Over the Easter long weekend the Menzies clan was lucky enough to be treated to a trip to Goomburra in the Main Range National Park. If at points this post sounds like a tourism commercial it is only because the place was that good. It's a beautiful place, the company was awesome and the weather perfect.
I spent most of the week before we left getting camping gear ready and stocking up on things that had not been replaced since our last trip. I put two extra bike mounts on the car roof so that the boys could have bikes with them. It really is the only downside of the family getting into biking. Everyone wants to have a bike with them camping! I packed the car on Friday so that we could leave nice and early Saturday morning for 3 days in a little piece of heaven. The load in the car was a marvel of modern logistics but at least all my hard work paid off with just enough room to fit everything with no need for a trailer. Well almost. I left the cutlery and plates behind......
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| Loaded! |
I mentioned the awesome company. The trip had to Goomburra had been suggested by Nick after a conversation a few weeks before. I was really keen to get out of town for a few days and do some camping on my break. Nick offered up Goomburra and that was that. The Mills family, Nick, Annick and Emily were joined by Emily's friend Misty for the weekend. They had arrived on Friday and saved a spot for us right next door. There was plenty of space though around the site. I was quite amazed that for a long weekend there were so many spots still available. On the drive in though I was concerned we would be camped on top of each other as the couple of private camping areas were packed. No need for concern.
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| Rohan found a comfy spot. |
Saturday afternoon brought the first adventure if the trip. Alison, Jack, Nick and Annick went of for a walk on the Cascades Circuit. All up it is a 6km round trip taking in a number of little creek crossings over Dalrymple Creek and up to a waterfall. Jack set off as the trail blazer and even decided to race Nick up a couple of the hills. He also learnt a hard lesson about the Gympie Stinging Tree. There were a few tears but he bravely marched on after the shock had passed. I think the walk and the adventure overcame the pain pretty quickly and he was off again.
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| Jack was rapt to find the Bearded Dragon |
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| The intrepid adventurers |
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| The Cascades |
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| Alison in Dalrymple Creek. |
Everyone returned from the walk a little tired but well happy with the views along the way. Annick even backed it up with a night walk with the kids later that evening. We saw a couple of frogs and even the worlds sleepiest python. It was back to the camp for a few toasted marshmallows and cups of tea. Perfect end to a day.
Sunday was the day set down for a ride. Nick and I planned to head up to the top of Mount Castle and then on to The Winder. All up the trip is only 27km but there is over 1000m of climbing in a pretty short time. In fact most of the climb is in the first 8km. The ride through the rainforest to the clearing was beautiful. The canopy came over us letting dappled light filter in. The air was cool and damp until you passed into the sunshine where the day was warming up.
The Winder was used to raise logs up one side of the mountain and lower them over the other side to be taken to the mills for processing. Logging stopped in the area in about 1968 but the machinery remains as a reminder of how much trouble people went to in order to satisfy the relentless need for timber during the 40's and 50's.
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| Crank it up! |
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| The Giant 29er is still the business. |
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| Nick. He took it easy on me this time. |
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| Sylvesters Lookout. A little break on the way back. |
The ride out to The Winder was fun and pretty easy. Coming back seemed a whole lot harder. The grass and soft surface made the climbs just a bit more challenging. The reward was certainly in bombing down the descent back to camp though. We passed a couple of four wheel drives to very perplexed looks.
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| Parting shot. |
There was no rush come Monday morning to pack up. A very leisurely breakfast of bacon and eggs and coffee furnished by Nick made a great start to the day. Slowly but surely the camp came down and was packed in the truck. We were loaded and ready to go after a brilliant weekend. Gotta do that more.
