History – Page 7

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

Gold Creek

by NeilEnnis 1 December 2012 No Comments Shortlink

On Friday afternoon I was getting that familiar feeling of panic – I wanted to do a big ride, but didn’t know where to go. So I thought I’d be lazy and messaged my friend Darb “I don’t know where to ride tomorrow, have you got any ideas?”

“Somewhere cool!”, he replied.

“How about ….” I replied back detaiiling an wildly epic ride through D’Aguilar National Park taking in over 100km of tracks.

Rather than indulge my wild-eyed enthusiasm for such an ambitious ride on the first day of summer (the last few days have been very hot and very humid), Darb decided to give me a dose of common sense, and we eventually settled on a slightly shorter but just as tough ride to Gold Creek Reservoir.

Gold Creek has an interesting history. It was an important boundary for the Turrbal aboriginal people. It marked the south-western edge of their country which stretched all the way from that point north-east to the North Pine River. Constance Campbell Petrie writes:

This tribe all spoke the same language, but, of course, was
divided up into different lots, who belonged some to North
Pine, some to Brisbane, and so on. These lots had their
own little boundaries. Though the land belonged to the whole
tribe, the head men often spoke of it as theirs. The tribe in
general owned the animals and birds on the ground, also roots
and nests, but certain men and women owned different
fruit or flower-trees and shrubs. For instance, a man could
own a bon-yi (Araucaria Bidwilli) tree, and a woman a minti
(Banksia amula), dulandella (Persoonia Sp.), midyim (Myrtus
tenuifolia), or dakkabin (Xanthorrhcea aborea) tree. Then
a man sometimes owned a portion of the river which was a
good fishing spot, and no one else could fish there without
his permission.

In 1846, Tom Petrie passed through this area as a 14 year old boy on his way from the penal colony at Brisbane to Wivenhoe Station in the Brisbane Valley. What a long way to walk!

In the 1860’s, a small amount of alluvial gold was discovered in the creek (which is how it got its name).

In the 1880’s, the growing town of Brisbane needed more water. While nearby Enoggera Reservoir was able to supply water to many parts of Brisbane, it wasn’t able to get water to many of the higher locations around Brisbane because it was too low – and without a pump water can’t run uphill. A dam was built on Gold Creek at a point about 100m above sea level. This was higher than most places in towm, and so a gravity-fed pipeline was able to supply the water needs of the more elevated homes in town, 20km away.

Today Darb and I thought we’d set ourselves a challenge, and ride from home to Gold Creek and back. We rode through Bunyaville, and then up to the top of “Ironbark” in Samford Forest. From there we slowly ground our way to the summit of Camp Mountain (up the short side), then rode down (and up) Centre Road in D’Aguilar National Park. Eventually we followed Gold Creek Road off South Boundary Road, down to the reservoir.

The only problem was, as it was the first day of summer, I ran out of water by the time we got to the reservoir. I was carrying 3 litres on my back, and 800ml of sports drink on the bike, but that wasn’t enough in the hot humid weather. Thankfully we were able to fully top up at an old house with a water tank near the reservoir. Just to be on the safe side I dropped a couple of micropur water purifying tablets into the water. It was fine.

We slowly rode back up Gold Creek Road, down (and up) Centre Road, and back into the Camp Mountain part of the forest via Bellbird Grove. Darb showed me “Dive bomb” – a fun track which lets you zoom down some steep trails under the powerlines, shooting you out near Mount Nebo Road. Unfortunately we were going in the wrong direction and didn’t want to add yet another large climb into the trip, so we gave “Dive bomb” a miss today.

This ride had some long steep climbs, and by the end of it, we’d slogged out over 1,850m of vertical ascent. During the 76km ride I burned about 4,500 kcal. We took about seven and a half hours including breaks. On a hot day like today, I’m rating this one 9.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Consider topping up on water at the half way point, and you need lots (and lots) of energy snacks, plus copious quantities of sun-screen.

Total distance: 75.99 km
Total climbing: 1966 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 07:34:35

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

Goomburra

by NeilEnnis 4 November 2012 1 Comment Shortlink

Goomburra is part of the “Main Range National Park” on the Great Dividing Range in South East Queensland. The Goomburra section of the park is located north of Cunninghams Gap either side of Dalrymple Creek. It’s named after the Gooneburra aboriginal people. In the Keinjan language, “Gooneburra” means “Fire people” from the tribe’s habit of setting fire to grasslands as a means of managing the land. Professor Maurice French, at the University of Southern Queensland, says that they numbered perhaps 1500 to 2000 people.

