Ngungun

My daughter Laura and her partner Ken are visiting us from Scotland for a few days, so I thought today would be a good opportunity to enjoy some on-foot exploration of the Glasshouse Mountains.

Although they’re half a world away from the bonnie braes and glens of Scotland, the ancient volcanic Glasshouse monoliths have a timeless beauty of which I never tire.

“Have you ever seen a Bora Ring?” I asked Laura.

When she said “No”, I knew were we’d start the day. We drove down a quiet forestry road out the back of Beerburrum for a few kilometres until we came to this ancient aboriginal site, now sitting incongruously on the edge of a pineapple field. Laura told me that only a few days prior she’d visited Stonehenge in England. While the Bora Ring didn’t boast any large rocks like its English counterpart, I thought about how across the continent thousands of sites like this one had been in use thousands of years before Stonehenge was even built.

After driving a bit further we parked at the foot of Mt Ngungun and took a hike through the forest to the summit.

Botanists say this is one of the most biologically diverse forests in the National Park. I don’t know much about plants, but it was pleasant to get out of the burning December sun and enjoy the pleasant shade and cool breeze under the canopy of the eucalypts.

Harrison was in two minds about whether or not to explore this cave on the way up.

“Can you see any rock art?” I yelled out.

He couldn’t, and he decided to play it safe and say out of the cave.

Smart boy.

Mt Ngungun is one of the smaller Glasshouse Mountains. Although it’s one of the easier climbs in the area, rising only 253m above sea level, it’s still hard work to get to the top on a hot day.

I was delighted to finally reach the summit.

At the summit we enjoyed some amazing 360 degree views of the region. We gasped as we looked down over a couple of sheer cliffs at the top.

There were quite a few people at the summit who had the same idea as us – today was perfect for enjoying the endless views in all directions.

No visit to the Glasshouse Mountains is complete without a trip to the lookout. My friends and I have visited here many times on some of our mountain bike adventures through the area. After standing on Mt Ngungun, the lookout gave us a different perspective of the place, and a chance to have a look at where we’d climbed.

Spending a few hours in the hot sun had made us hungry, so we stopped at Jallas Cafe in Woodford on the way home…

… and enjoyed some great live music as we ate our lunch.

According to the song, you can get anything you want at Jallas Coffee Shop 🙂

We took the scenic route home via Mt Mee and stopped for one last look back at the Glasshouse Mountains on the way.

The hike to the summit of Ngungun and back was 3km long and took us just under 90 minutes. We didn’t rush it – days like this are for stopping to smell the roses.

Thanks Laura, Ken and Harrison for a memorable day out. It was great to be able to share one of my favourite spots with you!