Sunshine Coast to Injune (Carnarvon Great Walk Trip)

 Saturday 9 September 2023

We got up to our alarm at 4am, and were on the road by 4:25am, driving to Nanango for Parkrun.  We stopped off in Blackbutt on the way to line up for opening time at the Bakery – definitely worth it.

https://www.facebook.com/blackbuttbakery/

When we arrived in Nanango there were piles of small marble sized hail remaining in any low points of the ground and like mulch in the garden bed.  Plenty of branches were down and there was leaf litter everywhere.  Ros Gregor Parkrun was cancelled due to puddles of hail on the path.  

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

We quickly headed back to the car and returned to Blackbutt for a slightly late start to parkrun, followed by breakfast at the Bunya Nut Café.

https://www.facebook.com/bunyanutcafe/

Chinchilla was our next stop. We visited the big watermelon.  We explored the botanic gardens, including the watermelon themed water play area, before enjoying a picnic lunch.

https://www.westerndownsqueensland.com.au/towns/chinchilla/

https://www.wdrc.qld.gov.au/Community-Recreation/Parks-Outdoors/Parks/Chinchilla-Botanic-Parkland

Driving west, toward Miles, we saw a large solar farm under construction north of the road, and then a wind farm between Miles and Dulacca, both sides of the highway with about forty wind turbines.

After turning north at Roma, we stopped at Gunnewin Soldier Settlement to have a look and were delighted to spend some time watching an echidna in the wild.  I found if I stood still, it came quite close to me, but as soon as I took a step in any direction it curled into a ball at the perceived threat.

https://romarevealed.com.au/travel-idea/gunnewin-soldier-settlement-monument/

The last stop for the day was at Old Injune Coal Mine site – which has a simple but tasteful memorial.

https://www.outbackqueensland.com.au/attractions/old-injune-coal-mine/

We are staying the night at Injune Haven – it is spotlessly clean.  The whole town appeared neat, tidy and well maintained.

https://www.injunehaven.com/

Jindabyne Parkrun and Sawpit Creek Walks (Snowy Mountains and Canberra Trip)

Saturday 14 December 2019 – 279 357

Jindabyne Parkrun https://www.parkrun.com.au/jindabyne/ was our start this morning – a constantly up and down course.  Apparently, it was a very hot morning, having warmed up to 14 degrees by the time it started.  We spoke to a lady after Parkrun who said this was the first week since winter that they had not had snow. Red Door Café was the choice for breakfast – ham and cheese toasties for Drew and I, bacon and egg roll for Hayden.  We then took a walk around Jindabyne and explored some of the shops.  Hayden was quite surprised at the amount of money it is possible to spend on ski equipment.  After showers we headed to the laundromat, supermarket and petrol station.

After lunch we drove to Sawpit Creek to do some walking.  The Sawpit Walk took us along a creek and then through a montane forest.  We were lucky enough to see an echidna (Short-Beaked Echidna – Tachyglossus aculeatus) and were able to watch as it poked its head in various crevices.  We also saw a red kangaroo – unfortunately he chose not to stop for a photograph.

https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/walking-tracks/sawpit-walking-track

We then continued onto the Waterfall Walk which wound through bushland to a group of small waterfalls on Sawpit Creek.  On the way back the path travelled on the opposite bank amidst large boulders. The montane forest was quite different to the other treed areas we have walked through in this national park.  We saw a deer, a crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans) and another echidna.

https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/walking-tracks/waterfall-walking-track

On the way back to camp we stopped to look at Curiosity Rocks – these protrude from Lake Jindabyne and were an aboriginal meeting place.  They must have been extremely high before the lake was inundated.

At night I have seen deer, rabbits and possums around our campsite area.

Bunya Mountains Long Weekend

5-7 May 2018 - Bunya Mountains

We camped at Dandabah in the National Park Campground.  This is a lovely spot.  There are plenty of small macropods coming into the campground to watch, and even on a long weekend it was not excessively crowded.  As keen hikers we did the shorter trails on Saturday afternoon after setting up camp.  On Sunday we drove to Cherry Plain and parked the car at the day use area.  From here we hiked up the road ti Burton's Well and then used the trail to Mt Kiangarow.  On returning to Burton's Well we took the trail along the cliff line, stopping at all the lookouts before coming back out to the road at Westcott and walking back to Cherry Plain.  We were lucky enough to be able to stop and watch an echidna just off the track busily nosing around.  Monday saw a little more exploring before heading home.  This is a truly beautiful pocket of the world.

https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/bunya-mountains/