Musings – Page 50 – Exploring the world with my friends

Cycling, South East Qld, xc

Beerburrum – Woodford

by NeilEnnis 2 October 2012 3 Comments Shortlink

This was a popular ride last time we did it – 32 people came along. This time I thought it would be a great way to showcase some of South-East Queensland’s stunning scenery to my Canadian visitor, Miles.

As usual, the climb up the dirt to the lookut was difficult, but the views at the top were worth it. It was a perfect day for mountain biking, and we enjoyed the panorama of this ancient volcanic caldera.

I thought it was pretty cool that our overseas visitor was able to see this wallaby out on the trail, rather than in a zoo.

We all had a ball riding down the Hennessey Hill Downhill Track. I rode it a lot quicker this time and found that the bike felt a lot smoother. My friend Lance once said to me that it’s often better to fly over obstacles than to bounce over them. I think he’s right!

There were five riders, one woman (Clare) and four men. To her credit, Clare beat all of us up every hill. She’s a very strong rider. This steep little climb was no exception. And as with most steep climbs, rolling down the other side was a lot of fun.

After a big lunch in Woodford, we wound our way back through the Black Rock section of the state forest until we came to this huge log. I’m not sure whether Clare wanted to show us how light her bike was, or how strong she was. Either way, the result was pretty impressive. There’s no way I could do that with my heavy bike. The kitchen sink I carry on the back weighs it down too much 🙂

“Trig Point Hill” is a high point to the west of the forest with some fire-spotting cameras and a transmission tower at the top. It’s a slow grind to the top, but it has one of the best drops on the ride. The challenge is to stay on your bike and ride it to the bottom. As you can see from the photo of Miles at the top of this article, some of us were able to manage it… just.

Others made the wise choice with descents: If you’re not sure you can ride it safely, walk it.

On the ride back to the cars we were lucky to spot a big goanna scrambling up a tree which gave Miles a chance to see more wildlife in its native habitat. We also got some great views of the “Organ Pipes” on the north face of Mount Beerwah.

Today we travelled 63km with about 1,050m of vertical ascent. I burned about 3,600 kcal. It took us just over 6 hours, including a leisurely lunch at Woodford. On a temperate day like today, with a small group, this one rates 7.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Total distance: 64.04 km
Total climbing: 1143 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 06:10:44

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Cycling, South East Qld, xc

The D’Aguilar “Big W”

by NeilEnnis 1 October 2012 1 Comment Shortlink

I’ve ridden portions of this route before, but today I thought I’d make something special by combining two long climbs, and two very fast descents. The result was a killer ride which traced out a large “W” shape when you looked at the elevation profile.

I thought this would be an ideal way to introduce my friend, Miles, to as much of beautiful D’Aguilar National Park as I could. We had limited time and wanted to see as much as possible!

After a short quick climb up the Goat Track, we started our first descent down Taylors Break. This track starts out gently, and slowly gets crazier as you get closer to the bottom. Towards the end, it drops steeply, and the track is strewn with large rocks. It’s not for the faint-hearted. I’ve heard hikers complain about how difficult it is to walk down. So doing it on a mountain bike requires a certain blend of skill and insanity.

After reaching Branch Creek at the bottom of the descent, we started our long slow grind up Cabbage Tree Range Road. This took us about an hour. It was hard work, but we were fortunate that the weather was fairly cool, and we weren’t in a hurry.

Normally at this point in the ride, I’d pat myself on the back, and head home along Dundas Road. Today, however, we opted to ride back down a long descent again and headed off down Goodes Road. It’s not as steep or rocky as Taylors Break – which meant we could go faster 🙂

At the bottom of the descent, we again pointed our bikes up the hill and started the 75 minute climb up Joyners Ridge Road. This climb isn’t as tough as Cabbage Tree Range Road, but it’s longer and ascends higher – all the way to Mount Glorious. The highlight of the climb is the rainforest at the top.

AFter our long climb, we stopped for a delicious Wagyu Burger at Mount Glorious Cafe, and enjoyed the view for a while. From there it was a quick roll back down the bitumen to the car.

All up this ride was about 45km with about 2,000m of vertical ascent. My GPS didn’t record the last section, so I’m estimating I burned about 4,000 kcal. In today’s cool weather I’d rate this ride 9 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. In hotter weather I think it would be pushing the limit of my ability. Medium to High fitness and skills required 🙂

(Note, the GPS left out the bitumen descent from Mount Glorious to the Goat Track)

Total distance: 40.78 km
Total climbing: 1680 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 06:01:13

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Aboriginal Australia, Cycling, Hiking, South East Qld, xc

Waka Waka Boulders

by NeilEnnis 23 September 2012 No Comments Shortlink

Last week’s ride around Maidenwell was so fascinating that Eric and I decided to go back today and do a bit more exploration.

