ANZAC DAY VISITING THE D' AGUILAR NATIONAL PARK...

As Pete and Maria were going to be catching up with all their friends for the Anzac Long Weekend, we decided that it would be good to spend a few days with our good friends Ian and Kathy whom we did the lap of Australia with. 

We figured we were going to be in the south east corner of the state for a few weeks, and had already booked a good chunk of our holidays on a family holiday with everyone, that it would be nice to spend some time with good friends also...

On Anzac Day we decided to pack some morning tea and lunch and head up into the D'Aguilar National Park for the day.  I don't think either Steve or I had been up here to Mt. Glorious before so we were keen for a new adventure...

What a beautiful National Park and so close to Brisbane...
Our first stop was at McAfee's Lookout where we got a lovely view looking down the valley into Brisbane...

Some amazing and interesting trees around here.....

Plenty of birdlife...

 From here we went to Camp Mountain Lookout for some more stunning views..

More stunning views of the city...

 It was getting on in the morning by the time we left here so decided that our next destination would be for morning tea....
Jolly's Lookout and picnic area was our next destination, so out came our picnic basket and we were off to find a picnic table.  There were few as the place was packed with lots of families out enjoying the public holiday..

Lovely and green, and beautiful views of the countryside..

Enjoying our cuppas

 After our morning tea, we went for a walk around the area to check out a few some of the other lookouts which had lovely views looking out to the ocean....

 Just check out this view....

 From here we continued up the Mountain until we came to Mt Nebo, and Westridge Lookout,  and then we were out of the car, doing a love walk through the forest with more stunning views, but this time, the other side of the range....

In the carpark at the start of the walk

  The whole walk was along a wooden boardwalk, so it was quite an easy 500m walk...

 By now it was mid afternoon and we still hadn't made it to Mt. Glorious...
We were hoping to make it there for afternoon tea...  and we just made it...
We weren't able to order any food which was a little disappointing, but they were happy to make us hot drinks...

 During the day, we had seen lots of lots of motorbikes make their way up the range.  Little did we realize there was actual a motorbike ride taking part as when we arrived at Mt. Glorious, there were heaps and heaps of bikes packed outside the little Cafe...  They were ready to leave as we arrived,

Hundred's of bikes were parked outside the Cafe....

 The Cafe was quite eclectic with lots of different posters, motorbikes and statues....

 Obviously from the above sign, they get a lot of motorbikes regularly visit up here....

 We found a nice spot to sit outside where we got to enjoy the lovely surroundings...

 It didn't take long for our drinks to arrive and I can tell you we enjoyed them... the company was pretty good also...

 After our drink, we decided to go for a little walk to check out the back area of the Cafe.  Unfortunately we couldn't take the walk through the forest there as they were about to close, but it did look quite interesting, and is probably something we should come back and do another time. 

Well we made it Mt. Glorious, and it is indeed a lovely area along this range....  Definitely need to come and visit this area again in the near future..

 By the time we left here it was after 4pm, so we didn't plan any stops on the way home, as it was going to take us a couple of hours to get home as it was...  Still it has been a wonderful day,  and it was so good to get out into the beautiful nature that surrounds our capital city.  We came home feeling tired but refreshed...