The North Pine River is flooded at the moment from all the rain we’ve been having.
Some of the crossings are quite low, so I think I was being a tad optimistic this morning when I hoped I’d be able to ride over a few of them (I didn’t).
Makes you wonder what it was like in the old days before we had the dam upstream.
Simon and I caught the train up to Caboolture today and cycled back via Wamuran and Dayboro.
The aim was to explore an old historical road in our area and have fun while we were doing it.
“The Old North Road” is a historic road which was established in 1843 by The Archer brothers (David, Thomas and John) and Evan Mackenzie as a quicker way to travel from Brisbane to Durundur Station and Kilcoy.
Parts of it remain to the North West of Brisbane (where it’s known as “Old Northern Road”, and up near Wamuran on the D’Aguilar Highway where it’s still known as “Old North Road”.
One of the pleasant surprises we found along the way was Zillman’s Crossing. It’s a causeway where The Old North Road crosses the Caboolture River in Rocksberg. This delightfully picturesque spot belies its history where horses, carts, and later cars would have a terrible time getting over the crossing.
We also crossed Gregors Creek, an old dirt track at the southern end of F.Lindsay Road. This was originally part of the Old North Road, but became disused over the years. Click on the video for a superb demonstration of prowess as Simon shows how to cross a creek on a bike.
As this newspaper article from the Moreton Bay Courier (October 24 1846) reports, Gregors Creek was site of a gruesome murder.
A little further south, and The Old North Road passed below Franz Mountain in Moorina. It overlooks a secluded valley which follows the banks of Burpengary Creek. Today the road is called “Franz Road” and passes south-east through some private property towards Narangba.
One of the beautiful old properties close to Franz Mountain is “Mary Ann’s Cottage“. This delightful cottage was built around 1880 by the son of one of the Moravian Missionaries, Maurice Schnieder and his wife Mary Ann. An outstanding native fig tree (Ficus Virens) stands proudly on the property, and is believed to be over 500 years old.
Meg Thomas, owner of Mary Ann’s Cottage has a fascinating collection of documents detailing the history of the property:
We’ll try to complete the northern section of The Old North Road next week, from Moorina to Whiteside.
But to cap this leg of the journey off, we decided to follow an old dirt “short cut” up the side of Mt Mee. Exceeding a grade of 25% over a couple of kilometres, this has to be the steepest road I’ve ever tried cycling up. But the views were spectacular, and the exhilarating journey down the mountain after the summit made it a worthwhile climb.
On my cycle back from Samford this morning, I thought I’d take a detour over Drapers Crossing that crosses the South Pine River through some idyllic dairy farmland.
The rickety bridge looks like it’s been there for ages, but the actual crossing has been in use much longer.
At 28 years of age, Jacob Draper an English migrant, built a slab cottage near here in 1869.
His land holdings grew, and his family eventually established a successful dairy farm. The family continued to operate successful dairy farms until well into the 20th century.
(Source “Pioneering The Pine. A Short History of the Pine Rivers Shire” by Leith Barter)
A sad reminder of the heartbreak faced by pioneering families in the district in the 1870’s. Bernard died aged 7 months. A decade later, his brother Ralph, died aged 12 months.
The brothers must have been one of the earliest burials in the Bunya Cemetery, which was established in 1873.
I enjoyed cycling over “Bunya Crossing” this morning, and riding along the banks of the South Pine River.
Recent rain has given the river a generous flow, and I passed several spots which looked like they would be great for a swim.
“Bunya Crossing” crosses the South Pine River between Eaton’s Hill and Albany Creek.
This area was originally settled by James Cash around 1851. He gained freehold title in 1858, becoming the first freehold land owner in the district.
You can hike or cycle this area starting at Sargeant Reserve on Bunya Crossing Road, cross the river, and follow it mostly by pathways all the way down to the main bridge on South Pine Road at Cash’s Crossing.
Our family is lucky to live in such a beautiful place.
Here’s a video I took with a mobile phone of one of my bicycle rides around the local area. I strapped my Nokia 95 to my handle bars, pressed the “record” button and started riding. It’s a bit shaky, and you can hear some heavy breathing when I ride up Grant Street, but it’s always a pleasant ride, and a great way to start the day.
Pine Rivers has some spectacular scenery along with some amazing history. The Hoop and Bunya Pines are gorgeous, the Lakes look fantastic, the D’Aguilar Range in the background is impressive. I’ve only just started to appreciate all of this, and highlights to me that if we’re not mindful, we can spend our time in wonderful places and often never see or appreciate the splendour that is staring us in the face.
So I tell everyone who’ll listen – get on a bike and have a look around the place where you live. Ask questions, find out about your local history. You’ll be pleasantly surprised!
I saw this giant eucalypt while cycling around Mount Glorious last week.
Mist and rain were swirling around on the mountain top. It was spectacular, and worth the 80km return trip and 1500m total ascent.
Mount Glorious is part of the D’Aguilar Range national park, and has some spectacular forests.
Unfortunately the rain got in my phone so I wasn’t able to take any more photos.
I thought I’d ride out to Deception Bay this morning. To make it interesting I cut through North Lakes, and found a couple of dirt tracks at end of Discovery Drive, North Lakes, which helped me get there from the South-West without having to navigate some of the major roads in the area.
It’s Australia Day today and at the waterfront, all the BBQ’s and picnic tables were taken – even at 9am. I’m not surprised because it’s very pretty, with great views to Scarborough, Moreton Island and Bribie Island.
Deception Bay was initially named Pumicestone River” by John Oxley in 1823. When he realized it wasn’t actually a river, he named it “Deception Bay” instead.
Poor John Oxley had more than his share of “deception” in this area – being led up the North Pine River by shipwrecked convicts Finnegan and Pamphlett, who told him it was the Brisbane River. When he realized it wasn’t the Brisbane River, he named it “Deception River”, but “North Pine” river eventually stuck because of all of the Hoop Pines that grew along the river’s banks.
Dr Joseph Bancroft was doctor and scientist who settled in the Deception Bay area in the 1860’s.
He is famous for his studies in parasitology, but one of the more touching memorials in the area is “Mrs Bancroft’s Bath”.
His wife was diagnosed with an illness which doctors suggested could be mitigated by bathing in salt water. To make this easier for Mrs Bancroft, Joseph had a bath carved out of one of the large rocks on the foreshore. At high tide, the water would fill the bath, and Mrs Bancroft would be able to take her saltwater bath with ease.
As you can see from the picture, the bath is still there as a testimony to one man’s love and care for his ill wife.
Mount Coolum was a good climb. It’s not as high as nearby Mount Ninderry, but it’s a more challenging climb because there’s more slippery rocks to negotiate.
I rode the bike down from Coolum Beach, chained it to a tree in the car park, and climbed from there.
There are spectacular views in all directions, but it’s not as panoramic as Emu Mountain. You need to move around the summit a bit to see in different directions.
Nevertheless, it’s quite high, and very close to the coast, so it’s worth having a look.
The track was quite busy. I passed about a dozen people when I climbed.
