OurTripDreaming: May 2023

On Friday afternoon we headed from the Sunshine Coast to Warwick for our favourite running festival of the season - the Warwick Pentathrun. We chose to drive the scenic route passing close to the west of Somerset Dam with great views. Warwick Pentathrun is a unique and awesome running event - 5 races over 2 days that add up to a marathon.

https://www.pentathrun.com/

Saturday commences with an undulating road half marathon from Warwick to Yangan, followed by a 4.6km cross country late morning and a flat 5km road race, starting and finishing at a pub, in the afternoon. This was the first time I have not done the full event, due to injury and resulting lack of training, so while Drew was out doing the half marathon I snuck in a walk at Warwick parkrun. This is a relatively flat loop around the Condamine River with steam rising on this cold Saturday morning.

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

The cross country, saw me spectating but at least I was able to run the 5km. After a nap we met a crew of fellow runners at Warwick RSL for dinner - the food was great, the service and speed was excellent.

https://www.warwickrsl.com.au/

Sunday was a very cold start in Warwick, -1.6 degrees Celcius. The drive out to Killarney was very foggy, and as expected it was even colder there. First race for the day was the 10km hill climb from Killarney to Queen Mary Falls. At the top it is very very cold. My Garmin sports watch even gave me a badge called "Frosty" for running in temperatures below freezing. The breakfast at the Cafe at Queen Mary Falls was, as usual, well worth the run up the mountain.

https://queenmaryfallscaravanpark.com.au/cafe-gift-shop/

Last run for the weekend was the 1500m in Warwick late morning. This is always quite funny to watch, between the costumes and the unusual gait many people who have done all five events have by then. Another awesome Pentathrun done by my husband, and two races for me.

After lunch we went exploring as despite coming to this event 6 times, we have always had to rush back for Monday at school. No school anymore means we could take a day off work and see a few things. Sunday afternoon was spent exploring Glengallan Homestead and Heritage Centre. This building would have been very grand and extravagant in its prime (1860's), and became derelict from the 1950's as it was unoccupied. Parts of it have been restored since the early 2000's and parts left with only safety improvements so that in some rooms the contrast between its highs and lows can be seen.

https://www.facebook.com/GlengallanHomesteadandHeritageCentre

On Monday morning, the windscreen was once again covered in ice, this time we had the luxury of staying in bed until the temperature rose above freezing.

First up today was the Settlers' Route drive taking in several small villages around the Warwick area.

https://southerndownsandgranitebelt.com.au/plan-your-trip/tourist-drives/settlers-route/

Yangan has a number of interesting looking old buildings, some of which were in use at the time of Federation.

Even at this time, there was still plenty of frost around.

This drive takes in some picturesque rolling farmland. Some of the small villages had pretty avenues of deciduous trees in autumn colour.

Once we got to Killarney, we took the Falls Drive.

https://southerndownsandgranitebelt.com.au/plan-your-trip/tourist-drives/the-falls-drive/

Despite having run up this hill six times now I had never actually had the time to look at any of the water falls. First up was Browns Falls, where I found a series of small falls. The track requires a few creek crossings and good balance. The signage indicates a short walk, but from what I have read, I think it must be longer as I did not reach the main waterfall.

https://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/waterfalls/australia-browns-falls/