In 1986, Archaeologist and Paleoanthropoligist, MJ Morwood wrote a paper entitled “The Archaeolofy of Art: Excavations at Maidenwell and Gatton Shelters, Southeast Queensland”, which describes the results of a research project into social and economic complexity in Aboriginal society. One focus of the project was a rock shelter near Maidenwell which was culturally important to the Waka Waka people, and included rock-art and stone tools.

Eric and I were hoping to find the rock shelter. But more importantly we wanted to experience first-hand this magical place of impossibly placed boulders, wedge-tailed eagles and monoliths carved into amazing shapes by the hands of time.

We started our ride at Maidenwell, and headed west out of town until we found an old dirt track heading into the bush. Bain’s Road is named after Ron Bain who was mustering cattle in the area in 1972 and accidentally encountered the rock shelter. We ditched the bikes part way along this “road” and decided to go for a bit of a wander in the scrub.

The thing that immediately struck us was the way many of the huge boulders were perched in such precarious positions. It looked like some dream-time super human had picked them up and scattered them like play-things.

As we scrambled over rocks and through the lantana, we encountered this amazing Wedge-tailed Eagle’s nest, containing a solitary chick. Mr and Mrs Eagle were aparently out hunting for small dogs and stray children. The nest was perched atop a tree, over ten metres above the ground. But most impressive was the way the eagles had added to the nest each year until it was over two metres in height. I’d never seen such a huge nest before.

While we were trying to find the rock shelter, we kept encountering weird formations that looked like celestial marbles, or an Aboriginal “Stonehenge”.

This one looked uncannily like full-scale replica of a whale.

As we bashed through thick lantana, and scrambled clumsily over rock-faces in our cycling shoes, the rocks formations got stranger and it became obvious why this place is so spiritually important to the Waka Waka.

This one was stunning. How the heck do you end up with 4 boulders, each probably weighing ten tonnes, to sit on top of each other like that. Eric, the geologist, tells me it’s a result of millennia of weathering. My gut feelings suggested more supernatural origins.

Eventually the heat and lantana scratches got a bit much, so we sat in the cool shade of an overhanging boulder and had a short break and a snack.

Although the rock shelter eluded us, we both felt like we had an awe-inspiring experience wandering among these granite monoliths.

The loop we did on the bikes out of Maidenwell was only about 12km. The ride down Bain’s Road and Brooklands Peron Road is a lot of fun on a mountain bike and relatively easy. Some of the other tracks that we visited in the area are on private property, and should not be accessed without permission.

Total distance: 60.81 km
Total climbing: 620 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 05:54:26

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Aboriginal Australia, Cycling, History, South East Qld, xc

Maidenwell

by NeilEnnis 16 September 2012 4 Comments Shortlink

Maidenwell is a small town in South-East Queensland’s South Burnett district. It’s a two and a half hour journey by car north-west of Brisbane. The town is a gateway to the nearby Bunya Mountains, but is also known for its large privately owned astronomical observatory, and the spectacular Coomba Falls.

My friend, Eric, is planning a social ride in this area in a couple weeks, so I jumped at the chance to ride through it with him today and help him work out the best route.

We started at Yarraman, a beautiful timber town on the D’Aguilar highway. Yarraman is surrounded by Hoop Pine plantation forests. Plantations can sometimes be monotonous places, but not here. Majestic Hoop Pines (Araucaria Cunninghamii) are native to South East Queensland. Even when planted in regimental rows, they are still beautiful serene giants. They don’t cause a toxic monoculture like introduced plantation pines (Pinus Radiata and Pinus Elliotti). So you’re more likely to find healthy and diverse ecosystems in Hoop Pine forests – even plantation forests.

We followed a few forestry trails westward from Yarraman. The roads undulate for about ten or fifteen kilometers, slowly rising to a peak of about 660 metres above sea level. This provides some moderate climbs, with a few enjoyable fast descents down the smooth clay roads, as well as some great views.

As we progressed further, we were able to see the Bunya Mountains to the west.

After working hard to get up some of those hills, I was glad to arrive in Maidenwell around lunch time, and devoured a delicious steak sandwich. It’s a beautiful small country town with a pub, general store / cafe and small war memorial.

