Hen's Day Out.

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard. ~Standing Bear


It's been a while since we've had a *mental health* day or gone out with Liddy for a short road trip & Sian's been on holidays so we decided a *hen's day out* was in order; Tamborine Mountain was our destination.
True to form as we set out the drizzle began & we drove the first part in pouring rain with Sian just a leetle nervous. She's heard the stories about Liddy's driving. The highway gets up to 110K & Liddy made me ride shotgun just because I'm used to her. Actually her driving is quite good now & she does pretty well until she starts getting tired.

Tambourine is in the same general vicinity as Springbrook & O'Reilly's for those of you who have been following our wanderings through this part of the Great Dividing Range. It is almost directly behind the Gold Coast so as you climb the mountain you get spectacular views back towards the Gold Coast ~ or would do if it wasn't pouring rain.

Our first stop was one of 2 fudge shops. This was to keep Ditz happy because Ditz is never keen on these ventures until we have dragged her unwilling carcass along & proven what fun she can have. We then went to an *Op Shop* Sian was keen on. *Op Shop* = opportunity shop & sells pre~loved, used, 2nd hand things. I love these places. The girls are less keen but what is a day out unless you eat?

We chose the Olive Cafe which looked gorgeous with a large outdoor eating area, potted olive trees & a resident white cat.
The aromas were wonderful & we were all really looking forward to our meal but over all it was rather disappointing. There was no water carafe provided & I'm not sure Tambourine's lack of town water & drought is any excuse for not providing water but I got the only really decent meal & there is no excuse for that. Liddy & Sian ordered pasta with chicken, avocado & Camembert. It read beautifully on the menu & I was tempted but pasta is too much food for me & as it turned out it was too creamy, too rich & really, really bland. Ditz ordered lasagna; she ate it all but she must have been hungry because it wasn't very nice. I, on the other hand, ordered chicken skewers on Greek salad & that was very good. That had been Liddy's second choice & she was really sorry she hadn't ordered it.

Despite the poor meal the surroundings were lovely & the girls began hamming it up. Poor Sian. She must wonder which planet we've dropped from sometimes. Ditz can be hysterical when she gets going & she was in fine form.

You can't have a mental health day without a walk in the woods. We chose Witchety Falls, which has the honour of being the first National Park in Queensland. I've given up trying to figure out what people consider a difficult walk. For us this was quite an easy walk though the devastation of heavy rainfall after a long drought period was evident everywhere. Not a lot of wildlife around but it was definitely the wrong time of day for that & the girls were in a rather giddy mood:
Captured by vines;

Eaten by trees;

Consumed by roots;
Transformed into woodland elves.

We corrupted Sian.

The falls weren't running at full blast but still pretty & Liddy never considers a walk a proper walk unless there is water to show for it. Rain does not count.
At least we had one sensible one with us.

From some places on the Mountain you look down into the Canungra Valley, which is still farmland. The other way you look towards the Gold Coast & a skyline pricked by skyscrapers.

Our last stop was the cuckoo shop. Sian & Ditz share a love for these lovely European clocks & the little birds peeping in & out. The man running it didn't bat an eye when asked to give a demonstration. He must get asked that a lot & Sian, who has harboured a long & secret hankering after a cuckoo clock, finally succumbed & bought herself one. We laughed & hope everyone gets used to being cuckooed fast! As we headed home we stopped at the Nut Shack which sells macadamias but Liddy was really disappointed in that. I merely thought it far too expensive & we already had fudge. Fudge is good. It should help the mental state for some time.