Winter in Queensland is very mild, but there is one place where temperatures drop considerably. Our walking group decided to head to higher elevation on the Darling Downs for a few days of hiking, fine wine and good company. The cool, high country of the Granite Belt is located on Queensland's southern border. We ascended the Great Dividing Range through Cunningham's Gap, then by Warwick and Stanthorpe and Ballandean, where we had rented a lovely house, alone on top of a high hill with magnificent views. As we could not check in to our accommodation till afternoon, we parked our cars at the property entrance and took a wine tour for the day. We were the only seven on the tour and were able to pick and choose the places we visited. The mix of wineries and artisan businesses made for a fantastic day of sampling a wonderful variety of delicious tastes. Our drivers had organised lunch at Varias Restaurant. The Award Winning Varias Restaurant, Conference and Function Centre, together with the Banca Ridge Vineyard and Cellar Door, is incorporated into the Queensland College of Wine Tourism. In partnership with the University of Southern Queensland, Stanthorpe State High School and 27 other Gateway Schools, the College provides training from secondary to tertiary levels in viticulture, oenology, tourism, hospitality and business. We were delighted to help in the education of our state's young people. Before heading home we made a stop to see Stanthorpe's newest tourist attraction. Queensland's coldest town has celebrated its title by unveiling the Big Thermometer. It is set in Rotary Park and is so new its surroundings are still being landscaped. After our delicious day of touring local wineries it was time to settle in to our new digs. The house was big and warm, surrounded by bushland and gorgeous views. After all our eating and drinking and touring, we had an early night, retreating to very comfortable beds. While some of us continued to enjoy the comfort of our warm beds next morning, Helen and I braced the -4 degrees dawn and walked to the top of the hill to enjoy sunrise. After breakfast, we redid this walk with the others and enjoyed the view in a whole different light. After enjoying the view and a whole lot of posing, we returned to the house to hike down to the river. The sky was still splattered with an amazing swirl of cloud and wattle was riotous in golden bloom. We set off with confidence (mistake number 1) and no water or food (mistakes number 2 & 3) as we thought we would only be away a short time on a short hike (mistakes number 4 & 5). We wound our way along a rough, overgrown 4-wheel drive track and enjoyed the lovely bush with birds singing and kangaroos grazing, before hitting the creek. It was on the way back we found ourselves lost as there seemed to be tracks everywhere and we could not recognise any. Thankfully, after a few hill climbs and backtracking, good old Google maps helped us find our way out of the maze. We had a lot of thirst quenching and hunger sating to take care of when we returned. We had revived by sunset and made some more toasts to friendship, hiking and this beautiful part of the world. After a great night's sleep Helen and I once again took an early morning hike while the others slept on. We covered an invigorating 8 kilometres and returned just in time for breakfast before the others gave up on us and began. All too soon it was time to head home, but we made a couple of stops on the way. We enjoyed morning tea at The Bramble Patch and lunch at our picnic spot at Cunningham's Gap, then continued on home with full bellies and many happy memories. A perfect mid-week break to remind us how great retirement can be.
0 Comments
Gold Creek Reservoir is located in Upper Brookfield in Brisbane’s western suburbs and this week we hiked around it, excited to have found a new trail close to the city. The dam is Queensland's second oldest, constructed in 1886 to supplement Enoggera Dam It was extensively refurbished in 2005 and is the world’s first un-reinforced concrete stepped spillway. The lake is quite small with a catchment area of just 10.5km2 and holds 801 megalitres of water at full supply. At the foot of the dam is a picnic area, a public toilet and an information board. After morning tea and a quick walk up the top of the dam earth wall, we set off to follow the walking track circuit. The bushland surrounding Gold Creek is part of the D'Aguilar National Park and contains plants and wildlife of regional biodiversity significance. We decided to follow the track in an anti-clockwise direction to complete the steepest sections first. The track was fairly narrow and quite steep at times, but the spectacular lake views were quite something. We passed through tall eucalypt forests with pickets of rainforest plants in the more protected gullies. After completing the 5 kilometre circuit we had a picnic lunch, then decided to clock up another 5 kilometres by following the nearby Moggill Creek Bikeway along the river. All in all, another great hiking day in perfect Qld. winter weather. Who could ask for more?