Dalrymple Creek is named after Ernest Dalryple, a European squatter, who arrived in the area in 1841 to take up a “selection” on what the settlers called “Goomburra Run”.

Eric, Tony and I started our ride from “Gordon Country” in the valley along Dalrymple Creek, and then slowly wound our way up the long slow climb into the rainforest. It took about an hour to reach the top, and I was glad to finally get there.

The views from Mount Castle Lookout were amazing. Mount Castle and the surrounding peaks of the Liverpool Range form a sharp ridgeline extending from the Main Range north-eastwards towards Laidley. I was impressed by the cliffs and the views off in the distant east of the Teviot Range and Lamington Plateau.

At Mount Castle Lookout, the Great Dividing Range splits in two branches. The main range heads off to the west while “The Mistake Mountains” go off to the north. They were called this because in the early days, people mistook them for the main range. We rode north over The Mistake Mountains to “The Winder”. Years ago, loggers converted an old truck into a winch to haul up the large logs from the steep slopes of these mountains. The loggers have gone, and all that is left of the “Winder” are these rusty ruins.

Eric took what he called a “Micro nap”. He’s a lot faster on the bike than I am, so I suppose he decided to make the most of the time that he spent waiting for me to catch up 🙂

The ridge line along the Mistake Mountains is covered in rainforest. These Giant Tree Ferns (Cyathea australis) were all over the place. I’ve read somewhere that they can group up to 20 metres in height. This one made my bike look like a toy.

Once we’d finished at the Winder, we had to climb back the way we had come regaining 250 metres in altitude, back to the junction with the Main Range. We then continued our journey westwards along the Main Range.

The views along the track were spectacular. Every few minutes we stopped to catch glimpses of the valley through the trees as we looked down into “Glen Rock” park below.

As we rode further along the track, the slopes on either side became progressively steeper. Eventually, it felt like we were riding on the top of a razor blade. On our left, steep slopes dropped down to Dalrymple creek to the south. On our right, sheer cliffs dropped down to Glen Rock Park to the north. The track was wide, and safe, but it meant we had some amazing views.

I couldn’t belive the beauty of the landscape we were looking at.

As I looked down into the valley in Glen Rock National Park, I thought that perhaps we should come back to this place in the not too distant future and do a bit more exploring. There is some stunning country in South-East Queensland. With a reasonable amount of fitness, and a decent mountain bike, a whole new world opens up to explore. More than enough for one life time. In the last three yeas I’ve seen more natural beauty in thiis part of the world by riding my bike than at any other time in my life.

From our mountain-top high we rolled back down the mountain to “Gordon Country” 4wd park. There are a number of tracks down the mountain – some precariously steep, some rather gentle. By luck we managed to pick a quick but safe descent which had us back at the car in about 10 minutes.

All up we cycled 37km in about 5 hours including stops, climbing a total of 1,400m in vertical ascent. I burned about 4,000 kcal. This is probably the toughest sub 40km ride I’ve done. We had to push the bikes up a couple of hills, and had to work hard on some of the longer climbs.

I rate this one 9 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. You won’t need more than intermediate mountain biking skills – the tracks aren’t too technical except for one or two steep descents. But you’ll need moderate to high fitness, plenty of water and snacks. Make sure you take a camera 🙂

Total distance: 38.6 km
Total climbing: 1451 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 05:06:54

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Cycling, History, South East Qld, xc

Mount Kilcoy

by NeilEnnis 15 October 2012 7 Comments Shortlink

Mount Kilcoy is a small farming community in a secluded valley bounded on three sides by the Conondale Range. I was curious about what it would be like to ride from there into the hills to the north, so I convinced a couple of friends to join me.

Jason, Wil and I started our ride surrounded by contented cattle grazing on the lush grass. This place has known severe drought in the last decade, so it was really nice to see so much green grass and flowing water.

