Entries about plum gorgeous rainforest retrea

My next stop was a little pocket of paradise!

Just 15mins from the coastal town of Noosa

With the intention of staying only a week to help work in the rainforest, I ended up not being able to move on from this beautiful place, and wonderful people.

Jana, David and Hannah are the most loving and genuine people I have met, and welcomed me into their home.

Every morning I had the time for a little pilates, out on the deck, with an amazing view to wake me up

or just sit back and relax here later in the day

First activity for the day was a tour in the buggy around the grounds:

and if you haven't already seen it, there's a full guided tour below:

Jana especially has worked hard to gain Land for Wildlife Status for their 12 acre property. With the hope of creating a wildlife sanctuary in the future. Land for Wildlife brings together like-minded landholders to share skills and knowledge about nature conservation in a vibrant, progressive program that aims to protect native wildlife and flora for the benefit of future generations.. To date over 50,000 hectares of habitat for wildlife has been protected with a further 3700 hectares under restoration, just in South East Queensland.

First job on the list was weeding the rather used, and rather un-loved greenhouse


when I encountered these ugly critters: Cane Toads

The cane toad has poison glands, and the tadpoles are highly toxic to most animals if ingested. Because of its voracious appetite, the cane toad has been introduced to many regions of the Pacific and the Caribbean islands as a method of agricultural pest control. The cane toad is now considered a pest and an invasive species in many of its introduced regions; of particular concern is its toxic skin, which kills many animals—native predators and otherwise—when ingested.

A lot of the work involves regenerating what is existing and removing any weeds - anything that is not native.
One project was backed with excitement when we found some Bangalow Palm seeds growing at the lcal garden centre.

These plants you can't buy, because they are out of fashion and nobody wants them.

But for us to regenerate the rainforest, they were invaluable, so we went round and dug up nearly 300!
Some of them got potted up




and some of them were planted out directly

Another great project was to dig up and deliver a boot full of plants to the local meditation centre, Vipassana, for a volunteer day of planting. Mostly Cordylines,

with a few Frangipani trees,

making quite a lot of plants

The calmness of the meditation centre gave me the opportunity to get close to this Kangeroo and her Joey, legs first, then the head

A nice little project I enjoyed creating was a water feature to stand outside the large lounge windows

choosing the design and digging holes to plant orchids around the base

looking good with the worlds smallest species of bamboo in the centre.

As all workawayers have the pleasure at Jana's, I planted a tree, a Little Evodia

and will look forward to seeing how it grows over the years and settles in to it's surroundings at the beginning of the meditation walk where we cleared a few of the taller trees - avoiding next door's new fence!

I look forward to seeing how this develops

Some times it's the little things that are worth taking the time to look at and I loved taking a walk with Jana to see what we might find,

like this paper bark tree

and the comb of a local bee suspended in the long grass

these wasp larvae had fallen off the wall onto the deck one morning

the tiny beginning of a strangler fig, that will one day encompass and kill the host tree. I've seen plenty of larger figs, but not from this stage

For a few days of my stay we were joined by Sam and Drew (two fellow Workawayers), and are now suffering 'the Drew effect' from all the wonderful food cooked up by this professional chef!

It was great to have dinner and learn from each other

Even Sasha the cat joined us

though she was a little lost without Drew around afterwards

Sam & Drew worked in one particular area, now named Lovers Copse

clearing the river bank and planting new seedlings to strengthen the area.

It was great to spend a few days with these two chatterboxes

Eumundi

has held a firm position on the tourism map for decades thanks to Australia's biggest art and craft market which takes places here hosting more than 600 stalls. While the original markets opened in the CWA hall in 1979 - attracting a mere eight visitors and $30 profit - in recent years it has expanded to include the Eumundi Square Markets and Parkside Markets which fringe the Original Markets, offering artwork, sculptures, furniture, handmade toys, home wares, skincare, fashion and jewelry.

After a good days work it was a treat to head out with Hannah, usually to find a sunset, and sometimes to include a cocktail!!

A favourite spot was the roof terrace of the Boat House

or a walk along to the marina



Farr Out

Sunset from Mt Tinbeerwah

Mount Tinbeerwah's exposed rhyolite summit lookout, 265m above sea level with view over the Sunshine Coast and Cooloola areas.
A short trek up to the summit gave great views over to Noosa

up to the Everglades

and across to Mt Cooroy

the mountain's formation began curing volcanic activity 27 million years ago when molten magma intruded into sandstone below the ground surface. Milleniums of erosion have removed the softer sandstone and left the hard, erosion resistant rhyolite exposed as Mount Tinbeerwah's prominent peak.

Sunset from Noosa Surf Club

my favourite cider, at a beautiful location

another day, another sunset