sunset at the vineyard

On our first day back we had an early start to visit the nearby Apple Tree Creek market, a very country affair, with plants, homemade crafts, some frankly disgusting fudge, chooks, farm implements and one or two hippy-esque stalls.
During the next week we did a variety of tasks: from planting strawberries in the the new veggie garden raised beds, to removing old christmas lights around the swimming pool on an extremely wobbly ladder; painting windowsills in the cafe toilets, assembling ikea-style shelving units for the shop, leaf-blowing, herding the frequently escaping geese, and general garden stuff. In between we managed, of course, to spent much time lying in the hammock or on the lawns, eat cake, consume ice-creams in the vineyard as the sun set, and cook a bit (me, mainly - I made scones, muffins and a pretty decent spaghetti bake; who knows, maybe I'll actually be able to cook a bit by the time I come home!).
Marianne and I also made a trip into the old country charming town of Childers to get our haircut. I expected, from the general vibe of the town (bar the two or three hippy stores that seem to present in unexpected places all over QLD), that the salon would be a blue-rinse and rollers sort of place, but it turned out to be as funky as anywhere you'd find in Brisbane and Sydney, although much, much cheaper. Perfect! Nik and I explored the town a little more afterwards, including visiting the art gallery which housed the photographic and mural memorial to the 15 travellers killed in the 2000 Palace Backpackers blaze.

We also went on a hike! Ed's cattle farmer and ex-schoolteacher friend Warren had floated the idea of a hike up Mount Woowoonga, a small mountain about 30 km away from Childers, with us before we went to Blue Gum Grove, and we had agreed. Little did we know what awaited. Maybe our first warning should have been that Warren was an extremely fit and experienced hiker - only last year he completed the by all accounts 'fairly tough' 93 km, 8 day Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea. (Part of his training programme, incidentally, had been to climb Woowoonga four times per day with a 13 kg rucksack.)
Our second warning should have come the day before the planned hike, when Warren turned up with a selection of walking poles for us to select from. "More for going down than going up", he explained. Clearly this was going to be a steep one.

On the day we set of with water, hats and our walking poles, and arrived in the small, deserted carpark at the foot of Woowoonga, the peak of which had loomed at us slightly ominously for most of the latter part of the drive. The first 800 m or so of the path was a fairly steady but gently climb, with our sticks feeling more like impediments than anything else. On the way we passed over markings on the ground which Warren identified on the return journey as the scrapings of the large goanna lizards (relations of the Komodo dragon) which live in the region.

At the 800m point was a nice bench - a clear encouragement to have a wee sit down before the path began to climb steeply - and a nice contrast to the sign next to it: "Stop! Are You Prepared? This track is for experienced bushwalkers only."
It also warned of a 'continous steep climb' for the rest of the 1km of the track. It definitely wasn't wrong there! I made a valiant effort to enjoy the intermitten views through the breaks in the trees as I panted, sweated, stumbled and lurched my way up the steep, rough and at times narrow path, but my face was distinctly tomato-like and at points I was quite convinced I was going to throw up. I suppose that's what six months of a backpacker diet and exercise regieme does for you!
But, finally, after ascending a part so steep that my concern was less about how I'd get up it (being only metres from the summit), but how we'd get down without falling flat on our faces/sliding into oblivion - the Summit!

Warren atop mount Woowoonga

A quick scramble over some rocks to the 'edge' of the mountain and then we were greeted with an overwhelming view. Above, blue sky, and below and into the distance, trees, endless, endless layers and shades of trees, repeating onwards so far as to form a green haze at the horizon. It was definitely worth the climb, that's for sure! And it only took a cereal bar and some water for us to agree to follow Warren along an out-of-bounds (but helpfully marked by 'no hiking' signs) track along the ridge to the next peak, where a communications station was situated. This hike was cooler; a scramble down the steep other side of Woowoogna, and then we plunged into damp, greener forest; diving round trees, scrambling over vines, catching skin and clothing on twigs, walking face-first through cobwebs (Nik managed to almost walk face-first in a Golden Orb weaver's web, but luckily the giant spider was elsewhere at the time). We even got 'a little lost' at one point, as Warren happily admitted.
It was much, much easier than the mountain-climb track; just the right side of tiring as we climbed the opposite slope and emerged in the communications-station clearing, filled with pylons and aerials, sticking it to the man as usual as we passed, unheeding, the 'no entry' signs on the way in.

On the way back along the no-hiking hiking track, we were lucky enough to spot a goanna itself, sunning itself on the track in front of us. It stayed stockstill, in an I-don't-move-you-can't-see-me manner - long enough for me to snap a photo or two - but scarpered when we moved too close. And as we made our gingerly way, sliding and once or twice falling on our bums, down the steep Woowoonga Mountain track, we spotted an Eastern Brown snake (the most deadly snake, based on the number of fatal bites, in Aussie) slithering away into the undergrowth. (It's comforting that everytime we've seen a deadly snake they've been slithering away from us). Still, in typical Aussie fashion we stood around in the same spot with Warren discussing anti-venoms and snake-catching for a good five minutes, while the snake, as far as we knew, lingered in the undergrowth just metres away (or made a swift exit as far from us a possible, more than likely - but who knows?).

Back at the carpark, ever-so-slightly tired (that the 1.8km track took us 3 hours, return, gives you some idea of the steepness of it), Warren (who, it may be becoming obvious, is a pretty ace and generous guy, as well as a great teacher) showed us some bushcraft skills - from making a chair out of a flour sack and some logs, to weaving rope out of raffia, and making a bush-compass. On the way back he even abruptly pulled over the ute to pull leaves from trees on the edge of the road to show us - the soap tree leaf, which when crushed and rubbed between the hands in water provided the Aborigines (and early settlers) with a frothing soap, and the aptly named sandpaper tree leaf, used to sand and perfect wooden tools and weaponry.

We left Vintner's on the day of the Aussie election, to catch the Greyhound to Hervey Bay, gateway to Fraser Island. It was hard to go - Marianne and Ed had been such fantastic hosts, and we'd even taken to referring to 'going home' when we were heading back to the farm from Childers or Bundy, such was the welcome they gave us. But it was a happy goodbye, with many thankyous and genuine promises to stay in touch. I think our time there will be one of our most prized Aussie memories.

Marianne in the cellardoor