After a few easy kilometres warm-up along Mount Kilcoy Road, we eventually reached the national park boundary. From here, the gradient increased sharply, and we had to start working quite hard. Wil made the mistake of munching on a couple of meat pies before the ride. He regretted that half-way up the 5km climb.

We climbed about 450m in 5km as we wound our way up the range. Hill climbs are a fact of life in mountain biking, so we just sat back, pushed the pedals, and slowly made our way to the top.

I’m glad we did most of the hard work at the start. From that point our route undulated northwards over the mountain range as we crossed several picturesque creeks. The creeks in the western section of the Conondale Range drain into the Stanley River and Somerset Dam, eventually flowing into the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay.

At the half-way point of our ride we reached the Sunday Creek Environmental Education Centre (EEC). This wonderful facility is run by the Queensland Education Department to provide Environmental Education to our kids. One of the walls of the centre has a mural based on an old photograph of Alf Raung and his bullock dray. Alf used to work his bullock team between the logging towns of Yednia and Jimna. In the early 20th century, the Conondale Range was logged for its magnificent timber. In fact, the EEC is situated where an old sawmill use to be. Some of the buildings used to form part of the sawmill. Alf Raung would collect the huge logs that timber getters had felled. After loading them on his dray, the team of bullocks would haul the heavy load to the sawmill where it would be cut into planks.

In a strange twist of fate, Alf’s grandson, Michael is principal of the EEC.

Before the days of logging, the Sunday Creek area had a gold rush. EEC principal, Michael, tells me that several thousand people lived in this area at the time. While some panned for gold in Sunday Creek, others dug myriads of mines as they feverishly sought the yellow metal. Some accounts say that people were crammed in so closely together in tents and makeshift shelters that it was almost impossible to drive a horse through the area. If you take time to wonder around, you’ll come across small mounds of dirt which at first glimpse appear to be unmarked graves – they’re actually old mine shafts.

Our plan was to then visit the Sunday Creek Fire Tower. It’s clearly marked as a feature on the DERM maps and I thought it would be a great spot to enjoy the view. After grinding for a kilometre up a very steep and overgrown track, we discovered the fire tower was gone. All that was left were a few old stumps. And there was no view. Aparently it was damaged by a forest fire several years ago, and was demolished. I was grateful the guys didn’t take out their disappointment on me physically 🙂

After the fire tower, we made our way southwards along “Ten Mile Road” over a few more creek crossings, stopping every hour or so to top up on food and rest our legs.

I’m glad we took time to rest. I was expecting a nice steep downhill run back into the valley, and didn’t anticipate the mother of all climbs beforehand. It was only about 500 metres long, but we were all pretty tired by the time we reached the top.

The view from North-West Point at the top of the climb was worth the effort. Below us, to the south, we could see the spectacular landscape stretching out towards Lake Somerset.

From this point, Kerrs Lane dropped steeply. It was a mountain bikers dream. We just put our weight back as far as possible, tried not to overheat the brakes, and enjoyed the long ride back down to the valley. We lost over 400m of altitude in about 3km.

At the bottom of our descent, we found ourselves in a paddock next to a farm house. Ed and Kylie Williams live at Cedar Glen – an idyllic cattle property at the end of Kerrs Lane. They kindly explained to us that although Kerrs Lane might look like an “official” road on maps, it doesn’t really exist. While we thought we were hooting down a gazetted road on our bikes, we were actually riding along one of their farm tracks.

From there, it was a quick roll down Kerrs Lane, back to our car, with the contented cattle still munching on the lush grass.

We rode about 55km in about 6.5 hours including breaks. We climbed a total of about 1,600m and I burned about 4,000 kcal. Due to the tough climbs at the start and finish, and the challenging navigation that it required in parts, I’m giving this one 9 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

I’d like to pay tribute to Wil. He doesn’t have much experience in Mountain Biking (he’s a road bike rider). This was his first real cross-country mountain biking experience. Apart from a digestive challenge at the start because of the meat pies, he nailed this ride on an entry-level bike with flat pedals and v-brakes (not disk brakes). I think he did incredibly well. Good on ya, Wil!

Thanks, to Jason, too, for driving us out there, and providing some great company during the ride.

I’d also like to thank the Williams family for their warm welcome when we turned up unannounced at their front door-step. It was really nice to meet you, Ed and Kylie.

