Hiking - 2018 01 - Conondale Great Walk

Like so many hikes, they all start before you hit the trail head. All my gear was spread out since my last hike, some with the car camping gear, other bits with day hiking gear and some actually was put away in cupboards (shocking, I know.) After that was all gathered together I also had to sort food.

4 days worth, so not too heavy. For breakfast I have choc-chip cookies and Milo+Powdered Milk. Lunch is muesli, fruit and protein bars. Dinner consists of a pasta side and a chicken risotto (split into 2 as it's a big pack.) Snacks, arguably the most important meal of the day, include skittles, jerky, pringles, peanuts and salami. Dried apricots in there too, mostly for those midnight snacks.

After I slogged it through the Brisbane traffic I had a pretty good run. Made it to the start of the walk just after 10. It's not a bad drive up here for bikes, lots of tight turns and hilly roads. Not quite as great in a 4wd but there are other advantages, like making it past the Day use entry 'gate' where the track crosses the river.

Got away after a quick chat to a few people scouting a day hike to do and started the ascent to the Mt Allan Fire Tower. Standing 9.6m tall it was built in 1954 making it QLDs second oldest tower, now fully automated. They allow you up into the observation deck where there's a big topo map so you can work out the mountains on the horizon. Living up to the Fire Tower name they did some recent back burning around it, very recent judging by the overpowering smoke smell.

One of the great things about getting in a day before the rush is all the wildlife. Heaps of birds and small lizards scurrying about. Saw a least a half dozen Goanna too. Another fantastic creature you meet when leading the way is the spider. They create masterful art works in the webs and they ever so conveniently place them across the track right at eye level. Amazing the effort they put in to bring their beautiful constructions right into your face!

Made Summer Falls camp by 130pm and quickly had camp setup. No one here yet, though that was the plan. The official long weekend doesn't start until tomorrow. It's great having a place like this to yourself, but it's nice to share sometimes too. Went for a short wander up the creek line. Most pools look a little mossy but the water is trickling through and it's crystal clear. There isn't really any falls to speak of with this flow, but I found a shady spot and had and nice cool foot spa and a quick dip.

There is a water tank at camp, looks like it's fed by the roof of the privy, but with the creek running clear I pulled water from it to filter. The rest of the daylight was spent relaxing near the creek or on a log near camp. Though it seems all the bugs in the entire camp came out to find me. Dinner before I lost the sun and bed not long after I did. Besides the 3 day hikers at the car park this morning I haven't seen anyone in the NP.

Had an amazing sleep, appeared no one else came in late last night either. Tent got hot pretty quick in the morning so I was out of it in a hurry and after breakfast straight back on the trail. Mostly uphill today but pretty easy grade. The Goanna seemed to have gave way to snakes. In the first 10k I saw 4 of them. A few nice creek crossings today. Well placed rocks to save the shoes getting muddy.

Just before the Peters creek crossing was a really nice swimming hole, with a small falls separating 2 pools. Having a dip was a very welcome relief from the heat. Especially as there was a bit of a climb heading to camp 2. Just a bit future on were Peter falls which was flowing quite a bit better than Summer Falls but still not exactly roaring.

Made it to camp around 130pm again. Much earlier start but took a long break for a swim and it's a little further than yesterday. Another hiker arrived at camp moments before me. They thought to take advantage of the solitude and used the pit toilet, door wide open for air flow. I shuffled my feet to announce my presence, I've seen worse hiking...

We got talking about trail conditions and water. Only water here looks a little rusty, tastes fine though. Could have filled up at Peters had I known but that would have been an extra 2kg for the hill. No water on the next stretch of trail and if that camp is busy the tank was slow this morning so might be empty when I get there. Good creek just past it though.

It was good to have someone to chat too at dinner. Lots of trail talk about where we've been and what we've done. She had done Hinchenbrook island which has been on my list for a while, nice to get some first hand knowledge. Turns out she has a permit for the PCT this year... so i was happy to talk about that :) We also talked about the critters we saw

We got and bit of rain through the night. Enough to leave leave the leave the ground wet. My campsite mate had a quick early pack and was gone before poked my head out. Should see more hikers today though. When I was booking camps Wongai (camp 1) was almost full the Friday night, and most of those would be on this stretch now.

Quite a bit of 'Fire Management Trail' which I wasn't really thrilled and out. Long time since their use though so mostly overgrown and bound felt like a real trail.

Wasn't long that the cool from the rain had turned into a steamy muggy mess. Even developed a little heat rash under the arm pits. Noticed a few leeches today too, all before they latched on.

I had done 11 of the planed 17k before seeing a pair of hikers. They must have got a late start. Apparently had the camp to themselves last night. I arrived just after 11 and not wanting another afternoon with only my thoughts I decided to push home. Seriously not even a close creek to spend time in.

It wasn't long before I came across a day hike car park for falls. Pretty busy. Soon as I crossed onto the falls track there seemed a queue. One group had had a trolley!! Full of chips beer and other junk. Hope they pack it out. One group 10+ strong seemed to be upset that a 'real hiker' (their term) needed to pass them. Most groups were nice though.

I skipped the falls (was more crowded than Surfers Paradise) and pushed onto the slightly further Artisan Falls. 5.6k from the nearest car access there was only 1 other person. Perfect water too.

The last leg to the finish I could hear the various groups that hiked up the river to find their own spot. It was funny seeing people 'hiking' the great walk shirtless and in thongs. Short stop to the $700,000 rock egg (Stranger Cairn) The little sappling is growing well. Note to self: Check again in a decade or so.

After that was a quick jaunt to the trail head followed by another swim and then the drive home.

