Profile for BGS3 - Aussie Bushwalking

This Year

Number of Walks Ticked

0.0m

Total Distance Ticked

All Time

Number of Walks Ticked

140.8km

Total Distance Ticked

Ticks

Name	Date	Difficulty	Distance/Duration
Great Walk! Gold Coast Hinterland (Lamington National Park)	15 Aug, 2018	Medium	54km one-way 3 days
Just finished the 3 day walk as written from O'Reillys to Springbrook with 2 adults and a pretty fit and capable 7yo. On Day 1 the diversion up to Mt Merino on the border track is worth it in our opinion and only adds 800m or so on to your days total. We used this as our lunch break stop. Day 2 needs a few more notes - the section along the Nerang-Murwillumbah Road is pretty tedious and would be uncomfortably hot in summer I would expect. Make sure you have plenty of water as there is limited shade until you get to the village. The crossing across the Nerang river would have entailed wet shoes/feet (I suspect it has been washed away in a past flood) so we opted for a quick scurry across the road bridge - the road isn't that busy. You could buy lunch at the shop at Numinbah Village if you wanted to save some pack weight. We had lunch with us so walked past the shop to the hall and took a break under the trees in the park beside it (the public toilets are also here). There was water at the Woonoongoora Walkers camp and I suspect this is always the case as its the middle of a drought, the tank is tiny and the loos there need a little bit of water to keep them working. In any case, if you want to bring water with you as we did (and probably best to save disappointment and having to trek down and up the steep slope again), you can fill up at Waterfall Creek (use a filter or tablets as you prefer) and then lug it up the steep slope to the camp. Fantastic firefly display on dusk in the trees surrounding the campsite and plenty of pademelons as visitors in the evening. The 900 steps (a few less I suspect) on day 3 up to Apple tree Park weren't too bad if you have a reasonable level of fitness. We had Day 3 wrapped up in about 4.5hrs. You have to take the other half of the Purling Brook falls circuit to get up to Settlement Campground as the section highlighted on the map is currently closed. You won't get lost - there are loads of people trekking up and down this track to the falls for a swim - a very popular spot.
Venman Circuit (South East Queensland)	18 Apr, 2018	Medium	7.5km 2 hrs
Goolman Lookout via Rocky Knoll (Ipswich - Flinders Goolman Conservation Estate)	15 Apr, 2018	Medium	7.4km 2 hrs
Mt. Mathieson Circuit (Main Range National Park)	13 Apr, 2018	Medium	10.5km 3 hrs
Nice walk. No leeches for us today - maybe we were lucky? Came across 2 snakes - one enormous brown sunning himself on the trail and a carpet python resting beside the road. Track was freshly trimmed in most parts, except for a small section in the middle - long pants still recommended if only for this portion. Views from Governors Chair are awesome. Walking in the sounds of the bell birds was most enjoyable.
White Rock Multi-User Trail (White Rock - Spring Mountain Conservation Estate)	8 Apr, 2018	Easy	6.5km return 2 hrs
White Rock Ridge Hike (White Rock - Spring Mountain Conservation Estate)	8 Apr, 2018	Hard	6.5km 2 hrs
This is a well marked / signposted trail now and definitely a more interesting way to get to White Rock than via the multi user trail. Really pretty walk along the ridge line itself with views to the city. Cave at the end as you descend towards white rock. We walked in to White Rock via the ridge trail and out via the multi user trail to form a circuit.
Lower Portals (Mt Barney National Park)	4 Apr, 2018	Hard	7.4km return 3 hrs
The water/rock pools at the end make this walk worthwhile. It was a pretty hot walk (we were out there in the middle of the day which is not ideal) and the walk itself was not that interesting (compared to others we have done). However, still one to tick off the list and we'd do it again.
Daves Creek Circuit (Lamington National Park)	31 Jan, 2018	Hard	12km return 4 hrs
What a beautiful walk! The vegetation changes are amazing. The fallen giants really are fallen giants. Saw 2 spiny blue crayfish in the creeks, nearly stepped on 2 snakes! Really loved this walk and would do it again without hesitation. Walked it with our 6.5yo daughter and took our time at the lookouts. Nice spot at Picnic Creek for a picnic stop too. We walked it in the anticlockwise direction.
Mt Mitchell (Main Range National Park)	24 Jan, 2018	Medium	10.98km 3.5 hrs
Hiked it with a 6.5yo kidlet in tow. Took 3 hours return including a 15 min or so lunch break at the top and a couple of other smaller breaks on the way up and down. Quite a few patches of stinging nettles along the trails - several near the top had been recently trimmed but there are a couple of patches lower down that are hanging across the trail that you need to look out for if you are wearing shorts. Well marked, wide trail. Even the steps at the top aren't that sketchy and so as long as you've got sensible kiddies they should be fine navigating them. Lots of contrasting vegetation - rainforest/eucalypt forest and some small caves/lava tubes in the rock alongisde the trail in a couple of places. Saw a couple of pademelons early on in the rainforest and then a large goanna on the trail on the way back down.
Lower Bellbird Circuit (Lamington National Park)	18 Jan, 2018	Medium	12km return 3 hrs
Parked and walked this from the info centre up to Binna Burra with 2 x 6.5 year old kiddies in tow. Added in a detour to Lower Ballanjui Falls. I think around 13km-14km or so in total (we stopped the kiddies at Binna Burra and one of the adults walked down to the info centre to bring the car up to pick them up as they were pretty knackered! Beautiful walk with plenty of varied vegetation, landscape and even a few obstacles to negotiate on the trail. The lunch break at the falls was welcome and the kids loved exploring. Took us around 5.5hrs including a decent lunch break at the falls and several smaller breaks after lunch at the lookouts and along the track.
Rainforest Circuit (Main Range National Park)	10 Jan, 2018	Easy	1.6km return 25 mins
Nice easy stroll with husband and 6yo.
Palm Grove Circuit (Main Range National Park)	10 Jan, 2018	Easy	4.4km 2 hrs
Took around 1.5hrs from carpark with our 6yo daughter. Early part of track has one steep side so well behaved (as ours is) kidlet is a must!