Big Bend Campground to Gadds Walkers Camp (Carnarvon Great Walk Trip)

 https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-gorge

Monday 11 September 2023

Day 2 Carnarvon Great Walk

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-great-walk/walking

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/164159/carnarvongw-topo.pdf

Today began as a tough walk along the base of Boowinda Gorge on rugby league sized boulders. This was slow going and having the hiking poles helped a lot. Travelling through the gorge you are surrounded by its high walls and I was amazed by the actions of nature over time to carve it out of the surrounding rock.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-gorge/journeys/boowinda-gorge-walk

There are several arrows, showing where to turn right and climb up out of the gorge.  And it is close to straight up.  We packed our poles down and attached them to our packs before beginning the ascent as it was obvious hands would be required.  The ascent also required knees in some spots – literally crawling up. At the top of this section it was not as steep, but this is definitely only a relative statement and I was grateful for advice to this effect from other walkers. It was still solidly uphill the majority of the way to Battleship Spur Lookout. The track was generally round and rocky, with areas of shale.  The track was also very narrow in places and supported with retaining timbers. For the ascent particularly, it is important to get the centre of gravity low in the pack.

https://bushwalk.com/j/mb92cz/

The view from the lookout was worth every bit of effort – fantastic!  We had genuine Telstra coverage at the lookout but did not have Aldi Telstra coverage.  We sat and enjoyed the view while having an early lunch at the lookout.  It was just before midday despite being less than 5 km from camp.  It took us three hours from camp to the lookout.  Each of our watches had different and slightly crazy numbers when we left Boowinda Gorge, probably because the steep gorge walls caused patch GPS coverage.

The remainder of the day was not as steep.  There were some sections of easy walking, but most of the day was fairly technical due to the rocky surface.  There was one point on the track where an arrowed pointed left and the tree had “Turn Left” carved into its trunk and yet the track appeared to continue straight ahead. This track appeared very well used, but did not have any further arrows. Crossing the creek on faith at the “Turn left” sign, we were then able to see the arrows as we came out of the creek on the other side. Lesson learned – have faith in the arrows. During the day we saw quite a few kangaroos, plenty of water and old lava flow.  The track was predominantly single track, with grass up to 4 foot high in places. We arrived in Gadds Walkers camp just before 4:30pm, very tired.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-great-walk/camping/gadds-walkers

 17.90km, 7 hours 20 minutes, 1188m ascent

Injune to Big Bend Campground (Carnarvon Great Walk Trip)

 https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-gorge

Sunday 10 September 2023

Day 1 Carnarvon Great Walk

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-great-walk/walking

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/164159/carnarvongw-topo.pdf

Today began with an approximately two hour drive to Carnarvon National Park – Carnarvon Gorge Section. 

We stopped at the site of a WW2 US Airforce Dakota remains and then headed into the National Park to begin our adventure. 

https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww2/display/101310-dakota-c-47-air-crash-memorial

Driving toward the National Park we could see the plateau rising above the surrounding plains.

It was a short walk today along the Main Gorge track out to Big Bend camping area.  

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-gorge/journeys/main-gorge-track

As we have previously explored all the side trips on this, we chose only to revisit the Art Gallery and leave all the other side trips. 

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-gorge/journeys/art-gallery-walk

There are 17 creek crossings – I was very glad I had a hiking pole to help me adjust my balance as I was not yet accustomed to the altered centre of gravity the pack created.  I spent the late afternoon exploring around Big Bend and enjoying the changing light on the towering cliffs above us.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/carnarvon-great-walk/camping/big-bend-walkers

10.72km, 3 hours 38 minutes, 384m ascent

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/