Just when you think you might have run out of new places to hike, something else pops up and you wonder how you never knew about it before. This week we discovered Bayview Conservation Park, an outdoor recreation reserve located between the suburbs of Redland Bay and Mount Cotton. There are over 60 km of bushwalking and mountain bike trails and horse riding tracks. Due to the warmer weather, we made an early start, meeting at the German Church Road main entry. The trails are graded at different levels and have the most interesting names. We began on the Wolf Peach track which gently climbs to its highest point, before descending with switchbacks. It then flows along the valley floor to connect with Puck Road. We also tackled Kids Loop, Chicken Run, Calendar Boys, and Blow. We passed through a diverse range of vegetation communities including open forest, Melaleuca wetlands, riparian areas and attractive stands of grass trees and candlestick banksias. The paths were clear with gentle rises and falls, and though there were plenty of sign posts, they were a little hard to follow and relate to the map at times. After a few hours, we found our way back to the car park and enjoyed a delicious morning tea picnic in the main day use area. The facilities include showers, BBQs, picnic tables and toilets, set in beautiful green lawns. We definitely plan to return soon to explore more of the many tracks available. For more information on this wonderful area including trail explanations and maps, click here.
0 Comments
First we met at Joc's for morning tea, then took the cross river ferry from Norman Park to New Farm Park, where we enjoyed the flowers and scents before wandering the streets and walking along the boardwalk. Having worked up an appetite (surprise, surprise), we had a delicious lunch at the Merthyr Bowls Club before strolling back to the ferry.
This week we headed to the north end of the Gold Coast, but cut our planned walk short to view the 2018 FAI World Parachuting Championships. This turned out to be a good decision as the weather was very hot. We began with a hike through the Pine Ridge Conservation Park The terrain varies from bushy trails to sandy open trails, through banksia shrubby bushland and rare coastal heath. I donned my gaiters as the snakes are quite active at present. My walking buddies may laugh at my fear of snakes and throw caution to the wind, tramping bare-legged through the Aussie bush, but I like to be prepared. Some recent controlled burning has resulted in plenty of new growth, and wild flowers added a touch of colour. After our walk we had morning tea by the water. Cake and champagne were in order to celebrate Jocelyn's birthday. Then it was a short drive down the road to the Sports Super Centre where the parachutists were in action. 600 elite skydivers from 25 countries participated over a week, in competitions including formation and speed skydiving. We visited the assembly area first where we were able to watch participants training and preparing for jumps. Then we went to the landing field and enjoyed watching them land. We didn't clock up many kilometres this week, but we enjoyed casting our eyes to the skies. And then of course, there was also food. Lunch at a cafe in Runaway Bay was a fitting end to our day.
We skirted Toombul shopping centre, which was opened in 1967 and the first shopping centre built in Queensland with air-conditioning. Fortunately today's temperatures didn't demand air-conditioning. It was was a pleasant spring day made for walking. ‘Nundah’ is believed to come from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘a chain of waterholes’. It was first settled by Europeans in the mid-19th century, although the suburb remained primarily a rural area until it was connected to Brisbane via railway in the 1880s. The first permanent European settlement in the area was a mission built in 1838 by German Lutheran missionaries.
Leaving the cemetery, we wound our way through streets, passing a number of historic buildings, parks, memorials, interesting art work, and lovely old Queenslanders. For those interested, a great guide is provided by the Brisbane City Council. Click here to view it.
|
Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|
- Home
-
Travel Tales
-
Australia
>
- Frazer Island - 2016
- Australian Road Trip - 2017
- Melbourne - 2018
- Warra Races - 2019
- Queensland Road Trip - 2019
- Brisbane to Proserpine - 2020
- Waiting Out a Pandemic in the Whitsundays 2020 >
- North Queensland Road Trip 2020 >
- Qld Road Trip 2021 >
- Uluru, N.T. 2021
- Southern Downs and Granite Belt 2021
- S.W.Qld - 2022
- N.S.W. Road Trip 2023
- Cairns Train Trip 2023
- Toowoomba 2023
- Tasmania 2023
- Byron Bay - 2023
- Train Trip to Adelaide - 2024
- China
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Greece
- Netherlands
- France and Belgium
- Romania
- Russia
- South America
- Sweden
- Turkey
-
Australia
>
- Cruising
- Classroom Quotes
- Poetry Place
- Photo Gallery
- Walking Blog