Conondale Range Great Walk

Date: 17 - 20 July 2010

Walkers: Tom, Myself

Photo Album

Walk Description:
We had 4 days to do a walk this time. We had been considering the Cooloola Great Walk but the length and areas that it covered put us off a bit. Plus we didn't want to deal with taking two cars. So when we looked up this one, saw that it was 4 days and a circuit it was perfect.

Day 1:
The walk starts and finishes at the Booloumba Creek Day Use Area. We left Brisbane northside at roughly 5:30AM and it took about 2 hours to reach our destination despite Google's directions taking us on a bit of a pre-adventure through the forestry areas near Landsborough. There was three knee deep creek crossings on the road into the day use area. I imagine these could get quite deep after more rain. But they didn't give the Maverick any problems.

The track started on the day walk system and followed the creek for a while before leaving it below to head higher up the side of the valley. The first point of interest was a small detour to see the entrance to an old gold mine. Not much to see here really except a big hole in the rock and a small sign giving a few bits of information and telling you not to breath in the bat poo.

After rejoining the main track we proceeded further up the valley catching glimpses of the creek below. There were a few small stinging trees beside the track to be careful of. Often cleverly disguised next to Macaranga trees. By morning tee time we had reached the Artists Cascades. The creek was easy to get across here. One thing we noticed was that the little Great Walk arrow sign posts also had little plaques giving distances to the next points of interest. This would have been nice on the Gold Coast walk from earlier in the year.

Looking down the Artists Cascades

From here the track headed steeply up the side of the valley before eventually reaching Booloumba Falls and The Breadknife. The falls, although not as spectacular as Purling Brook at Springbrook, were beautiful and The Breadknife was very impressive. It has been formed at the tip of a ridge where two creeks meet. The valley's in the area have very steep sides. We stopped for lunch here and realising that we only had another 2km to the campsite hung around taking photos and scrambling on the rocks.

The Breadknife

Tom on top of the breadknife

The final section of track crosses Booloumba Creek Road before eventually reaching the campsite for the night. The toilet block and water tank were very nice and the campsites were all isolated well from each other. Each one had at least one tent pad and a wooden platform. This was great for sitting on and storing gear at the end of each day. The temperature got fairly low on this night and despite some sort of animal sniffing around outside the tent all night we got a reasonable nights sleep.

Campsite on Day 1

Day 2
Day 2 was the longest of the walk at 17km so we were keen to get going pretty early. We managed to haul ourselves onto the track by about 8:30 (this is early for us). The first hour of walking was great. It followed a tight track through thick bush and rainforest. Eventually this ended when we reached the first of what would eventually be a long line of forestry and fire management tracks.

As far as fire tracks go these weren't too bad. Still quite narrow and still picturesque. Eventually we got to a gate and a T-Intersection with a sign post saying Grigors Road. This didn't make sense so we checked our map and took some bearings and decided that we'd missed a track turn off about 1.5km's back. Fortunately there was a convenient loop in the roads that led back to the track so we didn't have to backtrack, although we were still annoyed that we'd added probably 1.5km's to an already long day.

Massive Strangler Fig

We felt some minor relief when we did eventually meet back up with the track and saw the familiar great walk sign post pointing us in the right direction. The track stayed on the South Goods Fire Management trail and once reaching it, followed the ridge directly for the next couple of hours. The only excitement during this section was when we came across some (what we assumed were) hunters in a 4wd. We didn't think too much of it except to hope that we didn't get shot in the back.

After stopping for lunch in the side of the road we walked for another 30 min before finally turning off the fire trail. The track alternated between new connecting tracks and old logging roads. The biggest surprise came when a big dog walked up behind Tom wearing a breast plate. After deciding that it didn't want to eat us we figured that the hunters had probably lost their dog and had been looking for it. We weren't sure how to get rid of it but eventually it left without too much fuss when Tom yelled at it.

Campsite for Day 2

The campsite for the night was much the same as the first night except for being in significantly denser forest. The water tank sounded very empty and we were lucky to get what we needed out of it. The only other hiccup  came in the morning when Tom's collapsible silicone cup that he'd left out to drain overnight had a hole eaten out of it. Hope they had a stomach ache.






Day 3
The third day of walking promised more creek crossings and waterfalls and we hoped it would be more exciting than the second. The track followed more logging roads and passed by the remnants of an old logging arch. This was apparently towed behind bulldozers and was attached to logs to pull them out of the forest. It was still mostly in one piece and still had rubber on the tyres. Shortly after, the track narrowed and went down-hill before reaching Peters falls. Not all that spectacular but still nicer than fire trails.

The track continued further before crossing Peters creek further upstream. We filled up water here and had a quick bird bath before the track headed up hill out of the valley we had just descended into. The track followed the ridge up where there was ample evidence of the past logging era. Eventually the track crossed Sunday Creek Road. The remainder of the track for the day was very nice, with a few creek crossings and no more fire trails. About lunch time it started raining quite heavily so we broke out the rain gear which is always a pain. Luckily this only continued for an hour or so and we were able to strip back the clothes and dry off a bit before arriving at the campsite for the night.

