Glass House Mountains – Bluey famous

By Lea Parkes

WHILE just about everyone who lives, works and plays in and around the Glass House Mountains loves our uniquely iconic location, recently our pride became what could only be described as next level.

If you haven’t watched what is arguably the world’s best children’s television program ‘Bluey’ you may have missed the excitement created when our mountains and the local primary school were included in a recently aired new episode.

While the reference to Bluey and his mates attending the Glass House Primary School has left some viewers questioning whether this is geographically logical or likely that someone who lives in inner-city Brisbane would commute to school in Glass House Mountains, the real-life kids that attend the school clearly aren’t worried about fact checking this detail.

The reference has also generated plenty of discussion on forums and social media about the use of artistic licence for a little bit of Bluey magic.

Little Glass House Mountains Bluey fans

However, someone in our office also questioned whether people raising these questions understand that Bluey is both a talking dog and a cartoon character so couldn’t attend school even if he wanted to.

Glass House Mountains State School P&C president Jennifer Burness said she loved the inclusion of not just the school but also the strawberry farms, the international backpackers who work on them, and our rather dodgy mobile phone reception.

“It was such a huge surprise when we saw it on the episode and it is really unusual for the show to actually name a specific location,” Jennifer said.

“We aren’t aware if the creators have a specific connection to the school or the area but it definitely seemed like it from the story line.

“Generally, the creators do a lot of blending of elements from different locations so, even though the school’s name was included, our school isn’t on a hill and doesn’t have a boat in the playground.

“However, it is still really exciting for the students and the timing is great for the kids who will be starting prep, like one of mine, next year. Although, we are a little concerned that he might not react so well when he can’t find Bluey in his classroom on the first day,” Jennifer said.

We also caught up with the Member for Glass House Andrew Powell to see what he thought about it.

“How good is this, Bluey is popular in my household, so much so that my kids reckon they modelled Bluey’s dad Bandit on my own parenting style,” Andrew said.

“The series is a huge hit in households across our region and state, so it’s not surprising an iconic program comes to an iconic location like the Glass House Mountains.

“I love it! And I know it’s rightly brought much excitement to the kids of Glass House Mountains State School too.”

For those readers who like to know what other locations have inspired Bluey’s creator it is worth checking out the Instagram account bluey locations, created by Bluey fan and former Olympian rower Michael Toon who has been tracking locations since December 2018.

I reckon our mountains becoming Bluey famous may have generated even more discussion and awareness of these beauties than back in 2006 when then Prime Minister John Howard came to town to announce the Glass House Mountains had received National Heritage listing.

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