Category: Moreton Bay

The Goat Track is a narrow one-way gravel road which winds up from Samford Valley to Mount Nebo. Until recently it saved motorists over 10km on the trip.

But heavy rain a few months ago caused landslides which made the road impassable for everything except foot traffic and mountain bikes.

The natural disaster has inspired the locals to develop some exciting new art forms.

At first one or two simple stone sculptures sprang up by the roadside near the damaged areas. As other walkers passed by, they added to the artwork, building more and more complex sculptures until in one area, the whole roadside has turned into one large gallery of public artwork seeking to propitiate the gods of the mountain to ensure the safety of this thoroughfare.

This whole thing has been spontaneous. The people who contributed to it probably never met the earlier contributors, but it has evolved into a public collaborative work of art. There are rumours that the local council may not ever have the funds to repair the damage. And so weeds and grass continue their slow march reclaiming the road while people slowly turn what was a serious traffic route into a public art gallery with-a-view for fun-loving hikers.

Liz and I enjoyed a hike along Joyners Ridge Road. Starting at the Maiala car park, we walked 7.6km down through the rainforest to England Creek, and then back up again. A total trip of 15.2km with almost 700m of vertical ascent. Lachlan and I walked this road as part of our hike last week, but today it seemed much easier.

This walk gave some great examples of the different environments that exist at various altitudes down the mountain. We started off in thick rainforest filled with piccabeen palms, figs, and ferns.

After about 2km, the vegetation underwent a stunningly quick change into wet Sclerophyll forests with tall Eucalyptus.

The air was filled with the calls of bellbirds and whipbirds sounding like laser sound effects from a Star Wars movie.

Another few kilometres down the track and the vegetation opened up, the ground was much drier, and we didn’t have to worry about the ubiquitous leeches that inhabit the wetter parts of the forest.

The Red Trianlge Slug (Triboniophorus graeffei) is the largest land slug in Australia. Liz almost stepped on this magnificent specimen. As we approached, it shrunk in size defensively. But even so, it was still the size of a human hand.

A previous visitor appears to have cut an archway through a lantana thicket. To my warped mind it looked like a little hut.

I really enjoyed being able to share this beautiful walk with Liz. All up it took us just around 3 hours plus 45 minutes in breaks. Let’s do it again soon!

I hiked up to the lookout on Clear Mountain this morning. It’s pretty steep in places – even on foot, so it’s a good workout, and the views are worth the effort.

I started walking up the “Pineapple Break”. Perhaps it was called this because it borders a former pineapple farm. But I like to think it’s because pineapples grow wild by the side of the trail. Note to self: Come back here when it’s pineapple season 🙂

On the way up, there are myriads of jump ramps along the steep tracks built by crazy down-hill mountain bikers. There’s no way you’d get me launching off one of these things!

Looking down towards Lake Samsonvale while a large spider waits for breakfast.

A butterfly flutters into view as I enjoy the views from the top of the mountain.

A container ship is just visible out on Moreton Bay.

One of the many streams trickling down the hill

The best part of today’s hike was enjoying new tracks I’d never tried before and great views of my local area from the top.

Lachlan and I took a long 25km hike through D’Aguilar National Park yesterday. This is the toughest walk either of us have ever done. The track included over 1,100 metres of vertical ascent and some hair-raising scrambles over washed out roads, but the experience was worth the effort.

We started on the Westside Track across the road from “Maiala” at Mount Glorious and headed north towards Lawton Road. After a couple of kilometres we had to stop and pick off dozens of leeches from our shoes and socks. I was really glad that I had covered my ankles and socks with insect repellent beforehand.

Recent rain has washed away parts of Lawton Road.

Most of the time it’s easy to walk around the washouts, but in a couple of places we had to scramble over ravines to get from one side of the road to the other.

The problem is compounded by the steep drop-off on one side of the road, and steep cliffs on the other side, which make it difficult to find a safe place to cross.

One thing’s for sure, we would never have been able to take a mountain bike over a couple of these wash-outs!

A Carpet Python sleeps in the afternoon sun in the middle of the road.

Apparently snakes don’t understand road safety guidelines.

We saw dozens of these striking Crimson Rosellas (Platycercus elegans) along the way.

Unfortunately they’re quite shy, so it was impossible to get close enough to get a decent photo.

Lawton Road winds slowly westwards up Northbrook Mountain. I felt dwarfed by these huge boulders which over-hang the road.

From the end of Lawton Road we headed south along England Creek Road. This is the view westward towards Wivenhoe Dam. The road follows a long southward ridge down from the heights of Northbrook Mountain to the valley below. There are great views east and west of the ridge line.

Lachlan takes a quick break to take in the view looking east from England Creek Road.

These caterpillars were clambering over each other forming a strange squirming heap which didn’t appear to be going anywhere.

Eventually we reached the bottom of the ridge line and crossed England Creek which flows west to Fernvale where it eventually joins the Brisbane River.

This was the about the lowest elevation of our hike, and the creek here is pretty – clear water, gravely banks, and lots of small cascades as the water splashes over the rocks.

After walking 18km, we started the final 7km up-hill trek up Joyners Ridge Road.

For me, this was the most physically demanding part of the walk. I was in pain most of the way, and could hardly walk by the time I reached the top.

Some of the views from Joyner’s Ridge Road are stunning. Here’s a view westwards as the sun was starting to go down.

After the long climb back up, we eventually made it back into the rain forest. Full of Strangler Figs, Blackbean and Piccabean Palms, this place is magical as the sun is going down. The pain in my knees and hips was intense, but it didn’t matter – we were in paradise.

The gruesome details:
Total distance: 24.6 km.
Total ascent / descent: 1170m
Total calories burned: 4833 kcal (10 “Big Macs”)