Thursday 5 April 2012

Maleny to Gympie

Gary took me to a lookout so I could get a good view of the mountains. He told me about the aboriginal legend behind them : http://www.glasshousecountry.com.au/legend.htm. We had breakfast in a bijou cafe, where the townspeople made a fuss of Sue with her crutches, as of course everyone knows everyone here. Maleny is a lovely little town and has an eclectic mix of alternative people running co ops, retired city folk and farming families. I'd quite like to live there actually, although I'd have to give up Macca's ice cream - which has gone back to it's original price of 50 c. Down a big hill into the Mary Valley, which was pretty, green and quiet. Then through more quaint towns, such as Kenilworth. Chafing between my legs gave me gyp today, but I discovered that the aloe vera cream, given to me by Audra in Chiltern, is an effective balm for this as well as sunburn. Sue had given me some of the spanakopita for lunch in a tupperware box, and a bit later Sue and Gary drove past. They were on their way to Gympie to visit a son there and I knew it was them when I saw a crutch being projected out of the window at me. They had said I could stay with their son, but I already had accommodation sorted out in the town. Such warm, generous people.

Gympie is a fair-sized, hard-working kind of town, and it was here that a woman called out, "Are you Adrian?" Heavily pregnant, she was taking her dog for a walk with her young daughter. This was Clare, and together with her daughter, Rosy, husband, Andy, and dog, Clancy, they were my Warm Showers Hosts. Rosy asked me what I had been looking at, as I had been pouring over a map at the end of the road. I told her and said I'd been wondering who the pretty little girl was. She replied, "It was me." Clare said the house was empty, the door was open and I could go right on in and make myself at home. What a country. They soon returned from their walk and Andy came back from work. Rosy, a very cute three-year-old, asked me lots of questions, said that I could stay for dinner and sleep there as well. We had tortillas and Rosy let me have one of her little easter eggs. After Rosy gave me a cuddle goodnight, we discussed our cycle tour stories, as we Warm Showers folk are apt to do. Clare won't be cycling, let alone cycle touring, for some time however, given the size of her bump. Everything was going so well until Clare put a Norah Jones CD on. Oh well, you can't have everything.

2 comments:

  1. But Adrian - Maleny has it's own icecream made with local milk! It's definitely way better than anything Maccas could offer you at any price! Had we known your passion earlier, we could have taken you to Colin James Fromagerie next to the Co-op for a superb Maleny icecream! As well as that we could have sampled the organic Swiss chocolate lumps from the Co-op. What a missed opportunity! Just shows that you'll need to return to Maleny.

    Sue
    PS No broken or fractured bones so should be on track for Land's End.

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