It’s also a very friendly place. Jean and Neil Johnston live on a farm nearby. Jean very kindly let Eric and I ride through some of the trails on her farm.

They haven’t had rain in this area for a few months, so the ground is starting to look a bit dusty. Jean says she loves this old Iron Bark tree. They grow very slowly, and this specimen is huge, so Jean thinks it’s at least several centuries old.

The Johnston’s property is home to some spectacular rocky outcrops. Jean told me this whole area is very important to the Wakka Wakka aboriginal people. There are a couple of Bora Rings nearby, and even some ancient rock art. Jean’s neighbor, Max Forsyth has visited the rock art and tells me one of the paintings is of a whale. This is amazing because the ocean is 200km away. Max says he thinks the paintings were done by Aborigines visting from the Hervey Bay area.

Once we left the Johnston property, Eric and I followed a stock route to Coomba falls…

Coomba Falls is a very special place for a number of reasons.

The falls have created deep permanent water holes which serve as refuge from drought for the local plant an animal life.

A unique hybrid variety of the Grass-Tree (Xanthorrhea) grows here. It’s not found anywhere else.

More importantly, these water holes were an important part of the life of the local Wakka Wakka people before European settlement. During extened dry periods with no or little rainfall, they could always rely on the Coomba waterholes to provide fresh water.

Tragically, the falls were the site of a massacre in the 19th century.

European settlers killed hundreds of aborigines here, including women and children. Some reports say that the bodies were thrown into the water hole, and that there are human remains at the bottom of the deep pools.

As a result, local aboriginal people never go here any more. Ironically this place of beauty and refuge is now a place of deep sorrow for them.

From Coomba Falls, Eric and I continued our trek along an old overgrown stock route. We had to scramble over a few fallen trees before eventually making our way back onto the forestry roads.

We took a few different roads through the forest back to Yarraman. In some places, with towering Hoop Pines either side of us, I felt like I was in a natural cathedral.

Eventually the forest opened up as we entered some areas where the timber had been harvested recently. It takes about sixty years to grow a Hoop Pine plantation forest. The area looks bleak after harvesting. It’s sad, but on the positive side, it seems to be reasonably sustainable. The trees are native to the area, and for most of those sixty years we get to enjoy (and ride through) a beautiful forest. I think I can live with that.

We rode 63km in just over 6 hours including breaks. All up we climbed about 1,200m and I burned about 4,000 kcal (about 7 Big Macs).

I’d rate this one 7.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Take plenty of water and snacks. It’s a long time out in the sun, so make sure you re-apply sunscreen a couple of times during the day.

Total distance: 63.47 km
Total climbing: 1284 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 06:11:05

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Cycling, Geocaching, Hiking, Pine Rivers, xc

Bath Time

by NeilEnnis 13 September 2012 6 Comments Shortlink

It’s taken two years and a couple of attempts but today Aaron and I finally made it to Dianas Bath.

Dianas Bath is a spectacular rock pool in the northern section of D’Aguilar National Park, fed by Byron Creek. It’s very difficult to get to – even if you have a 4WD (which I don’t), and it’s surrounded by steep hills, thick scrub and large boulders.

Todays ride started at the bottom of Wirth Road at Laceys Creek.

We slowly ground our way 6km to the top of the hill, then meandered through the forest until we reached Jacky Creek Road. This is a steep descent which switches back and forth down the mountain and devolves into some really fun steep single track towards the bottom.

Jacky Creek is a quiet pretty stream, but it flows in all weather, so it’s a bit of a challenge to cross. We managed to get to the other side and stay dry, which was quite an achievement.

From there we followed Dianas Bath Road to the end. This is a steep climb followed by a steep descent. In the past I found it so steep I had to push the bike in some parts. Today I just kept my head down and kept pushing the pedals around, and made it to the top. I was really pleased to tick this hill off the list. I must give credit to my riding buddy, Aaron, who spurred me on.

Eventually we had to leave the bikes behind and rock-hop along Byron Creek. This is tough because cycling shoes aren’t designed for walking in. Mine have carbon-fibre soles which hard hard and slippery. Walking on rocks in shoes like this is really difficult. In addition, the track was overgrown, we had to scramble over a few fallen trees, and the banks either side of the creek are steep and strewn with boulders. Oh, and did I mention the thorny “wait-a-while” vines that wrapped around our limbs?

After about half an hour of scrambling along the creek, we finally reached Dianas Bath. I was delighted. It was prettier (and bigger) than I imagined. My only regret was not bringing some swimmers. This place would be a lot of fun to swim in.

