Profile for Nichola Wallace - Aussie Bushwalking

This Year

Number of Walks Ticked

0.0m

Total Distance Ticked

All Time

Number of Walks Ticked

50.6km

Total Distance Ticked

Ticks

Name	Date	Difficulty	Distance/Duration
Witches Falls (Tamborine National Park)	12 Jan, 2021	Easy	3.4km return 75 mins
We walked from the southern entrance all the way past the falls to the end of Witches Chase. It's a relatively easy walk with some sections of rough rocks near the end. Beautiful palm grooves, large strangler figs, the falls drop off a cliff of hexagonal basalt columns.
Eric Joseph Foote Sanctuary (Sunshine Coast)	25 Apr, 2020	Medium	1.4km return 14 mins
I did the longest circuit walk years ago, but this time passed thru along the Botanic walk as part of a much longer walk around the neighbourhood. I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it is with good information boards on the various trees and plants.
Wild Horse Mountain (Glass House Mountains National Park)	1 Jun, 2018	Medium	1.4km return 30 mins
Short but steep walk up a concrete driveway. Fabulous views from a covered lookout.
Auburn River National Park , Riverbed and rockpools walk (Wide Bay Burnett)	5 Jan, 2018	Medium	1.5km return 1 hr
Being the middle of summer it was quite hot so we headed down to the river for a swim. It was a bit tricky negotiating the rocks to the water's edge and because the water was very silty with no visibility we were reluctant to go in. Soon the only other people at the camp ground, a young family, came down and ventured in. We followed them in and explored the swimming hole, going up rock fissures to where the water gushed in. I think I got nibbled by a fish. While we relaxed in the shade, the family crossed the river exploring the far bank. The track across is tricky as the rocks are large.
Auburn River National Park, Gorge Lookout walk (Wide Bay Burnett)	4 Jan, 2018	Easy	600m return 15 mins
Auburn River National Park , Gorge -top walk (Wide Bay Burnett)	4 Jan, 2018	Medium	3.2km return 90 mins
This was an easy and pleasant walk thru the forest along the river. We saw a wallaby near the camp ground and lots of ants else where.
Mt Ninderry (Sunshine Coast)	28 Sep, 2017	Medium	3.3km return 90 mins
Tibrogargan Circuit (Glass House Mountains National Park)	25 Apr, 2017	Easy	3.3km return 90 mins
This is an easy but interesting walk around the mountain and past others.
Mt Ngungun (Glass House Mountains National Park)	5 Sep, 2016	Medium	2.8km return 90 mins
Mt Ninderry (Sunshine Coast)	25 Jun, 2016	Medium	3.3km return 90 mins
I hadn't been on this hike for a while. The council has completed track upgrades. Now you don't have to go straight up the steep rocky path, I think they would prefer you take the new path which is more interesting and has views to the Coast. There are also paths at the top to lookouts to most directions.
Mt Barney - East Peak - South Ridge (Mt Barney National Park)	28 May, 2016	Very Hard	17km return 10 hrs
This climb is epic, perhaps I shouldn't have done it as I'm over 60 and not very fit (though I am fitter now because of it). I climbed with 3 others, a strong, fit couple around 30 and a 50 yo woman also fairly fit. This was their second attempt. (On the first, they'd taken a wrong turn, spent a lot of time bush bashing and returned the same way broken and defeated.) It was a beautiful sunny day. We left the carpark just before 9 which was a couple of hours too late and didn't all take jackets, another mistake (there was an icy wind blowing at the top) About a 3rd of the way up I was tired and struggling and by halfway I knew I'd made a stupid, stupid mistake. But we kept going with almost no breaks. The 50yo, with her shorter legs, sometimes needed help up the rock slabs (we had a rope) and the young guy was struggling with his fear of heights next to the high cliffs and narrow ledges. We'd picked 1pm as our turnaround time, but as we didn't want to go back down the SE Ridge as it was so hard, we kept going and reached the summit at 2:30. We'd been meeting 2 families with their young kids as they stopped for a snack and break and as they continued up past us, the parents would yell, slow down, come back, stop running. We last saw them going down to the saddle, still running. We were at the saddle by 3:30 and knew we'd be finishing in the dark. I'd borrowed a vest which kept me warm enough, but my legs were in a lot of pain and going downhill was very slow. My dilemma; if I bent my legs, I'd fall down but I had to bend my legs to climb down and it was still a long way down. It is also very easy to lose the track; we lost the track 5 times on the way down but I'd plotted the tracks on the app View Ranger. What a saviour! Just before dusk we took a wrong turn (which I didn't check on the app) and ended up at a cliff which we finally got down with the rope only to find no track. I checked the app and in the fading light we could see the Peasant's Ridge silhouette, then found a faint path back to it. Now it was very dark, we had one headlamp and a phone touch to light our way and my tracking app to guide us. I didn't know how my legs were holding me up. The slightest decline was really painful and I had to hold on to someone or use a stick to stop from falling. Needless to say it was a slow decent but we were below the big rocks and once we hit the open country again, we could stride out. Despite everything, we returned safely, 2 and a half hours in the dark and 11 hours after we set out. Please don't underestimate this climb, prepare well (warm clothes, head lamps and a rope, battery packs for your phone). We were careful, stuck together and helped each other out. The views were fabulous, we could see all the way to Mt Warning, with gullies and great cliffs at every turn. It's the hardest thing I've ever down (it's heaps easier if you're young and fit), but I'm really glad I did it. Would I do it again?. Probably not. I'll stick to the smaller mountains.
Mt Eerwah (Sunshine Coast)	26 Apr, 2014	Hard	2.8km return 3 hrs
I did this hike with a group of friends and found it an interesting climb. There is one section where you go through a tunnel of lantana. We decided to continue along the track heading east and down to the saddle, through some lovely vegetation. Few people come this way and the track is extremely faint but marked by tape. It ends in cliffs. One of the guys checked for a way down but found none so we retraced our way to the saddle and decided to bush bash down the gully. This was fun and challenging; steep, lose soil, small cliffs but enough vegetation to arrest your slides. Near the bottom the gully cut through rock and boulders, now flowing with water making the rock slippery. As the sides were steep and deep, we traveled along the bank. We finally saw a house below and then a dog and boy searching for another dog. He was able to give us directions to a dirt road that took us back to the sealed road and eventually pure car. Round trip was 6.5 kms in 4 hrs.
Kings Canyon Rim Walk (Watarrka National Park)	Jul, 2007	Medium	6.6km return 4 hrs
This is a truely stunning place. Don't miss it of you're in the area.