The GLASSHOUSE MOUNTAINS are a group of eleven hills that rise abruptly from the coastal plain on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. The highest mountain is Mount Beerwah (556 m above sea level), but the most identifiable of all the mountains is Mount Tibrogargan which appears like a giant old man hunched over and sitting beside the roadside staring out to sea. However, in 2004 parts of the rock face that resembled the eyes eroded and subsequently crumbled off. These mountains were formed as molten lava cooled to form hard rock in the cores of volcanoes between 26-27 million years ago.

The Aboriginal dreaming story about these formations gives each of the mountains a name and character in a family, and tells a dramatic story of human relationships. Captain James Cook gave the area its unusual English name while sailing past, on his way up Australia's east coast, in 1770. From a distance they reminded him of the glass-making furnaces of his home town in Yorkshire.

Geologically they are massive hunks of trachyte left behind after the overlying softer rock was worn away by the forces of nature.


Their names - Beerwah, Tibrogargan, Coonowrin, Tunbubudla, Beerburrum, Ngungun, Tibberoowuccum and Coochin - reflect the Aboriginal culture surrounding the mountains.

The legend of the Glasshouse Mountains in Aboriginal told stories runs:

Now Tibrogargan was the father of all the tribes and Beerwah was his wife, and they had many children. Coonowrin, the eldest; the twins, Tunbubudla; Miketeebumulgrai; Elimbah whose shoulders were bent because she carried many cares; the little one called Round because she was so fat and small; and the one called Wild Horse since he always strayed away from the others to paddle out to sea. (Ngungun, Beerburrum and Coochin do not seem to be mentioned in the legend).

MOUNT TIBROGARGAN

One day when Tibrogargan was gazing out to sea, he perceived a great rising of the waters. He knew then that there was to be a very great flood and he became worried for Beerwah, who had borne him many children and was again pregnant and would not be able to reach the safety of the mountains in the west without assistance.
So he called to his eldest son, Coonowrin, and told him of the flood which was coming and said:

MOUNT COONOWRIN - or - CROOKNECK

"Take your mother, Beerwah, to the safety of the mountains while I gather your brothers and sisters who are at play and I will bring them along."
When Tibrogargan looked back to see how Coonowrin was tending to his mother he was dismayed to see him running off alone. Now this was a spiritless thing for Coonowrin to do, and as he had shown himself to be a coward he was to be despised.
Tibrogargan became very angry and he picked up his nulla nulla and chased Coonowrin and cracked him over the head with a mighty blow with such force that it dislocated Coonowrin's neck, and he has never been able to straighten it since.
By and by, the floods subsided and, when the plains dried out the family was able to return to the place where they lived before. Then, when the other children saw Coonowrin they teased him and called "How did you get your crooked neck - How did you get your crooked neck?" and this made Coonowrin feel ashamed.
So Coonowrin went to Tibrogargan and asked for forgiveness, but the law of the tribe would not permit this. And he wept, for his son had disgraced him. Now the shame of this was very great and Tibrogargan's tears were many and,

MOUNT BEERWAH

as they trickled down they formed a stream which wended its way to the sea. So Coonowrin went then to his mother, Beerwah, but she also cried, and her tears became a stream and flowed away to the sea. Then, one by one, he went to his brothers and sisters, but they all cried at their brother's shame.
Then Tibrogargan called to Coonowrin and asked why he had deserted his mother and Coonowrin replied, "She is the biggest of us all and should be able to take care of herself." But Coonowrin did not know that his mother was again with child, which was the reason for her grossness. Then Tibrogargan put his son behind him and vowed he would never look at him again.
Even to this day Tibrogargan gazes far, far out to sea and never looks at Coonowrin. Coonowrin hangs his head in shame and cries, and his tears run off to the sea, and his mother, Beerwah, is still pregnant, for, you see, it takes many years to give birth to a mountain."

The Glass House Mountains are:
Mount Beerburrum, 276 m
Mount Beerwah, 555 m
Mount Coochin, 235 m
Mount Coonowrin or Crookneck, 377 m
Mount Elimbah, 129 m
Mount Miketeebumulgrai, 199 m
Mount Ngungun, 253 m
Round Mountain
Mount Tibberoowuccum, 220 m
Mount Tibrogargan, 364 m
Mount Tunbubudla or the Twins, 312 and 293 m
Wild Horse Mountain, 123 m