Aaron took his shoes off and waded in the water while I kept scrambling around on the edge of the pool looking for a Geo Cache.

My friend, Paul, created the Dianas Bath Geocache a few years ago. A Geocache is a small container containing trinkets and a log book. There are millions of them hidden all over the place. You can find out more here. I was delighted to finally log this cache after two years.

From there we headed back towards Mount Brisbane Road for the ride back to the cars, dodging lots of friendly goannas along the way.

Today we rode 52km in about five and half hours (including stops). We climbed about 1,750m of vertical ascent. I burned about 5,200kcal.

The ride included many slopes in excess of 25%, and some gradients in excess of 30%. This means you need to be fit enough to ride up the hills (or push your bike up), and confident enough to ride down them. Some of those slopes are slippery with dust or gravel.

I’m rating this one 9 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Take lots of water and plenty of snacks. Don’t do it in wet weather. Watch out for 4WD’s.

Thanks Aaron for a fun ride 🙂

Note: Dianas Bath is on private property. The owner currently allows walk-in access only. Please treat it with respect, clean up any mess you make, take all litter with you, and be courteous towards anyone else who is using the waterhole.

Total distance: 53.84 km
Total climbing: 1843 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 05:29:19

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Cycling, Friends, History, South East Qld, xc

Mount Glorious

by NeilEnnis 9 September 2012 3 Comments Shortlink

My friend David told me he and a few mates were interested in exploring D’Aguilar National Park. So I jumped at the opportunity to organize a social ride along some of my favourite tracks there today.

As with most expeditions in D’Aguilar NP, this one started with a short climb up the Goat Track which affords great views out to Moreton Bay, but you’ve got to work for it as you climb 400m in just over 3km.

Rather than follow the bitumen at the top, we elected to ride up Hammermeister Road – a steep dirt road to the west of Mount Nebo. The road is named after Lou Hammermeister who started working in the timber industry at Mount Nebo during the Second World War and continued there for almost twenty years.

According to the Mt Nebo local newspaper “Mountain News“, Lou lived at Mount Nebo for over 60 years. He blazed any of the roads and fire trails in the area using his dozer. He also used his dozer to help build an Oval and Tennis Court at the Mt Nebo School. Lou started as a timber cutter, moving to Main Roads when logging at Nebo ceased in the 1960’s. As someone who regularly rides at Mount Nebo (including Hammermeister Road), I am grateful for Lou’s legacy.

A lot of my friends enjoyed Lou’s legacy today too 🙂

From there it’s a short jump to Dundas Road behind the transfer station at Mount Nebo. This is where the long descent to England Creek begins. A few of the riders, including Jeff (pictured) took the opportunity to drop some of the pressure in their tyres to get a bit more grip on the dusty track surface. It was then I realized Jeff was riding a hybrid bike. It had a 29 inch front wheel and a 26 inch rear wheel. Bikes with 29 inch wheels are affectionately called “Twenty niners”. But when you’ve got “one of each” on your bike, the collogual term for the bike is a “Sixty-niner”. Jeff’s bike is even stranger. The front fork only has one staunchion on the left-hand side. So this is the only “Lefty Sixty-niner” that I’ve ever seen.

From Dundas Road we rode into Goodes Road and enjoyed the quick drop down the mountain. It’s difficult to enjoy the spectacular views while riding so fast, but I think we managed. One of the “surprises” on Goodes Road is a gate across a steep section of road half-way down, which can sometimes cause riders to skid as they grab the brakes to avoid hitting the gate.

Unfortunately, Jeff got a puncture during the descent. This was when I discovered another surprise about “lefty” forks. You don’t need to remove the front wheel to change the inner tube. Since there’s only one staunchion, you can remove the tube while the wheel is attached. Amazing stuff.

After fixing the puncture, we enjoyed the final sketchy descent down to England Creek and splashed through the creek crossing before having a break.

It’s worthwhile having a break at England Creek because it takes about 90 minutes to ride from there up to the top of the hill on Joyners Ridge Road. It’s not steep (as mountain bike hills go) but it is still a long climb.

The highlight of riding up Joyners Ridge Road is reaching the Rainforest at the top. It’s a lush, cool, green reminder that the climb is over. I think we all heaved a sigh of relief once we reached the top.

All up, this ride was about 35km with about 1,300m of vertical ascent. It took us 5 hours including breaks and repairs (we had a long lunch at the Mt Glorious Cafe), and I burned about 3,000kcal. Wtih todays perfect cool spring weather, I rate this one 7.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Add an extra point in summer or wet weather.