Campsite for Day 3

The final campsite for the walk was located only 100m or so from the top of Summer Creek Falls. These were the biggest falls of the whole walk and the cliffs around them provided some great views. The campsite itself was also very nice. It was surrounded by rainforest and had been cleared of lantana and replanted. It stayed dry for the rest of the evening however rained quite heavily on and off during the night. Luckily this cleared up by the morning and we were able to let the sun dry off the tent a bit before heading off.

Summer Falls

Day 4
The final day of walking started off uphill as we wound our way around the ridge to the top where we met up with some more roads. We passed a national parks sign indicating bees in the area. Not sure what we were supposed to do with this information. Some of the roads we were travelling on doubled as horse and mountain bike trails. The horses had tore up the tracks significantly. Continuing on the roads for the next hour or so made the walking quick. This continued until we reached the bottom of the spur track that lead to the top of Mt. Allen.

After making good time in the morning we decided to continue up to the top of Mt. Allen before stopping for lunch. This was a moderately steep climb but was over fairly quickly as we only needed to ascend a couple of hundred metres. At the top was the refurbished fire tower. In the past this was used to spot fires during the logging periods. The view from the top was amazing and let you retrace parts of the walk. We stopped here for lunch before continuing back down the mountain for the final leg of the journey.

Posing at the end of the walk

From here it was all down hill. We tried to keep an easy pace so as not to destroy our already aching feet and legs but as always when you are near the end of a walk it is hard to stop accelerating. This section did stretch on for longer than I expected and would be a descent day walk starting from the day use area and heading to the fire tower and back again. We eventually made it back and were relieved to see the car in one piece waiting patiently for us. We took off our boots and soaked our feet in the creek for a while before heading back home.

Gold Coast Hinterland Great Walk

Date: 12 - 14 February 2010

Walkers: Myself, Tom

Photo Album

Walk Description:
This was the second attempt that Tom and I had made at this walk. The first time ended after one day. It poured rain all day and we were soaked through. The final straw was when we discovered that the lid had come loose on Toms water bladder and leaked about 2 - 3L of water all through his clothes, tent and sleeping bag.

Day 1:
Day 1 of the walk involves walking the boarder track from O'reilly's to Binna Burra. This track is well marked and graded. This would be my 4th time walking this track so there wasn't too many surprises. There had been some work along the track to clear some of the lookouts which was good. A few snakes were encountered including one red bellied black which took some convincing to get off the track. This stretch took around 7 hours.

View South from the border track

Red Bellied Black snake on the track

 
Day 2:

Setting off from Binna Burra Day 2 starts along the Ships Stern track and eventually turns onto the Lower Bellbird Circuit. This is one of the best parts of the entire three day walk. Some very picturesque views. The photo to the right shows the view to the East and the path ahead. The photo below is of a beautiful waterfall where we stopped for morning tea.





Eventually the great walk turns off this circuit and heads down off the main plateau. This section of the track follows a fire trail and is very steep and ungraded. This continues for quite a while and is hard on the knees. Eventually the trail crosses a creek and levels out. The track leaves the fire trail at another creek crossing and heads up through some swampy scrub. This section can be fairly overgrown and one section was completely submerged by a pond. We were able to bush bash around this without getting our feet wet while dodging the giant spiders.

Eventually the track meets up with the fencline of the jail and mainly follows this down to the Numinbah Valley where it meets the road. The track then follows the main road into the Numinbah township. This section of the track was horrible. It was completely out in the open and simply followed the side of the road. Was very hot and took alot out of us. An hour or so later we arrived at the Numinbah Cafe. This is where we stopped for lunch and filled up our water. They were nice enough to fill up our water behind the counter at the cafe.

Soon after leaving the cafe the track heads off on some more fire trails.The track heads up and over a ridge and down into the valley next to the main Springbrook Plateau. The track follows some farmland and crosses over quite a large flowing creek. This required getting feet wet. The creek ran next to a cow paddock so we collected water here but only for boiling. The final stint followed the creek upstream for a while before crossing it again and starting the trek up Springbrook. This section followed a road and was ungraded and reasonably steep. At least it felt steep at the end of the days walk.

We were very pleased to see the campsite. It has a toilet block and some very nice grassy campsites with an amazing view out over the Numinbah Valley.

Campsite for day 2

Day 3:

Day 3 started off up hill straight away.The track climbs the Springbrook Plateau with over 900 steps. Despite this being a very tiring climb there was some amazing views out over the valley with a really nice breeze to help cool us off. Eventually the track comes out at Apple Tree Park. There was no potable water here when we went through despite being back in civilisation.

The track then crosses the main road and then continues back down to Little Nerang Creek. We stopped and filled up water at the creek and had a snack. The creek had quite a lot of water in it. Tom as usual skipped across the nearly completely submerged rocks while I blundered my way across using a stick to help keep my balance. The track then follows the creek up to Warringa Pool where it meets the day walk track system.

Small waterfall beside the crossing mentioned above

Despite another steep ascent up to the top of Purling Brook Falls this is one of the other more enjoyable sections of track. The track first stops at the base of the falls where you can walk behind them and get thoroughly drenched. This was awesome after the past 2 days. Eventually it comes out at the top of the falls before continuing on to The Settlement campground.

It wasn't long after we finished lunch when Maree showed up to take us home to a nice shower.

Purling Brook Falls