I saw this grate some time ago and wouldn’t even know if it was still damaged. Now I’m sure most people would look and think vandals, thieves or something equally ordinary. While one part of my brain, way at the back in an almost unnoticed place thought that, the rest of my brain was going along on different tracks. Such as wondering what clawed its way out of there. A closer inspection showed documents on the other side of the hole and of course demonic texts instantly came to mind.

Maybe it was a vandal, out for a bit of fun and while trying to lever the grate open they cut themselves. A droplet of blood fell inside when they put their hand in the opening. Bored, they turned away, only to freeze at the sound of sizzling. Peering into the gap they saw smoke rising from an ancient tome. The smoke began to form a shape and a demon became solid, asking how he could repay the vandal for setting him free. What a pity no one had ever warned the vandal that demons tend to twist requests so that what you think you’re asking for is never what you end up receiving.

Earlier this year I went on the Behind the Scenes I Spy Tour at the Queensland Museum. It was a lot more interesting than I’d expected it to be. We started off walking through aisles of items stacked into shelves, wandering through the remains of the past. Bits and pieces of peoples lives, a small testament to their existence. I couldn’t help wondering about those who’d once owned the items. A doll’s carriage that some child would have pushed, creating their own make believe world. Tricycles, kids had once ridden. A large stuffed bear, with golden fur and amber eyes. It might have once been a treasured toy, taken to bed each night by the child who owned it. Now it spends the rest of its days on a shelf, a mute witness of untold stories.

Metal fans, barbed wire supports from World War II, pedal cars, cane toad dioramas, carved figures, motor oil cans, a ship behind glass and a collection of native musical instruments. In every direction there was something to discover, something of importance from someone’s life.

Leaving behind the human world, we explored the animal one. We entered an area filled with strange smells and taxidermied animals. Amongst the animals were ones long extinct as well as some currently endangered. Because of this collection, the Mahogany Glider, which was thought to be extinct, was rediscovered. The man taking us on the tour through this area was great about answering the many questions my family and I asked. Answering them in a way that was easy to understand without talking down to us. We learned so much about animals and how some have developed to help them survive. And we even got to handle some items, including a large tooth.

There were so many things, which the museum doesn’t have the space to display, that were worth seeing. The staff were all really great and able to answer the endless questions we asked. But there were questions that they would never be able to answer. Questions that only the owners of the items could have answered. I guess I’ll have to leave those to my imagination since many of the owners are now long gone, and in some cases, only their possessions proof they had once lived.

This month I went for a walk up Mount Coolum, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. It’s been something I’ve been talking about doing again for a while. Eighteen years ago I walked to the top on a dirt track, with timber sleepers fixed into the ground with wooden stakes at strategic places along the path to help hold it together. Towards the top there was a section where you climbed over natural rock formations then walked through wind twisted trees to reach the summit.

The walk has changed a lot since then. There’s now a rock path going nearly all the way to the top making it a much easier walk. It’s still a strenuous walk, but the views make it worthwhile. They are as great as I remembered them. Every direction you look in you are greeted by postcard views. Long stretches of beaches, sailing ships out at sea, rock formations, trees twisted into interesting shapes by the wind and birds darting about.

It’s a two hour walk, return, and much quicker coming back down than it is going up. Along the way are numerous places where rocks have been positioned to make resting areas to sit and take in the views. There were many other people on the walk, from toddlers only going partway up to retirees striding along. People walked or jogged on their own, others went in groups. But no matter who it was or how they reached the top, they all stopped and paused once they did, taking in the view. Some stopped for a while, some only a little before they headed back down again.

It was really good to return to a place I had been to years ago and see the positive changes that have occurred. The new path has not only created a safer walk and addressed environmental concerns, but is a work of art with how the rocks have been fitted together using dry stone construction. The locally sourced rocks blend into the environment making the track feel a part of the mountain. It was certainly worth revisiting and I’m glad I made the effort to walk to the summit again.