A Weekend at Waterfall Creek Reserve

For the past year or so my university commitments have kept us close to home as I simply can't find the time to go away.

So we have tried to make a long weekend available to us maybe once every month or two and we'll head out on a Thursday afternoon (after my morning lecture) and expect to come home on Sunday afternoon. Three nights away is not a lot, but it is surprising just how much fun it can be.

So a couple of weeks ago we picked out a destination that we hadn't visited before in a place where we expected to find peace, quiet and beauty as well as somewhere we could go for walks in the bush and exercise the mad pooch.

The destination was the Waterfall Creek Reserve in the Scenic Rim - less than two hours caravan tow away from home.  For anyone wanting to follow in our footsteps (and I would recommend it) you drive from the Gold Coast through Canungra, then Beaudesert and on to Rathdowney. Just a couple of hundred metres south of Rathdowney you'll see the Boonah Road and you drive down that for maybe 25 klms until you reach the township of Maroon. Turn left down Newman's Road (you're on dirt by now) until you reach Waterfall Creek Road and head down there. At the end of the road is the reserve.

We arrived at about 2pm and took a look around. The place seemed deserted so we picked a spot that had us nicely sheltered, but on reasonably flat ground and unhitched. We soon had the chairs out and a glass of wine and beer in hand. Even the dog seemed happy as he first investigated everything and then settled in next to us. 

The pic below is our camp.

After spending the afternoon exploring around the camp area we found the creek line and followed it up to the waterfall. It must be beautiful when there is water falling over it, but we are in the middle of a dry spell and the creek was just a series of pools and there was nothing flowing. Still, it was good exercise and Bruce the Dog thoroughly enjoyed piddling on everything in sight. 

Back at camp we lit a fire for warmth and cooked a steak (to eat with fresh salad) on the van's roll out BBQ.

The next day we walked Bruce the Dog around and breakfasted before jumping in the car and heading up the track that leads you half way up Mt Barney.  The track is steep and rocky so it was a slow drive and the rocky nature of the place started giving Karen real concerns that we might end up ripping the sidewalls out of our new tyres.

So we ended up heading back down and exploring the area generally.

There is a whole heap of beautiful countryside out here generally with none more beautiful than Maroon Dam. Pics below will give you the idea of how pretty it is. Nice and quiet too as we were the only people there for most of the hour or two we spent walking around and watching Bruce indulge his passion for swimming. 

We ended up travelling through Rathdowney so we called into the pub there for a beer and a relax. This used to be one of our "nice to visit" pubs, but things have changed, presumably because of the population pressures as the Gold Coast and Brisbane are expanding and all those new people are driving around and they end up spoiling things just by being there.

The Rathy pub is just one example - dogs are no longer permitted even in the beer garden (which is newly refurbished) so Bruce the Dog had to stay with the car. The pub itself seems less friendly than before and the prices are waaaaay up now.

Sad really. 

So, we ended up heading back to camp to find that some other people had turned up. Nice to have some company.

Dinner was a leg of lamb roasted in the camp oven along with a selection of vegetables. Beauty! 

Saturday was pretty much a repeat of Friday although a little more targeted as we headed up into the high points of the Scenic Rim. We couldn't believe how damned cold it was up there, but it is a spectacular place to visit as the pics below show.

This is one of Karen with Bruce as we were half way up the caldera rim (the Scenic Rim is actually an ancient volcano) 

Travelling down the other side we turned off the main road and headed down the Condamine River Road. The pic below shows the road heading into the gorge where we enjoyed the change in scenery and vegetation caused by the fact we were then in a sheltered gorge. There are fourteen river crossings to negotiate, but none of them are difficult. 

There are no pictures as it was difficult to stop anywhere due to the volume of traffic - every 4WD club in the area and lots of solo travellers had decided to visit the gorge that day and there were queues to cross the river at each crossing and people zipping back and forth.

Too many damned people. A gorgeous place though - if you visit then do so mid week. 

The road pops you out at Killarney (there must have been a lot of Irish settlers around this area) and we rejoined the main road heading back to Rathdowney.

Along the way we came across a few waterfalls and at each point where we were allowed to stop (some were in National Parks and Bruce was not welcome) we parked up and went for a walk. 

The first stop was at Brown's Falls.

As you can see from the sign, it is only a 600 metre walk each way, but they do say it is only for able bodied people.

What they don't say is that the walk is actually up the creek bed so you have to hop and climb from rock to rock to work your way up there. Bruce just loved it (yes, he went swimming again) but my knees didn't appreciate it so much. 

This pic shows the first little waterfall along the way and Karen working her way up one side of it. Bruce is already up an on the opposite side.

Eventually you reach the falls themselves which are high and beautiful. Once again, the lack of water made them less spectacular, but they are still worth seeing. The best view I could get was through a hole in the tree canopy.

By the time we got back we were both stuffed, but happy to have done it.

The next falls were Daggs Falls which brought to mind Brad Pitt's character in the movie "Snatch" where he asks "D'you like daggs?".

Well Bruce liked it anyway! 

These falls are also high and beautiful -From above they are spectacular with the two step fall that is not visible from below. 

We headed back to the van for dinner and to slump into a well deserved sleep.

Home the next day! 

WA - The Horizontal Waterfalls and the drive home

With or Kimberley camping adventure over (sigh) we then moved on to the next stage of the trip.

We stayed in Derby (back at the Kimberley Entrance van park where we had stored the van) and did something that we had wanted to do for years - we went out to see the Horizontal Waterfalls.

The tides in this part of the world are huge with ten to fourteen metres being the regular big ones. Out at the Horries the ocean has broken through a couple of ranges of hills and the narrow breakthrough points form a "tidal pinch" where as the tide piles up on one side or another the water rushes through the gap like a waterfall but it's a horizontal one and not vertical!