Most of us were present this week, so a lot of catching up chatter went on as we walked a 12 kilometre bike path around Ashgrove. After a delicious morning tea picnic in the winter sunshine at the park off Simpsons Road in Bardon, we cheerily set off. We mostly stuck to the path, but got a little bit lost and went bushbashing at times. We even had a few pleasant surprises such as finding interesting artworks, a fridge full of books, and an invitation to sit in a lovely area created by David Engwicht of Creative Communities Intl. He has been making a neighbourhood space at his property for a over a decade. The latest addition is ‘Civosity Park’ which overlooks the Ithaca Creek and cycleway. For some great videos about David and his ideas, click here. The TEDX talk is particularly interesting. I wish he would come to Beenleigh and work his magic on the soulless town square. After completing our walk we eventually found a cafe in Paddington where we enjoyed a lovely lunch and glass of wine. Still delighted to be finding such interesting walks around Brisbane.
This week it was back to Burbank to walk in the Brisbane Koala Bushlands. Some of us had done this walk in March last year when it was extremely dry and hot, so we expected a big difference today after all our recent rain. The bushlands stretch from Belmont to Burbank, providing a significant koala habitat, but we didn't see a single one despite plenty of signs of their claw marks on tree trunks. The rain definitely made this walk a much greener, cooler place to visit than this time last year. In fact, we got caught in a few heavy downpours during the morning, but with the weather still quite warm we didn't mind. After our hike we ate our packed lunches in the sheltered area near the car park. Thank goodness for the shelter as the rain continued to pelt down. Unfortunately we had to share it with a couple of groups who teased us with delicious smells - one lot were having fish and chips, and the other group were barbecuing sausages. We consoled ourselves with a piece of Jayne's delicious ginger and date slice for dessert and headed home, happy little hikers.
Last week we postponed our walk in Toohey Forest due to wet weather, and although showers were forecast and the clouds were threatening today, we managed to complete a 10 k circuit without getting wet. Toohey Forest is one of Brisbane's largest natural areas located close to the CBD. It is mostly open eucalypt forest, stretching from Mt Gravatt in the east to Toohey Mountain, Tarragindi in the west. It contains Mt Gravatt Cemetery, QEII Stadium and the Griffith University campuses of Nathan and Mt Gravatt. Another great day with the Hungry Hikers out in South East Queensland. Four years on and I am still not missing the classroom.
Australia is a big, beautiful country and during July we travelled over 6,000 kilometres through Queensland, New South Wales, South Australi., Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. For two weeks of this time we stayed in the Barossa Valley. As well as covering a few kilometres in the car, I also covered quite a few kilometres on foot. The Barossa is a hiker's dream, with many trails of various lengths through a variety of landscapes. The popular Mawson and Heysen trails pass through this area and overlap other trails. Our stay in the Barossa was thanks to Sam, our nephew's dog. While Sam's family travelled overseas, we dog-sat at his home in Tanunda. Each morning the dog and I would head out in the early morning light, exploring places close to Tanunda for an hour or so. Then I would drop him home and sneak out further afield. I would love to have taken him everywhere, but his strength was exhausting and I needed time to let my arms retract back into their sockets. The Barossa Valley, made famous by its vines and wines, is a beautiful part of Australia. Some of our Qld friends think it is too cold to visit in winter, but every season shapes a landscape in different ways. And winter, though snappy, can produce some crisp, clear skies that make you want to rug up, don the possum socks and boots, and hike briskly through fields and hills and valleys. My favourite walk was the Little Kaiserstuhl trail through grazing properties up the western face of the Barossa Range. Johannes Menge, an eccentric geologist, gave the name Kaiserstuhl (the Emperor's seat) to the larger of the two hills passed on this walk. The sky was a perfect blue on the day I chose this trail, and the clouds put on an amazing, ever changing show of patterns and shapes. William Wordsworth was with me all the way on this marvellous day and his poem, Daffodils kept playing in my head. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils ... After climbing through open pastures, I followed a dirt track passing through a denser area of trees and shrubs where birdsong was plentiful. Coming down out of the hills the area opened up to vineyards and wineries and more grazing pastures. The following photos attest to the beauty of many other walking trails in the area, all worthy of exploring and soaking up the Barrosa. Now that we are back home I am enjoying the memories as I sort through the hundreds of photos I took, and look forward to revisiting the Barossa in a different season some time.
This week the Hungry Hikers rambled and scrambled around White Rock - Spring Mountain Conservation Estate, a totally new and very pleasant discovery for me. There are a variety of trails over 2,500 hectares, with the weathered rocky outcrops creating some interesting climbs and dramatic scenery. We began at the Paperbark Flats Picnic area at the end of School Road, off Redbank Plains Road and followed the White Rock Multi-user Trail. The track passed through a variety of vegetation from riparian to open eucalypt forest and rocky ridges.
