Kilkivan to Kingaroy (South Burnett) Rail Trail - Day 4

https://www.discoversouthburnett.com.au/towns/kingaroy/

 https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/downloads/file/3239/kilkivan-to-kingaroy-rail-trail-brochure

https://southburnettrailtrail.au/

10 April 2023

Beautiful light as we started our last days walk.  Wooroolin has a picturesque small former church that I could not resist taking a photograph of. 

https://www.churchesaustralia.org/list-of-churches/denominations/presbyterian-church-of--australia/directory/1406-st-andrewand%2339%3Bs-presbyterian-church-former

The countryside was again rolling farming land with the famous red soil. We saw plantations of Duboisia, and walked past the facility where they convert this to the drug scopolamine and its relatives. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-13/sleepy-town-secretive-drug-centre-big-pharma-criminal-cartel/100572628

Another beautiful day walking. We stopped in Crawford to have lunch before the final stretch into Kingaroy. We were all very glad to take our packs and boots off.  

We then all squished into our car to drive back to Wondai – where our two young men switched cars, and then on to Kilkivan.  It was actually surprisingly enjoyable to drive back over the route and remember different things that had happened, as well as appreciating just how far we had walked.

All up 88km in four days with a great group of people and some great memories made.

Kilkivan to Kingaroy (South Burnett) Rail Trail - Day 3

https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/downloads/file/3239/kilkivan-to-kingaroy-rail-trail-brochure 

https://southburnettrailtrail.au/

9 April 2023 – Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny visited the two “children” (seventeen-year-olds) overnight.  From Murgon to Wondai is my favourite part of the Kilkivan to Kingaroy Rail Trail. The path is bitumen, so easy walking, and the scenery is predominantly bushland with very little roads.  In Wondai we met up with the sixth member of our party.  We dropped some items no longer needed off into his car and picked up the further items he had brought for us. The staff in the Wondai IGA were very helpful with locating the items we wished to purchase for lunch and the next days supplies. 

https://www.discoversouthburnett.com.au/towns/wondai/

https://www.iga.com.au/stores/peries-iga-wondai/

From here the path went through rolling farming country.  Mid-afternoon, we did some redistribution of weight as my knee was slowing my pace to a level that was too slow to arrive in the daylight. We stopped in Tingoora for afternoon tea and then continued on to camp the night at Wooroolin arriving just before sunset.  Here we discovered that while the town has free hot showers, the water available is straight from the dam and not wise to drink without filtering.  The local pub was full of friendly people and does a good pizza.

https://www.discoversouthburnett.com.au/attractions/national-parks-and-reverves/wooroolin-wetland/

https://www.facebook.com/people/Grand-Hotel-Wooroolin/100039988309209/

NOTE: Tingoora is the last town before Kingaroy where there is readily available drinking water – fill up here.

Kilkivan to Kingaroy (South Burnett) Rail Trail - Day 2

 https://southburnettrailtrail.au/

https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/downloads/file/3239/kilkivan-to-kingaroy-rail-trail-brochure

8 April 2023

It rained during the night, so it was a bit of a slow start to the day trying to get tents dry to avoid unnecessary weight.  The three of us girls slept in the larger tent – which is technically three man – and it was rather cosy with the three of us and our packs, despite us all being not much more than five foot tall and 50kg in size.  I cannot imagine three big blokes squeezing in.  During the night my knee was sore, despite not having bothered me at all during the day yesterday. Over breakfast we discovered that one of our group had been so tired on arriving yesterday evening that they had lost all sense of direction – being quite surprised to see the sun now rising in what had been thought to be the West. 

Today was sunny, and a much shorter walk, 18km.  The walking today was harder, however.  Much of the day the grass was long – waist to head height. There was also a section of approximately 5km that was like walking through a creek bed, rocks around two to three inches in size. Every foot placement had to be examined, meaning there was not as much opportunity to look around and enjoy the scenery.

We walked to Murgon today and arrived for a late lunch.  We chose to rest and eat before setting up camp. The afternoon was spent relaxing, playing Zilch, reading and massaging sore muscles.  I experimented with washing my shirt using a laundry sheet and a dry bag jostled around to agitate it – this worked quite well and added less than a gram to my pack for the joy of a clean shirt on day three.  For dinner we went to the Murgon Services Club and the food was perfect.  Having sat for an extended period over dinner we all looked a bit stumbly trying to walk back to camp despite a total alcohol consumption of one standard drink between all of us.

http://www.murgon.net.au/

https://murgonservicesclub.com.au/dining/

 

Kilkivan to Kingaroy (South Burnett) Rail Trail - Day 1

 7 April 2023 – Good Friday

https://southburnettrailtrail.au/

https://www.gympie.qld.gov.au/recreation-tourism/outdoor-activities/tracks-trails/kilkivan-to-kingaroy-rail-trail
We left the Sunshine Coast early in convoy and drove to Kingaroy.  We parked one vehicle at the old Kingaroy Railway Building.  After piling into one vehicle with our packs, we headed to the Kilkivan end of the rail trail, where we parked the other vehicle.  All the time we were in the cars the rain just kept coming down, finally easing to a drizzle as we approached Kilkivan.  

https://www.visitgympieregion.com.au/great-places/the-west/kilkivan/

After a quick toilet stop, we popped the raincoats onto our packs and our group of five headed off.  Today’s walk was from Kilkivan to Goomeri – which is on gravel and mowed paths, mainly through private land with lots of gates.  The drizzle lasted less than an hour and the weather remained overcast which was a blessing as there was very little shade on this section. 

Last check before loading up

A midday rest

Trying to avoid exercise induced vasculitis

A very long walk with heavy packs today – 28.5km.  I had a 14.5kg pack, which is heavier than I have previously carried.  Unfortunately, due to the high humidity, heat and my heavy pack I once again experienced some exercise induced vasculitis despite the compression socks and regular breaks to put my legs in the air – nowhere near as bad as previously though.

We stopped at the Foodworks in town on arrival and bought our food for dinner – chicken sandwiches for us.  Then on to the Goomeri Showgrounds for the night to camp and well-deserved, and needed, hot showers.  Over dinner we caught up with some day walkers who were camping at the showgrounds.

https://www.discoversouthburnett.com.au/towns/goomeri/

https://foodworks-goomeri.myfoodworks.com.au/

https://www.goomerishow.com.au/camping