We woke up this morning to clear blue skies and warm sunshine so we took our time setting off, making the most of sitting out in the sun having breakfast. Last night we’d been surrounded by a species of Flying Fox (a large bat), not sure what they were as most of the time we just saw them flying over our heads between the trees. They were very noisy though, constantly calling to each other as they moved around and occasionally breaking off bits of tree.
The dawn chorus this morning was very loud around the billabong, it sounded as if every parrot, magpie, miner bird etc… had decided to sit in the trees around us and make as much noise as possible. It was nice in a way but bad news when you’ve only been asleep for 6 hours !
We took the scenic route this morning, taking our time and using the opportunity to explore the area a bit as we travelled. In the morning we were skirting along the sides of a mountain range to get to Imbil. Imbil is one of those towns we really like, clean, green open areas and a cafe that serves good coffee and muffins 🙂 We took a quick diversion from Imbil to the Borimba Dam before second breakfast.

From Imba we headed to Kenilworth, and then onto Mapleton, a route that included some steep mountain climbs. Taking the road south from Mapleton you run along the edge of a mountain range high above the land to the east. You can easily see the 25km or so from the road to the coast including the tall tower block developments along the Sunshine Coast. There are few places to stop and admire the view along the road but as you drive through a succession of small towns with houses hanging off the cliff edges you keep getting glimpses of it.

At Flaxton we diverted again and took a walk into the Kondalilla National Park to see the Kondalilla Falls. We didn’t get to see the falls as there didn’t seem to be a route to the bottom of them but we had a nice walk through the rain forest anyway and the smaller falls and rock pools were very picturesque.
Landsborough is more of a convenience stop than anything although there just happens to be a pub within walking distance so we’re eating out tonight. The camp site is only a few km down the road from Australia Zoo so our plan for tomorrow is to get going early, spend a few hours at the zoo and then find somewhere to stop for tomorrow night a bit further south.