Over the last week I’ve had an overseas visitor. I took the week off work so I could take my friend Miles on a few rides around our local area.
As always, I felt like there was so much to see and so little time, so I think I overdid it a bit.
Here’s a summary of what we did:
Day 1
He’d only been off the plane 90 minutes, and I dragged Miles and his bike up to Clear Mountain. This place is fun to ride, but it has some really steep sections. Miles handled it admirably. 30km in 2 hours with 644 metres of ascent.
More info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/226710953
Day 2
A huge loop through D’Aguilar National Park. 45km in about 6 hours with 2,000m of ascent.
More info: The D’Aguilar “Big W”
Day 3
A tour of the Glasshouse Mountains. 64km in just over 6 hours with 1,050m of ascent.
More info: Beerburrum – Woodford Loop ?
Day 4
Adare Homestead. On our way to Yarraman, we decided to stop at John Pinnell’s place to ride a few laps around his mountain biking race track on the eve of the Queensland State Championships. 16km in 1.5 hours with about 360m of ascent.
More info: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/228289945
Day 5
A loop through the forest from Yarraman to Maidenwell and back. 66km in about 7.5 hours with 1,200m of vertical ascent.
More info: Yarraman – Maidenwell
Day 6
A large loop along some old coach routes from Yarraman to Nanango, and back through the Seven Mile Diggings gold fields to Blackbutt and back to Yarraman via the rail trail. 82km in 7.5 hours, 1,300m of ascent. Miles decided he’d sit this one out and rode some single trails at Bunyaville and Gap Creek instead.
More info: Seven Mile Diggings
Summary
For the week I did 303km in 21 hours with 6,600m of ascent.
Eric left the best till the last day on our overnight group ride at Yarraman. Five of us traced out a huge 80km loop along some old coach routes before rolling back into town along the remnants of the former railway line.
The first part of our trip took us through Gibson State Forest north towards Nanango along Din Din Road. At several places we had to open barbed wire gates to continue. A barbed wire gate (or “dog gate”) is a simple gate where the wire is wrapped around a removable post which is then latched on to a fence post by a loop of wire. They’re easy to make, much less expensive than a fancy gate, and easy to open and close (if you know what you’re doing). We decided Eric knew more than the rest of us, so we let him handle the gates 🙂
The track eventually merged with the old coach route along “Old Yarraman Road”. It’s a gazetted road, and was one way the horse-drawn coach would travel between Yarraman and Nanango. After riding it, I don’t know how they managed it. But it is a lot of fun to bounce along it on a bike.
Mountain Bikes normally have suspension on the front to soften the ride. Howard’s bike didn’t have any suspension. The advantage is that the simpler setup makes the bike lighter and easier to ride. The downside is that you have to work harder to stay on the bike on bumpy sections of track. The only suspension Howard had on this section was his knees and elbows.
Once we reached Nanango we turned south towards the Seven Mile Diggings along another coach route: Old Esk Road. Alluvial gold was discovered here in 1867. That’s one of the main reasons the coach road passes this way.
Eventually Old Esk Road crosses Cooyar Creek and becomes “Old Coach Road”. The water was pretty deep. I don’t like getting my shoes wet. So unlike my tougher riding buddies, I took my shoes and socks off before wading across the creek.
Old Coach Road is a rough steep track. It’s hard work to ride up. In several places all of us had to get off and push. We were pretty tired by the time we reached the top, so we took the opportunity to have a rest and a snack.
Staines Road is a great little track than leads south from Taromeo towards the forestry town of Benarkin. One feature of the track is this impressive cordurouy bridge made of logs – a simple way to get across a boggy creek.
Eventually we rolled into Blackbutt along the rail trail and stopped for lunch at a local cafe. I couldn’t resist capturing the sign above Erics head. Can you read it?
The last section of the ride was an easy but pretty ride northwards along the old rail trail. The railway tracks are long-gone, but there are plenty of hints of this trails former life.
The old bridges are missing from the railway line in a few places. I think this makes the ride more interesting. Some of the creek crossings are gorgeous.
Eric found an old train brake pad. I think he found it amusing to compare it with the brake pads on his bike. The old metal pads would rub directly agains the train wheels to slow it down. This kept the wheels clean, but it made an awful lot of noise and heat.
Several creek crossings later, and we eventually rolled back into Yarraman after about seven and a half hours including breaks and a long lunch.
Five of us started this ride. A couple of riders left us early in Blackbutt, so only three of us finished it.
82km in 7.5 hours, 1,300m of ascent, and 3,800 kcal. This one rates 8.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.
Thanks Eric for a spectacular ride!
Total distance: 82.9 km Total climbing: 1416 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 07:24:33
For several years, my friend Eric has organized an overnight ride for members of the MTBDirt mountain biking community. We stayed at the Yarraman Caravan Park and spend the weekend exploring some of the local forests.
The town of Yarraman features prominently in the local history of the area. Early European settlers established cattle stations nearby – Taromeo Station to the East, Cooyar Station to the South-West and Tarong Station to the North-West. Stockmen from Cooyar and Taromeo stations would camp overnight on the banks of Yarraman Creek. It was here that they’d separate the cattle before taking them north to Nanango.
In the 1880’s Queensland Premier, Sir Thomas MacIlwraith made an epic trip through this area by coach from Ipswich to Maryborough. He was driven part of the way by the owner of the Esk Hotel, Ned McDdonald. As a reward for his labours, Ned won the lucrative Royal Mail contract in 1884 to deliver mail between Esk and Nanango via Colinton, Stonehouse and Taromeo. He operated this service for 8 years until 1892. The coach ride was rough and dangerous as it followed the rutted tracks left by bullock wagons.
The Coach service to Yarraman met its eventual demise when the railway line from Ipswich arrived in 1913. This photo from the John Oxley Library in Queensland shows that event.
On the first day, ten of us did the ride from Yarraman to Maidenwell and back. We followed forestry roads westward from Yarraman. The long downhills on the gravel were a lot of fun.
After couple of hours we refuelled at the Kingsview Cafe in Maidenwell. Nick enjoyed eating a burger the size of his head.
From there we spent some time wondering around the Boulders just outside of town. They’re strewn all over the hills in the area like left overs from a giant game of cosmic marbles. Some of them are massive. Some are tilted at strange angles, or piled on top of one another. It was fascinating just walking around looking at them.
From the boulders we followed an old stock route to Coomba Falls. Although I didn’t try the water, some people didn’t seem to mind the cold water.
The stock route continues across Coomba Gully back to the forestry road. On the way we had to drag the bikes over the creek and brave the “Fukawi Grass”. When walking through this grass, which is often head-high, some shorter people can often be heard to say “Where the fukawi” 🙂
This whole area is full of tall Xanthorrhoeas (Grass Trees). Many of them are over three metres in height. Considering their slow growth rate of about 1cm per year, this means many of them were two or three hundred years old.
We did 66km in about 7.5 hours including breaks a long lunch, and an extended walk around the boulders. I burned about 3,800 kcal. With 1,200m of vertical ascent this one rates 7.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.
Total distance: 67.7 km Total climbing: 1294 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 07:31:34
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
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
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
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
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
