From beaches to mountains...getting settled into life with the Landcruiser

[p1michaud]

This weekend, we pointed the Landcruiser in a Southerly direction towards Lamington National Park (World Heritage listed). This area of Queensland is know for it's rainforests, spectacular views, extensive bushwalking tracks.

We had been preparing on Wed. and Thurs. for a quick departure on Friday after work. The sunlight fades around 6:45 pm these days and that really limits your travel if you are trying to avoid driving in the dark. We nearly made it to our destination before night fall but about 30 Km away, we had to slow down and enjoy the evening sights, smells and obstacles. The measly OEM high beams made this appear out of the darkness...

Two things played in our favour in this instance, we were moving at a mere 20 Km/h due to a sharp turn and we were in no hurry to get there thank goodness.

A better view...

At one point, I had to crawl forward nearly brushing up against a few of these guys because they were in no hurry to move. Thanks to the cover of darkness and our slow progress we saw a few other cool creatures on our drive. We spotted lots of frogs on the road and what we eventually figured out were owls after about the 5th one we startled... We continued at our slow pace thanks to twisting and narrow roads steadily climbing to our destination for the evening. We got there late, set up camp and enjoyed a cold one. We were away from the city once more! :sombrero:

KC, sorry to put you through this again!

 

[whatcharterboat]

Well done Pierre.

Did you do any walking up there in the end? And which tracks did you take? The "Waterfall" circuit is worth it. Good as a slow overnighter.

BTW Lucky you're not up a Cooloola now. They are starting to evac everyone from the camp areas cause of Cyclone "Hamish".

John.

 

[p1michaud]

Well done Pierre.

Did you do any walking up there in the end? And which tracks did you take? The "Waterfall" circuit is worth it. Good as a slow overnighter.

BTW Lucky you're not up a Cooloola now. They are starting to evac everyone from the camp areas cause of Cyclone "Hamish".

John.

John,
We did do some walking. See future posts...
Cheers,
P

 

[p1michaud]

Lamington National Park continued...

After getting to the campsite a bit on the late side of things and setting up camp in the dark, we woke up to a cool but beautiful sight. There were wallabies feeding all over the camp site.

However there were less appealing critters that walk around your tent making funny noises and leave you scratching your head as to what they are...

The unfortunate part is that these wild turkeys don’t have natural predators thus are left to multiply at will. I also understand that (in Brisbane anyhow) they are a protected species. They go around scratching at the grass and undergrowth in search of food or to make their nest. Quite destructive in fact. The locals have a saying: “Catch one, put it in a pot of water and boil it, drain the water, take the bird out and toss it then eat the pot...” We were preparing our breakfast when Martha placed a bag full of grapes and oranges slices on our folding table. She turned around to get the cereal and one of these turkeys had a go at our bag of goodies. It jumped up on the table, picked up the bag and started to wander away with it. Luckily Martha saw him and gave chase to retrieve our stolen goods. Not only are they no good to eat, they are cunning thieves! Of course their behaviour is thanks to humans who think they are cute and feed them...
After the excitement and some breakfast, we decided to stretch our legs and go for a walk. We decided to complete a 12 Km track called Box Forest Circuit. Here’s the beginning of the bush walk.

The trees in this park are very large, much larger than I had anticipated.

One of these giants was partially blocking the trail.

I wish that I could recall the name of these various parasites, but unfortunately I can’t. Just a few photos of various items we observed as we were walking along.

To be continued...

 

[p1michaud]

Lamington National Park continued...

As we made our way along, we came across a few very nice water falls.
First falls.

Second falls.

At one point we had to remove our shoes and cross the very cold water. It was refreshing...

A few other shots we took along the way...

To be continued...

 

[p1michaud]

Lamington National Park continued...

As with most of our trips so far, we saw lots of critters. We saw this guy getting a bit of sun.

We saw another one of our blue “out of place” looking friends.

Later on, we saw a relative of his in what I would feel is a normal place for one of these guys.

Then, we got “educated” about their normal habitat...

After our walk, it was time to relax. No better way than having an afternoon tea at the camp site.

To be continued...

 

[98roamer]

Great report, please keep it coming.

 

[p1michaud]

Lamington National Park continued...

While sipping on our cup of tea, we enjoyed a bit of “bush TV”. Now get your mind out of the gutter, we simply sat and enjoyed our surroundings. We were also rewarded with more Wallabies...

They were all around us...

TEST: How many faced did you see in that last photo? We were allowed to watch for over an hour and it was superb...

Taking the time to watch, listen and absorb your surroundings while watching the various critters going about their business makes me feel like a kid again. It's a time of reflection that makes you wonder what ever happened to that time in your life where all the simple pleasures in life were just that simple. It also makes you realize that you don't do this often enough.
As daylight faded, we heard more rustling in the trees above. With a bit of light, we were able to determine what the source was...

We had a few possums moving from tree to tree. Looked like they were having fun too!

More to come later...

 

[Corey]

Excellent pictures and narration.
Really digging the scenery.
One day I hope to visit Australia.

 

[kcowyo]

:mixed-smiley-030:


Why don't you just stiff-kick me in the beanbag and get it over with already?! I hope you get a blister hiking through paradise...


*sigh*


Green. Totally green. With envy....

.

 

[Ursidae69]

Most excellent Pierre. Thanks for posting. :victory:

 

[slooowr6]

Wow, amazing picture of animals. Love the lobster looking cray walking on the trail.

 

[p1michaud]

Canadians should not get cold in Austrlia but...

It's funny how quickly your body adapts. We have been in Australia for just over three months now. The average temperature is about 40 degrees C. higher than it would be back home but yet we got cold. It was so cold the first night that we did not sleep too well. Unfortunately for us, we were un-prepared as our warmer sleeping bags had been left home on this occasion. I had resigned to suffering through anohter cold night but Martha had another idea...

She's just too smart! Yep, those are sheep skin covers. Not only are the nice to sit on during very hot days (keeps the sweat off your back making it cooler while driving) but provide exceptional warmth! Go ahead an laugh, but in these situations your innovations keeps you warm and well rested. Now we know that we have "back up" cold weather sleeping gear in the Cruiser at all times. :elkgrin:

Earlier in the afternoon, I spotted this cool 80 series with a Hannibal Roof top tent. I opened a beer and decided to wander over for a chat. Turns out we had a few things in common and we spent the better part of an hour chatting. We both discovered that we were interested in tackling an alternate route home via Duck Creek Road. We made plans to travel together. After a great night sleep we tuned in via the UHF for proper communications and hit the road.

To be continued...

 

[p1michaud]

Discovering Duck Creek Road

The Duck Creek Road was constructed and continues to be maintained by volunteers and donations via a "toll". It winds it's way down the back side of the mountain if you will and provides some spectacular views.

I'm not having a good time, honest....

The final picture of our trip, the toll booth...

Happy trails.
Cheers,
P

 

[viatierra]

That was FANTASTIC! I loved this report... Fortunately my beanbag is more or less still in place.

Thanks for posting Pierre!