Within a half hour, we could go from beach town Caloundra to Maleny, a lush town in the “bush.” The bush is what Aussies refer to their mountains. Maleny was gorgeous.

The Mary Cairncross Reserve

This was a beautiful place. We got our first glimpse of the Glass House Mountains and then we went into the reserve which was miles and miles of paths through rainforest. We saw wild wallabys and turkeys and other birds., and flying fox. The kids got a little nervouse being in the dense bush with wild animal sounds. Just another reason why we loved Australia. So much diversity.

Glass House Mountains

Our drive through Maleny provided such great views of the Glass House Mountains. We had hopes of hiking one of them, but we ran out of time. And actually, I think we saw better views here.

Happy Cows Live in Maleny

For real? Yes. For real. Maleny is home to many dairy farms, and this is how cows actually live and graze. I was in awe at the stark contrast between the blue skies and lush green grass on the rolling hills. It’s got to be my dairy-farming blood in me, but seeing and smelling the cows in Maleny was so nostalgic.