Total distance: 36.03 km
Total climbing: 1338 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 05:01:22

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Cycling, Moreton Bay, Redcliffe

Redcliffe

by NeilEnnis 8 September 2012 2 Comments Shortlink

Harrison and I went for a long slow ride by the water at Redcliffe this morning. The weather was perfect for it, and when your 12 year old son expresses interest in going for a ride with you, it’s important to do something about it 🙂

We rode to Scarborough via North-Lakes and stopped for a bit of a break to enjoy the view of the Glasshouse Mountains across Deception Bay. The weather has been perfect for over a month, so we were able to see a long way in the clear air.

At Scarborough we bumped into an old bloke named George. He’s 93 years old and tells me the secret of living a long life is “good tucker” and going for a walk every day. George grew up in Parkdale (south of Melbourne) and says he remembers as a kid in the 1920’s how deliveries were brought to his house by a cart pulled by Clydesdale horses.

Harrison and I had breakfast at “Sangers on the Beach” right across from the water at Scarborough. The food was delicious, the service was quick and the waiters were friendly. What more could two hungry cyclists ask for?

The cycleway at Redcliffe follows the beach for over 10km, so there are plenty of nice views over the water.

Finally, we stopped for one more quick break at Woody Point on the headland to cool off in the shade and check out the sail boats on the bay.

We rode 57km in about 4 hours. The pace was slow to allow Harrison to enjoy the ride. You need to watch out for the traffic on Anzac Avenue, but apart from that it’s a pretty sedate ride which rates about 5.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Total distance: 57.14 km
Total climbing: 396 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 04:36:16

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Aboriginal Australia, Cycling, History, South East Qld, xc

Adare

by NeilEnnis 1 September 2012 1 Comment Shortlink

Adare Homestead is a specatuclar rural property which has been owned by the Pinnell family for three generations, and is several kilometres north of Gatton in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley.

The traditional owners of this area are the Kitabul Aboriginal people.

European Explorer, Allan Cunningham first encountered the Kitabul people in 1829 while on an expedition from Ipswich to survey the area. Apparently he was impressed with the strength, and intimidating physical condition of the Kitabul.

A squatter by the name of J.P.Robinson was the first European settler to move to the area, taking up a license for 150,000 acres on what was then called “Laidley’s Plain”.

The Adare Homestead was first established towards the end of the nineteenth century. The grand home was moved there from its original location near lake Clarendon. The original home included seven marble fireplaces and was situated near to the old Cobb and Co route from Ipswich to Toowoomba. In fact you can still see the circular driveway which was built to allow the horse drawn carriages to turn around outside the homestead.

These days, Adare Homestead is better known for Mountainbike Racing. John Pinnell and the folks from The Riders Club at Adare have lovingly built almost 7km of single track around the property which is a pleasure (and a challenge) to ride on.

John very kindly gave his permission for Tony and I to ride there today as part of our larger loop through Lockyer State Forest. I’ve ridden in Lockyer State Forest before, and loved it. So today I wanted to show a friend why I think it’s such a special place.

The trail through the forest up to the summit is a lot of fun with nine creek crossings (you WILL get your feet weet so bring a spare pair of socks), and a tough 5km climb which rises from about 200m above sea level to over 500m above sea level.

The blue skies and clear spring air today meant that we could enjoy some breathtaking views at the top. I think Tony and I both were a bit intimidated by the steep drop-off from this point to the valley below.

At the top of the climb, we had two choices: take the gentle 4wd trail down, or take a steep gnarly “short cut” down. We pondered over our decision for about a millisecond before deciding that “steep and gnarly” beats “gentle” every time.

It’s exhillarating to ride down steep trails. Wallers Road was very rutted in parts, so it was important to chose the right line to make sure we didn’t end up at the bottom of a ditch.

It’s a 9km descent down Wallers Road. The final descent starts out steep and rocky…

It gets steeper and rockier…

…before finally turning into something resembling a fun-park joy ride. Weeeeeee……… 🙂

The sign at the bottom said it all for me. It may look like a warning sign, but it’s actually advertising a fun trail for daredevil mountain bikers.

All up this ride was 38km long. We climbed about 900m and I burned about 2,500 kcal over two and a half hours.

With todays perfect cool weather, I’m rating this one 7 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Stronger riders will be able to ride it all. If you’re unsure, you should walk the steeper descents.

Just a reminder: Adare Homestead is private property. That means you can’t go there unless you first contact the owners and get their permission. John Pinnell can be contacted on 0424 057 578.

Total distance: 37.54 km
Total climbing: 997 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 03:09:46

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