Thanks also to Michael from the EEC. It made a big difference to us being able to top up our water at Sunday Creek. What you’re doing there is amazing!

Total distance: 54.71 km
Total climbing: 1665 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 06:40:19

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

Conondale Range

by NeilEnnis 7 October 2012 1 Comment Shortlink

The Conondale Range is a beautiful part of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland located between Maleny, Kilcoy, Kenilworth and Jimna. It forms part of the Great Dividing Range and includes rugged mountainous country, serene creeks, thick rainforest and some challenging but fun riding tracks. It forms the headwaters of the gorgeous Mary River, and is the northern most part of the catchment area for the Brisbane River.

This area is part of the traditional country of the Gubbi Gubbi / Kabi aboriginal people. The Bunya Pine (Araucaria Bidwillii) which grows here is sacred to them as a food source and a focus of cultural activities including the triennial Bunya Feast mentioned by Tom Petrie in 1845. In 1842, New South Wales colonial Governor Gipps recognized this, made it illegal to clear any land north of Moreton Bay if it contained Bunyas. This postponed European settlement of the Sunshine Coast hinterland until the new Queensland Goverment repealed the edict in 1860.

It wasn’t until 110 years later in the 1970’s that the Conondale National Park was established after a campaign by conservationist group, The Conondale Range Committee.

To their great credit, the local Gubbi Gubbi / Kabi people were instrumental in setting up the “Great Walk” trail – a popular route for many hikers today.

I’ve ridden in this area before with my friend Eric: In the southern section around Bellthorpe, and further north near Charlie Moreland Park and Booloumba Falls. After both rides, I started wondering if there was a way we could ride through most of the forest from south to north, starting at Bellthorpe, north of Woodford and ending at Charlie Moreland Park near Keniworth. Today we answered that question!

Rather than ride a big loop, we took two cars, parked one near Charlie Moreland Park (a couple of km from Kenilworth). We then drove the other car up to Bellthorpe in the south to start our ride. This meant we could cover a greater distance.

After a harrowing drive up Grigors Road from Conondale, we parked Eric’s 4wd at Bellthorpe near the site of the old Brandons timber mill site – a reminder of the logging history of the area.

We headed north along the road to Jimna. It’s a popular 80km drive for 4wd enthusiasts. Our aim was to follow the road part of the way, then veer North-East into the forest along one of the fire management roads.

Along the way, we enjoyed the stunning views to the west.

After about 45 minutes we reached our intersection and stopped for a quick bit to eat.

From there it was an easy roll down the hill to one of the many pristine creeks that flow through the forest. Since we weren’t in much of a hurry, we decided to have another quick break 🙂

The climb out of the creek crossing took us through a variety of different landscapes including some ancient rainforest, as well as a small hoop pine plantation and some open Eucalyptus forest.

The Fire Management Road overlaps with the “Great Walk” trail for several kilometres. The Great Walk allows hikers to complete the 56km circuit in about 4 days.

As we headed further north, we eventually crossed Booloumba Creek, then met up with Forest Drive – one of the forest roads we had ridden on one of our previous rides.

Rather than follow this busy gravel road back to Charlie Moreland Park, we detoured via another fire management road in order to find another way down the mountain.

The fire management road dropped us out on the main road at Cambroon, and we followed the paved road for a few km back to the end point of the ride on the banks of the beautiful Mary River.

We rode 40km in just over 3 hours (4:15 including leisurely breaks). I burned 3,500kcal and we climbed over 1,100m in vertical ascent. We also enjoyed over 1,500m of descent since we started at a higher point than where we finished. Because of the remote country, and logistical difficulty of setting this ride up, it rates 8 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Maybe 7.5 out of 10 if it was part of a well organized ride.

Total distance: 40.88 km
Total climbing: 1157 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 04:12:38

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BNT, Cycling, History, South East Qld, xc

Seven Mile Diggings

by NeilEnnis 2 October 2012 2 Comments Shortlink

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

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Cycling, History, South East Qld, xc

Maidenwell

by NeilEnnis 2 October 2012 1 Comment Shortlink

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

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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, 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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Musings

Musings

Category: History

Gold Creek

Goomburra

Mount Kilcoy

Conondale Range

Seven Mile Diggings

Maidenwell

Maidenwell

Mount Glorious