This hike now goes on my list of favourites. It was challenging, but not daunting. It was full of variety and the views were amazing. We only did 10 kilometres, but we might tackle the more challenging, 19 kilometre Yaddamun Trail sometime soon.
This week's walk was one of the most scenic I have done with the Hungry Hikers. It was also the busiest (so many hikers out walking and wanting to chat) and the most memorable muscle-wise (our legs carried mountain climbing memories for quite a few days after). Just 60 kilometres north of Brisbane, the Glasshouse Mountains offer many spectacular walks and climbs. The Glass House Mountains were named by Lieutenant James Cook (later to become Captain James Cook) when he sailed by in 1770 as they reminded him of glass factory furnace stacks or Glasshouses back in Yorkshire, England. The range was formed as molten lava cooled to form hard rock in the cores of volcanoes between 26-27 million years ago. Millions of years of erosion have removed the surrounding exteriors of volcanic cores and softer sandstone rocks. The Glass House Mountains are located in the traditional lands of the Jinibara and Gubbi Gubbi people and according to legend the mountains are members of a family. The story goes that Tibrogargan (the father) and Beerwah (the mother) lived in this area with their many children. One day while looking out to sea, Tibrogargan saw the ocean start to rise. As he warned his family to move to higher ground for safety, he called to his eldest son Coonowrin (Crookneck) to assist the pregnant Beerwah. Coonowrin didn't know she was pregnant and believed she was big enough to take care of herself, so he ran off to save himself. When Tibrogargan realised that Coonowrin had run off and left his mother to fend for herself he threw a club at him, breaking his neck which is still crocked (why he is also called Crookneck). The family survived the flooding and when they returned to the coastal plain, Tibrogargan refused to look at his son, Coonowrin and to this day still looks away from him towards the ocean. Our first stop was at Mt Beerburrum. Beerburrum is an Aboriginal word meaning 'rainbow lorikeet', but I think it means 'beer needed after climbing'. A steep paved track winds to the top of this mountain, the highest of the group at 556 metres above sea level. Granted, we started from the carpark part way up, but our legs and lungs knew they were working hard today. We climbed through a small patch of rainforest, then through heath with many grasstrees. Wattle beginning to flower and pretty butterflies added gorgeous bursts of colour along the way. The 360 degree views from the summit were well worth the effort. After Mount Beerburrum, we drove a short distance to Mount Ngungun and again put our legs to work on another steep climb. In the language of the Gubbi Gubbi people, the mountain's name means 'faces'. The track begins in open forest with a fern understory and climbs 250 metres to a ridge offering more amazing 360 degree views. We chose to break for lunch here to enjoy the views. We had planned to climb more mountains than the above two, for the climbs, though strenuous, are not too long. However, we had done a lot of chatting to other hikers on the hills and we ran out of time. Our legs were grateful for this, but we have to come back soon for this area is truly beautiful and there are many more tracks to cover.
The Hungry Hikers have been off adventuring independently for a while, but this week 4 of us were back together to hike on the northern end of the Gold Coast. We began with morning tea on Jabiru Island at a peaceful spot overlooking the water, then walked along the Myola Boardwalk, which runs through mangroves in the Coombabah Lakelands Conservation Area. We enjoyed the sunshine and cool breezes on this section, but it got a little warmer as we crossed the waterway and followed a track back along the other side.
Lunch was a fitting end to our day out and we found a real gem at Paradise Point. Sitting on the sidewalk we had a great meal - a bargain at $20 for bruschetta, a main meal and wine. Try The Point 44 restaurant sometime. We highly recommend it. The service was great, the food delicious, and the setting, very pleasant.
After six weeks away, it was great to share a hike with my fellow 'hungry hikers' again. We have walked this Tallebudga/Burleigh Heads trail before, but we thought we could combine it with a spot of whale watching while the whales are still on the move. We entered Burleigh Heads National Park from the northern entrance and took the Ocean view walk around the rocky headland towards Tallebudgera Creek. We then followed the creek along the southern side, crossed the creek again and looped back towards the ocean.
This was a great 13 kilometre hike combining suburban, river, rainforest and ocean views. Please follow thehungryhikers on Instagram if you would like to see more of our adventures.
|
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