Day 3 Australia

We started off the day at the market in Eumundi about 90 km north of Brisbane. It is a BIG street market with all sorts of things for sale. We didn't buy anything but enjoyed looking around.

 Next stop - the world's largest ginger factory.

The ginger soaks in syrup for several days until it turns a caramel color.

Have you ever seen so many lily pads? This was a very large pond that was completely covered with them.

Daddy, I took these flower pictures for you.

As we worked our way back down to the Brisbane area, it was time for bushwalking through more rainforest, starting with Mapleton falls in the Blackall mountains.

This tree looks like it's wearing a hula skirt.

I must admit this rainforest creeped me out a bit. The canopy was so thick that it was really dark.

The pictures don't show how massive these trees are.

Right before walking up to this swampy area we read a sign warning about a particularly venomous snake. I was thinking that I sure hope one didn't drop out of a tree when Kim said, "You almost expect a monkey to come screaming out of the trees." I don't think I was the only one creeped out.

We left the rainforest and stopped for lunch in the quaint little town of Montville. This was the view from our table. I had pumpkin, spinach and goat cheese quiche with a citrus and avocado salad. I know, rough huh? You can see the ocean in the distance, which is where we are headed after lunch.

The view from the other side of the table.

The Glass House Mountains.

The Glass House Mountains from the other side.

Back to one of my favorite places...

...as the sun sets on another glorious day. We've logged about 18 1/2 miles of hiking the last 3 days so tomorrow we will take it easy and do the hop on / hop off trolley tour of the city.