete on the ascent of Tibrogargan
Laetitia contemplating the decent with Beerwah and Coonowrin in the background
Afterwards we toured the area, stopped off for ice cold mocha and banana and chocolate smoothie with strawberry and white chocolate muffin (got to get those five a day somehow!), and then went for another splash in the surf.
The ascent clearly visible on Tibrogargan
The Glass House mountains are wonderful – but it’s just a bit too hot to be thinking of climbing them right now.
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Laetitia,
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3 Responses to “Glass House Mountains”
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Tish has some nice mossie bites on her arms. Glad I’m here not in mossie country (or is that Mossie Aussie country?)
It looks like Close Encounters of the Third Kind country. Did you see ET?
Yes, I think I had a thousand bites on my arms. Luckily they’re all gone now thanks to some mighty powerful cream.
I though of Devil’s Tower as well. No alien here tho’, except the odd looking man in Glass House Mountains township. He was odd looking, but like all Australians, really nice and helpful, so I let him off being an alien.
Yeah, the mosquitoes were bad, but not nearly bad enough to make me want to be back in the UK Dave!
The heat and humidity were something else though – it’s hard to describe, words just can’t convey the discomfort and difficulty of trying to climb. Chalk might cope with modestly greasy/sweaty fingers, but this was like climbing in a sauna cranked up to full and having just got out of the shower.
Clearly the best time for Queensland rock climbing is winter…