56k 4 day Conondale great walk done in 2.5 days.

Camping/Skiing - 2017 12 - Borumba

As what seems to happen most years (12 of the last 14) this Christmas/New Years break was filled by camping. Throwback to an old favourite I hadn't been to for almost 15 years. Borumba dam. The old council park had closed, at our time of booking (recently reopened) so we were booked into the Deer park just down the road.

Took off just before lunch, hoping all the traffic had all tried to get away in the morning. Packed up the boat with all the gear and took off. Was a bit of traffic, but not too much . Worst was just before the airport. Just under 3 hours and made it to the camp grounds.

Looked really busy as I drove in. We were in the 'back paddock' which I think is the overflow area. Works for us as it was far less crowded. Went to set up my tent to discover 4 of the poles has snapped. One was already gone, was hoping it would last a few more trips. Still, a few water hose clamps and duct tape should see it through the week of storms coming...



It was a day of lazing about and swimming in the creek. Just downstream of the main swimming hole was a good little rapid section, not deep but more than enough sit in and let it wash away the world's troubles.

Lukes twins enjoyed the river too as did Callum, though he was worried his plastic boats would float away. He also enjoyed the deer visiting us near camp. There was even an 8 pointer amoungst them.


Back at camp was hot, even in the shade, but the creek was a short stroll away to cool off again. Enjoyed the twins, even if they did discover that my beard made a good handle. Some more friends arrived with their kids who also enjoyed the young twins and the swimming hole.
 

Most days were filled with oppressive heat broken only by dips in the water. The park itself, possibly because of the deer, also was a prime spot for Bush flies. They were everywhere and anytime during the day I would have had 20+ enjoying the sweat off my back... No point killing them, as their carcass would only serve to attract more flies. The spiders must have loved it though, all day buffet every day.



One of the reasons for camping up here is because of Borumba dam. Beautiful dam to ski on, but unfortunately the bank wasn't great to setup on. What use to be grass was replaced by rock, gravel and concrete. Apparently for erosion protection, sure made skiing from the bank a lot harder. One of my favourite activities as a kid was also walking over the impressive Dam wall and looking down at the spillway and river below. Sadly this was now all fenced off, razor wire and everything. It's sad that good lookout spots are blocked off. Was it safety related? Did someone do something stupid to call for a response? There was often some graffiti, but nothing we saw that would provoke a complete denial of access.

Despite the bank we still got the boat in for a Ski. Sadly it was short lived, what seemed to be an electrical problem caused the boat to fail to start. This was later identified as several issues (including replacing the oil pump and cracked thermostats, faulty starter motor) which lead to the failure. B.O.A.T. Bring Out Another Thousand... Still we were able to get a few runs in, all the kids got a go which was great and I managed to fit two skis in before the problem presented itself. Was good to be out on the water.



Back to camp in the afternoon for me while others went for a bit of explore in their 4wds. Some nice forestry trails around here to meander down. At one point they also happened to bump into my other brother Thomas, near the Conondale NP. He and his partner were out and about doing their own exploring.

Another group turned up later in the day and before even getting any gear out of their cars had the bush doof going. They were a bit away from my tent, but even in the bustle of the afternoon having to listen to someone else's idea of 'music' wasn't fun. They played well into the night before Jill mentioned that loud music now would equal screaming kids next to their tent the next day.

More swimming planned for a day. There's a creek section, pretty shallow rapids leading into bigger swimming pools. It was one of my favourite things to do up here as a kid, and while the nostalgic memories were definitely more glamorous I enjoyed revisiting it. Many a floatie was scrapped over the top of rocks on the way down, but no punctures.

When we reached the swimming hole there was a good Tarzan swing/Jumping tree which we gave a go. There was a young girl 1/2 way up the tree that was hesitating, desping a probably 15+ strong crowd encouraging her to give it a go... well some of the more impatient kids were telling her to either go or get out of the way. I climbed past and out onto a rather springy trunk to eventually plummet into the water. Eventually she followed suit from one of the lower branches to the applause of others. After the first drop she went straight back up and without hesitation dropped again.

New years eve started with a trip to Noosa for an ocean swim. A bit of conflake weed floating around but as soon as you got past that it was great water. After drying off we started heading to the Apollonian Hotel for lunch. Rod was feeling unwell so they opted to skip lunch and head back to camp. The hotel does a roast lunch, with quite a few trimmins. I can remember the first time I ate there it was a feast. Piled up plates, actual full pig roast in plain sight behind the servers. These days it left me a little wanting. They moved the cooking area away out of sight and as for the portions... I felt like buying a second plates worth... Still tasted great, but definitely a shadow of past offerings.

Back at camp a few cans and bottles were opened to begin the night. The Deer park put on a disco, with flashing lights and the usual music you'd expect for a general crowd. Seemed pretty popular and attracted a lot more of the older crowd than I expected. I took a peek but, while it's certainly grown since PCT days, my beer belly wasn't quite big enough to fit in with the crowd.

Walking around camp the next day was a little quieter than normal. Swimming hole was still full, but a more relaxing soak than the splash fest of previous days. They had a small playground, full of equipment that probably wouldn't pass any kind of safety inspection, looked fun. They also had a 9 hole mini-golf course!



The day after was a rather quick pack-up plus a nice swim to cool off again before heading home. Before I could go home though I took the boat over to the mechanic to leave it in his care. hen I got home I barely unpacked (just wet gear and food) before deciding to leave the remainder until the next day.

Time to start researching a new Car-Camping tent, been a while since I have looked at car-camping gear. Any suggestions? Something easy.