There is a company that organises trips out to this place and we booked a flight out and to spend the night on their floating hotel.  Sound like fun? Well it damned well is!

We were picked up by the float lane just outside Derby and headed north west to the harbour and the hotel. The flight took us over the tidal mud flats that surround much of Derby. Looks interesting from the air, but I'd hate to be walking there.

As we got closer to the harbour the country changed to be rugged hills and inlets.

And then we got our first view of the Horries - you can see the water rushing through the pinch. 

The plane banked low over the area and we got a great look at it.

This is Karen with the plane we flew in on. Gorgeous place and a fantastic way to travel. 

Almost as soon as we landed we were off in the power boats to run through the waterfalls.

It was a little disappointing really - they won't go through them when the wall of water trying to get through is too tall and they wait until it settles down to something resembling a NZ river in flood spate. Still, it was pretty exciting anyway.

The helicopter pilot was trying to drum up some business and did some trick flying.

Somebody was enjoying it was't she? 

After the thrills of running those waterfalls a few times we went for a gentle cruise to check out the country. Pretty place but rough and rugged too. 

We went back to the floating hotel and were straight away able to jump in the shark cage (the sharks are on the outside) and check out the sharks as they buzzed the cage and were fed by the crew. 

Fascinating stuff to be able to be so close to big beasties like that.

Then it was dinner time and we were fed fresh grilled barra and salads and able to tuck into the BYO grog. The crew left us to chat and we met a few great people over the cold beer and wine.  However, that ran out and we headed off to a great night's sleep in a beaut cabin.

Next morning we had a splendid breakfast before jumping back in the boats to buzz the waterfalls again.

Then we flew back to Derby, via a scenic look along the coast, to rest our heads and take stock of where we are and to get our minds around what a fantastic time we have been having. 

It was time to go so we left Derby and headed around the bitumen on the way to Kununurra, but before we left we called into the prison boab. The police used this a an overnight stop when they were marching a chain gang of aboriginals off to the courts. It seems they'd fit up to 20 people inside this tree. These days it is not recommended to climb into the tree because it is often home to a snake or two.

And so we travelled, overnighting at Mary Pool which is a beaut free camp along the bank of the river and under shady trees. The toilets have improved immensely since the last time we were here and are now actually usable without holding your breath and dashing in and out quickly. We weren't in a hurry so we stopped at another roadside stop for a night before reaching Kununurra .

We stocked up with food and grog and headed into the nearby Lake Argyle for a few nights.

This is a van park, but I have to say that it is the best van park we have come across. The infinity pool that overlooks the lake is stunning as is their kitchen and bars. 

We took a sunset cruise over the lake and had a ball. 

Crocodiles were abundant.

The views were wonderful.

The wildlife on the islands was tame.

And the sunset was breaktaking - just check out these shots.

Before we saw the sunset we stopped mid lake and dived in for a swim. The crew threw us cans of beer as we floated around (they also gave us pool noodles to make the floating easier) and floated out lifebelts with trays of wineglasses on top.

Bloody magic.

But, we had to keep going and we headed across the border and back into the NT and stopped off in the Keep River NP.

There had been a bush fire recently and the place was blackened but fresh green growth was coming through.

Keep River was notable both for its beauty and the fact that while we shared the camp area with two or three other travellers, they were all people who kept to themselves - no happy hour drinkies and story swapping there.

And so we travelled on and stopped at a free camp near Timber Creek.

The pic below, taken in the National Park on one of our drive/walk explorations, shows a rock "flow"  that is quite amazing when seen live.

The Nat Park was fairly dry, but still pretty spectacular and we explored around most of the northern half. The southern half is more remote and the tracks into it are rocky and uncomfortable to drive so we left that area.

For much of the drive along we were alongside the Victoria River and it's a cracker!

Insert stuff about the trip here

Getting close to home we met up with our friends Joan and Rob who were in their catamaran in Hervey Bay.

We were invited on board and we all sailed around Fraser Island for a few days and just lived the life of a sailor.

As you can see, Karen was finding it particularly gruelling.  

Karen and Joan hard at work reefing the mainsail or something.

Twin tracks from the twin hulls as we speed along.

Moored off Fraser Island - after living in the Territory we find even these mild temperatures a little cool. Wonderful days though.

Sunset - always special

We couldn't miss the opportunity of stepping on shore on Fraser of course and the boat allows us to get to places that you'd find it hard to get to in a 4WD including this old jetty and the half buried tractor left over from WWII operations.

The view of the catamaran from the island. Lovely eh?

More WWII relics from the Z-Force training camp

And another magical sunset.

Sadly, our cruise had to finish and we headed back to Hervey Bay to climb back into the Pajero and caravan and head further south towards home.

We didn't want our trip to end so we thought we'd break the journey out the back of the Sunshine Coast at Maleny and spend a few days there.

We checked into the Showgrounds (cheap, good facilities and just a ten minute walk away from the town) and relaxed for the rest of the day.

We went to sleep that night in a peaceful place with good weather and slept the sleep of the just.

ntil we were woken the next morning by the sound of V8 engines rumbling around - the Showgrounds were being used for a car show and people were moving their exhibits into place. For a vehicle lover (like me!) it was just wonderful being able to wake up and walk around the show and check out the engineering.

This is what it looked like:

Some people went to extreme lengths with their car builds - this boot in a Commodore has a racing fiel tank and a high pressure fuel system - lovely!

The front of the same beast had some cool custom work done too - and I bet this thing can just fly.

It wasn't all car shows though - we took a drive through the ranges and watched the weather deteriorate over the Glasshouse Mountains - time for a beer in our favourite pub in the area.