Cania Gorge National Park, Monto and Eidsvold (Yeppoon Trip)

 

Wednesday 14 July 2021 – 312 514

The first walk for today was Two Storey Cave. The cave itself was small at first view, but once you climbed up inside was quite large and then you could climb down into another section. It was good fun exploring.

Fern Tree Pool was pretty and still held water despite the prevailing dry conditions. Then on to the lookout at Giant’s Chair – great views but would be more impressive in better weather.

Lunch was had in Monto near the ArtWalk. We walked around town and admired the town hall and some wall art.

We have camped for the night at RM Williams Centre in Eidsvold. In the evening we went to the Son et Lumiere light and sound show. This was essentially a short film about RM Williams and bush life around Eidsvold. What made it special was the way it was projected onto five panels and the way it varied from sketch to film footage and back.

Cania Gorge National Park Hiking (Yeppoon Trip)

Tuesday 13 July 2021 – 312 514

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

Today’s hike was to the top of the escarpment and along the top to Castle Mountain Lookout. Our first stop was Dragon Cave, followed by Bloodwood Cave. I really love the colour of the bark on the Bloodwood trees. 

Up many steps we came to Gorge Lookout – the fog was just lifting and revealing the escarpment on the other side of the gorge. 

Then around 9km of long slow uphill to the Castle Mountain Lookout with amazing views over Lake Cania and the dam wall. The return walk was a long gentle and easy descent. The path on top of the escarpment is mainly a well maintained 4WD track.

After another view from the Gorge Lookout, we descended from the escarpment. 

We then turned into a side gorge to look at Dripping Rock. The colours in the wall of the gorge from here onwards were varied and amazing. At the end of this side gorge was The Overhang which was a moist oasis with its own microclimate and quite different flora.

Total walk for the day 30km and 8 hours

https://www.aussiebushwalking.com/qld/wide-bay-burnett/cania-gorge-np/castle-mountain-lookout

https://www.aussiebushwalking.com/qld/wide-bay-burnett/cania-gorge-np/dragon-and-bloodwood-caves

https://www.aussiebushwalking.com/qld/wide-bay-burnett/cania-gorge-np/dripping-rock-and-the-overhang

Queensland Heritage Centre, Mt Scoria and Lake Cania Rainbows (Yeppoon Trip)

Monday 12 July 2021 – 312 370

This morning we found one of the car tyres had gone down significantly overnight, so we headed into town to have it repaired.  Turned out it had a nail in it – all sorted and good to go thanks to Biloela Tyre Centre.

https://www.tyreright.com.au/en/Service-Centres/biloela-tyre-centre  

We then went back to Queensland Heritage Park and explored. They have an amazing variety of models of farm equipment and old trucks.

http://www.qldheritagepark.com.au/

Mt Scoria Conservation Park was our picnic lunch location. The walk had some attractive signage regarding the indigenous history of the area and creation stories. From the picnic ground you can see the mountain and its rocky structure. On the ground you could see broken pieces of the basalt columns.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/mount-scoria

Tonight, we are camping at Cania Gorge Tourist Retreat. After setting up and doing some much needed washing, we headed out. We drove to the Shamrock Mine area and did some exploring. There are so many holes and heaps from previous gold mining, as well as underground shafts.

https://www.caniagorgeretreat.com.au/

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/cania-gorge/about

https://www.aussiebushwalking.com/qld/wide-bay-burnett/cania-gorge-np/shamrock-mine-site

Lake Cania and the dam wall were our next stops. While we were here it rained and we asl had the sun on the escarpment providing a very pretty scene. This was one of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen.

https://www.queensland.com/au/en/things-to-do/attractions/p-56b25fcf7b935fbe730df374-lake-cania