A koala gatecrashed our Friday drinks on the deck this afternoon.
He quickly scrambled up the paper-bark tree then jumped into a neighbouring eucalypt before munching on some gum leaves.
When I took this picture he was probably less than a 2 metres away.
While I was leaning out taking photos of a Koala I didn’t realize how close I was to this golden orb spider. Looking like a strange little potato with spindly legs, these little creatures can be found all over our garden
Lance invited Craig, Graham and me around to his place for a ride in the national park near his house at Upper Brookfield. He’d told me it would probably be hilly, but I started to worry when the long driveway up to his house reached gradients of over 30%.
We planned to ride to Mermaid Mountain, climb it, and loop back through the D’Aguilar National Park.
Mermaid Mountain is the highest peak in the southern section of the D’Aguilar Range.
The surrounding terrain is very hilly. We ascended almost 700m in 13km on our bikes. That’s heart-breaking steepness.
But the climb to the top of the mountain is worth the wonderful view. You can see Flinders Peak off to the south (left) of the photo, and Lake Manchester off to the north-west (right).
Craig’s brake pads broke. Normally this would be a serious thing out on the trail, but he had brought some replacement pads. He and Graham knew how to replace the pads.
I wouldn’t have had a clue and don’t carry spare pads. Perhaps I should add that to the long list of items I already carry in my pack?
Secretly I rejoiced because it meant we could stop for half an hour and catch our breath.
Well done guys, for fixing the brakes.
By the way, can you make out the words on Graham’s Jersey? He didn’t look that cranky to me 🙂
Thanks Lance for a really enjoyable ride, and some delicious home made ginger beer at the end!
Total distance: 15.05 km Total climbing: 722 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 03:31:59
“This is paradise” I gushed to Liz as we walked through this spectacular national park today.
“Kondalilla” means “Rushing Water” in the Gubbi Gubbi / Kabbi Kabbi Aboriginal Language – a reference to the amazing 80m waterfall that pours out of the rainforest down to the rocks below.
What’s also special about this rainforest are the amazing Bunya Pines (Araucaria Bidwillii) which tower above the forest on ridges and hill tops all over the place. Some of them looked to be at least 70 metres high. This is the homeland of the Bunya Pine – a majestic tree so important to the Aboriginal people who have inhabited this part of the world for thousands of years.
It’s mountainous terrain – not for the faint-hearted. We climbed 300 metres during our 6km walk. But it was well worth the effort.
As an added bonus, a friendly Lace Monitor swaggered up to me and gulped down a chicken bone while I was filiming him.
The icing on the cake was the stunning views from the lookout at Montville. We were able to see all of the Sunshine Coast, including Mount Coolum and Mount Ninderry.
Yes, this is paradise, and we’re so lucky to be living in it.
Total distance: 7.58 km Total climbing: 346 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 02:21:07
Mount Samson was called “Buran” by the local Aborigines. In the Turrbal language it means “wind”. Unfortunately there was no wind up there today.
The aim was to ride our mountain bikes up to a flattish point at about 500m elevation, then hike the rest of the way to the 680m summit. Easier said than done. The road had been washed out in several places, covered in fallen rocks and logs. We climbed 430m in the first kilometre. With my head spinning and sweat dripping from me I was exhausted. Thankfully Derek gave me a bit of a push-along when I needed it, and we all managed to get the bikes up to the planned point.
From this vantage point, the views over Lake Samsonvale out to Moreton Bay are spectacular.
At this point we met up with some hiking friends, and started the long slog through the lantana and up the mountain. Lantana is a horrible weed with stems that can grow thicker than your thumb. The leaves and stems cut at your skin and several times blocked out way entirely. We had to smash through it with our feet (we didn’t take a Machete).
Eventually we beat the lantana and took a breather before the final push up through the rocks and the rainforest to the top.
Strangely the view from the summit isn’t panoramic. It’s covered with trees. But it’s still beautiful. Someone has erected some Tibetan Prayer Flags at the top. It took me a while to make the connection. Prayer Flags are usually flown high up in the Himalayas. But I suppose this is as high as you’re going to get around Brisbane, so it make sense to me.
You could see a few good views by peaking out through the trees, but for me the best bit about the summit was taking a well-earned rest with some really fun people. This started off, for me, as a harebrained scheme when I asked a few friends “Do you think we could ride bikes up Mount Samson”. The fantastic thing is that those friends were willing to try something difficult and silly with me – even the ones that weren’t able to ride. I’m really grateful to have friends like that.
What’s next???
If you’d like a sadistic look at the climbing-profile for this trip, here it is:
Total distance: 22.56 km Total climbing: 1002 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 06:08:37
This was a huge ride, starting with a tough 5km climb at the start and a gruelling 7km climb towards the end. It was worth it for the tranquillity of being out in the bush exploring new places.
After climbing “The Goat Track” I took Lightline Road down to Lake Manchester. It’s descends steeply for about 8km, which is fun. The only problem is that what goes down must eventually come up! This is Cabbage Tree Creek which flows down from the D’Aguilar Range into Lake Manchester.
I rode back up to Mt Nebo via Cabbage Tree Range Road. I love hill climbs, but this one was hard work and just kept going for about 7km. About half way up I conked out and had a large Mars Bar to try and get going again. That’s when I spied this Prickly Pear clinging tenaciously to a rock.
Once back at the top of the range, I saw familiar looking markings on a huge Eucalyptus. I think they’re aboriginal scar marks – similar to what I saw at the Wights Mountain Bora Ring. This area is part of the traditional country of the Turrbal people and perhaps they made these marks sometime in the mid 19th century.
It was a great feeling to be back on top of the range again. The air was cooler, I knew the ride was mostly downhill from there, and the sound of the Bellbirds was magical. They really do sound like bells!
Total distance: 34.35 km Total climbing: 1229 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 04:38:23
To celebrate Australia Day, Liz and I took the kids for a walk through the rainforest in D’Aguilar National Park.
There are various traditional owners of the D’Aguilar Range area, including the Turrbal, Garumngar and Jinibara Aboriginal people. The country is magical: the calls of Bellbirds ringing in the forest, the cool mountain breezes, the dense rainforest and the towering majestic tress. I can only wonder what it would have been like thousands of years ago before European settlement.
We started our walk through the “Rainforest Circuit” in the Maiala section of Mount Glorious. We followed an easy 2km trail through some lush rainforest.
At different points in the forest we spotted giant Sydney Blue Gums towering over the forest. Before this area was logged in the 19th century, the area was full of these majestic trees. Now they’re much scarcer.
We then finished our walk following the trail from the “Western Window” lookout, through the bush back to the car park, before driving down to Jollys Lookout for some stunning views of the Greater Brisbane Area – no wonder Lord Mayor William Jolly built a road to it in the 1930’s!
Total distance: 4.91 km Total climbing: 167 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:18:18
The kids were a bit restless this morning, so we decided to burn up some of their excess energy by taking them on a hike. We drove up into the D’Aguilar Ranges and hiked from the road to the Summit of Mount Nebo (620m) and back – a total of about 6.5km.
We followed a forestry fire trail for about 2.5km to the summit, and came back via a walking track on the southern side of the ridge, which meant we were able to check out a number of different ecosystems.
It’s a different world in the rainforest. Worries seem far away!
Let’s do this again soon 🙂
Total distance: 6.32 km Total climbing: 328 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:48:10
