Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Parkrun and Northern Section of D'Aguilar National Park

 This morning we awoke early to head west to Blackbutt to try the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail parkrun - no surprise, the course is along a section of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail.  It was a good quality trail surface with a gentle gradient and areas of shade - a lovely run!

https://www.parkrun.com.au/brisbanevalleyrailtrail/

We then headed to the Bunya Nut Cafe for breakfast with friends - very good value bacon and egg muffin.

https://www.facebook.com/bunyanutcafe

Today's main adventure was the northern section of D'Aguilar National Park, in particular the Mount Mee Forest Drive and its various stops along the way.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/159028/mount-mee-trail-map.pdf

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/daguilar/journeys/mount-mee-forest-drive

First stop was the Broadwater - aptly named.  The angle of the trees showed the power of the water that must flow through here at times.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/daguilar/attractions/broadwater

Continuing through the National Park we came to the understandably very popular Rocky Hole swimming spot.  The water must be very deep as it was divinely cool in spots with vertical sides to the gorge.  On a quieter day or first thing in the morning this could be a serene spot to contemplate the world.

Rocky Hole walk | D'Aguilar National Park | Parks and forests | Department of Environment and Science, Queensland (des.qld.gov.au)

Falls lookout was a short walk with views of several small waterfalls and of the waterhole at the top of a cliff that flows over - this is a different perspective to the standard waterfall view as you see the water running off the edge and disappearing.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/daguilar/journeys/falls-lookout-track

Our final stop for the day was The Gantry picnic ground for a late lunch before heading home. A very enjoyable day.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/daguilar/attractions/the-gantry

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/daguilar

Woondum National Park, Mothar Mountain Rockpools and Boulder Mountain Climb

 Woondum National Park is a small national park that I had never heard of.  We began with a walk along the Turpentine Circuit - a short 500m stroll through nice bushland.  

Next was a much more arduous hike up Boulder Mountain.  This is 3.2km return and says it will take 2 hours, rarely does a walk take us as long as the signs say, but this one did.  It was a fun hike with some steep sections requiring the use of hands to ascend and descend.  Unfortunately, the views from the top were largely obscured by lantana overgrowth.

On return to the carpark, we had a refreshing swim in the rockpools.  There is a main pool near the car park that had plenty of people in.  However, with some minor rockhopping we headed slightly upstream to have a rockpool all to ourselves, even on a busy day.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/woondum/things-to-do

    

Mount Cooroora, Tuchekoi National Park

 Love this climb - just the right degree of challenge, followed by fantastic views.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/tuchekoi