Next stop is the Australia Zoo, made famous
by Steve Irwin, now carried on by Terry and her children, of whom Bindi is all
grown up and stealing the hearts of the Americans in Dancing with the Stars
USA. We're not allowed to stay overnight at the car park of the zoo, so we
search for yet again another oval. Beerwah Sportground will do us us just fine.
They have nibbles every Thursday night. How cute.
Next morning we get to the Zoo early to
avoid the rush, but it turns out there is no real rush. It is a nice day at the
zoo. We enjoy the crocodile demonstration
at the crocoseum, including a wonderful bird show. Photogenic other animals
include the lemurs and the cassowaries.
Furthermore we're in the middle of the
Glasshouse Mountains and I feel we should climb one, but preferably nothing to
strenuous. I realise this is funny, to try climb a mountain in a non-strenuous
way. After some research we chose to explore Wild Horse Mountain. It has a Department of Primary
Industries lookout station at the top. The weather is cloudy again and it looks
like it might rain. Our preparations pay off because the climb is not very hard
at all and the view over the other Glass House Mountains is magnificent. We
look up the aboriginal story about the mountains, and discuss the morals of the
story.
For anyone interested, from the web:
| The Aboriginal Legend fo Glass House Mountains | |
It is said that Tibrogargan, the father, and Beerwah, the mother, had many children. Coonowrin the eldest, Beerburrum, the Tunbubudla twins, the Coochin twins, Ngungun, Tibberoowuccum, Miketebumulgrai, and Saddleback. There was Round who was fat and small and Wildhorse who was always paddling in the sea.
One day, Tibrogargan was gazing out to sea and noticed a great rising of the waters. Hurrying off to gather his younger children, in order to flee to the safety of the mountains in the west, he called out to Coonowrin to help his mother Beerwah, who was again with child.
Looking back to see how Coonowrin was assisting Beerwah, Tibrogargan was greatly angered to see him running off alone. He pursued Coonowrin and, raising his club, struck the latter such a mighty blow that it dislodged Coonowrin’s neck, and he has never been able to straighten it since.
When the floods had subsided and the family returned to the plains, the other children teased Coonowrin about his crooked neck. Feeling ashamed, Coonowrin went over to Tibrogargan and asked for his forgiveness, but filled with shame at his son’s cowardice, Tibrogargan could do nothing but weep copious tears, which, trickling along the ground, formed a stream that flowed into the sea. Then Coonowrin went to his brothers and sisters, but they also wept at the shame of their brother’s cowardice. The lamentations of Coonowrin’s parents and of his brothers and sisters at his disgrace explain the presence of the numerous small streams of the area.
Tibrogargan then called to Coonowrin, asking him why he had deserted his mother. Coonowrin replied that as Beerwah was the biggest of them all she should be able to take care of herself. He did not know that she was again pregnant, which was the reason for her great size. Then Tibrogargan turned his back on his son and vowed that he would never look at him again.
Even today Tibrogargan gazes far out to sea and never looks around at Coonowrin, who hangs his head and cries, his tears running off to the sea. His mother Beerwah is still heavy with child, as it takes a long, long time to give birth to a mountain.
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There is a lot of fruit growing happening this side of Brisbane and we can not pass up the opportunity to buy strawberries for jam again.
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