Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk (Day 1 of 3)

This morning we drove up to Mapleton, where we have left our car at a friend's house.  Another friend then kindly drove us to Baroon Pocket Dam to start the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/great-walks-sunshine-coast

After a quick look at Baroon Pocket Dam, we set off.

https://www.queensland.com/au/en/things-to-do/attractions/p-5859d94f2370c38b53aa5337-baroon-pocket-dam

Into the rainforest of Kondalilla National Park we headed for our adventure - so green, so much water, so luxuriant. 

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/kondalilla/about

Our first stop was The Narrows Lookout, followed by Baroon Lookout.

https://www.aussiebushwalking.com/qld/se-qld/kondalilla-np/baroon-lookout

The walk continued through the rainforest, which is looking the most green I have seen it thanks to all the recent rain.  Due to the recent rain, we were very quickly covered in leeches, twenty plus per leg in the first few hours.  After reading the can of Tropical Strength Aerogard we tried spraying our pants and boots with good effect at deterring leeches - we had very few on the remainder of the trip despite the wet foliage we were rubbing against while walking.

While we have both covered all of this route before, we have mainly done it as trail runs; covering it at a slower pace allowed us to see things we had not noticed before including some of the smaller flowers.  The recent and current rain also showed off the colours of bark, provided much more lush foliage and a softer light to appreciate it by.  The down side was we got quite wet.

At the bridge leading to Kondalilla Falls a recent tree fall was blocking access to the bridge.  We managed to scramble through this with our packs on and continued onto the falls.

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

 At the top of the main fall we had a beautiful refreshing swim.  We were already soaked through from a combination of sweat from the high humidity and rain, so simply swam in our clothes.

http://www.wildswimmingaustralia.com/locations/kondalilla-falls-upper-pool-queensland-australia/

A picnic lunch at the day use area was next with an extended break, before heading on toward Flaxton Walker's Camp for the night.  We were the only walkers in camp tonight.  A solid downpour just before dark alerted us to very poor drainage on the site we had selected, so we picked up our tent and moved spots.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/great-walks-sunshine-coast/camping/flaxton-walkers

For those interested in the stats, we walked 17.7km in 6h17m (including all stops except swim and lunch), with a total ascent of 767m and total descent of 564m.

Dularcha National Park

Dularcha National Park is in the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast and we decided to be tourists in our local area and explore this park.  We hiked the Roses Circuit, from the northern entrance to the park in Mooloolah.  This passes through an old railway tunnel and then wanders through open bushland.  There were plenty of walkers and mountain bikers using the paths as well as a small number of horses and riders. It was warm day but there was enough dappled shade and cool breezes to keep it pleasant.  The park had plenty of blossom (and pollen) so it was not overly surprising to see some signs indicating where bee hives were located. It was a pleasant but not difficult walk with some nice climbs and descents mixed in with relatively flat walking.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/dularcha/about

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

TreeTop Challenge Big Pineapple

 TreeTop Challenge Big Pineapple

Tourists at home on the Sunshine Coast today - so off to the high ropes course at the Big Pineapple!  It was an extremely hot day, but the majority of the time we were in the shade of the trees and there was a breeze up that high.  We began with the Green Course, designed for beginners, to get ourselves into the flow.  A friend suggested we then go straight to the Black Course, expert, so that our muscles weren't too tired to do it.  This was great advice.  We were comfortable with the demands of the course but it was physically challenging and definitely tiring on the arms and core.  We finished the day off with the Red Course, intermediate, and this was much easier than the black course physically but just as fun. This was a really fun day enjoyed by adults and teenagers alike!  Note: spectators can only really see you when you are on the beginner courses (there are two) so much more fun for the participants than spectators.  There were a great age range of people on the course, from primary school aged to grandparents, great to see people of all ages enjoying the challenge.

Woodford and D'Aguilar National Park

 Woodford and D'Aguilar National Park 17-18 September 2021

After an early finish from work we headed to Woodford.  We camped for the night at the free camp Cruice Park.  We have camped tonight with friends who have a new to them camper on their first trip, hence the sneaky one night away. 

https://www.visitmoretonbayregion.com.au/natural-attractions/cruice-park-woodford

We were all up nice and early on Saturday morning.  I took a few photos around the campsite and then we headed off to parkrun.  

Our destination was chosen because we wanted to try the Glasshouse Conservation Parkrun. 

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

This was a great parkrun on a not too technical trail with a very friendly crew happy to have parkrun tourists along.

We then headed off to breakfast with a group of over Sunshine Coast parkrun tourists.  We all had a catch up, and enjoyed breakfast sitting by the lake. 

https://theplace2b.com.au/

We then headed back to the van to pack down and drove south to Mount Mee.  We stopped at the Dahmongah Lookout Park which was well worth the stop. 

https://www.visitmoretonbayregion.com.au/natural-attractions/dahmongah-lookout-park-mount-mee-lookout  

Then on to the North D'Aguilar section of D'Aguilar National Park. 

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

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/150459/daguilar-guide.pdf

We parked at The Gantry and took on the Somerset Trail. 

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/daguilar/journeys/somerset-trail

https://www.visitmoretonbayregion.com.au/natural-attractions/the-somerset-trail-mount-mee

The walk took us just under three and a half hours including lunch.  It was a very enjoyable walk, travelling through a variety of forest types with several types of small wildflowers seen along the way.  The view from the lookout was well worth the climb.  The track is well utilized without being busy.  Definitely recommend!

And then home.  Hopefully next time we can be away more than one night, but one night away is better than none.