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Published: August 31st 2012
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Balancing Rock
On top of one of The Pyramids Peaks. We are enjoying exploring the diversity of terrain that Queensland has to offer and always take the opportunity to discover somewhere new when there is a long weekend or a birthday to celebrate, so with that in mind a weekend was booked for Kevins birthday to drive the 4 hours journey through the Great Dividing Ranges and Cunninghams Gap onto Warwick and south to Stanthorpe and Tenterfield, into the Granite Belt countryside.
We were expecting to see vines growing in abundance in the area and was surprised to discover very little evidence of any vineyard, instead vast expanses of agricultural land where cows grazed and gum trees filled the horizon. We stopped in Warwick for a bite to eat and wondered down the main high street under the large verandas that covered the walkways. Wide streets and large brick buildings dominated the centre of the street where the bank and town hall stood but everywhere seemed to be trapped in a time warp and everything was standing still waiting for something to happen! It was a strange feeling especially as there was hardly anyone about in the middle of the day!
Stanthorpe was even more sleepy and on a
The Pyramids
At the start of our walk. smaller scale, shops with original facades and doorways lined both sides of the street and offered the opportunity for people to stay in four huge hotels that were dotted at strategic crossroads, now tempting passer byers with pokies and local entertainers hoping to make it big one day?! It was a little disappointing as we had heard how lovely Stranthorpe was despite it being the coldest place in Queensland with record low temperatures, even snow is possible!
Road signage was a bit of a problem as we went in search of the turning to Sundown National Park with the idea of driving up to the ridge to watch the sunset but unfortunately we spent too long trying to find the entrance to the park and then navigating over some very uneven terrain with the light fading we decided to turn back to be on the safe side before we got hopelessly lost! Thank goodness for google maps and the iPhone so with a single track to follow we found our way back to the highway.
Our first night was at the Ballandean Tavern a roadside motel that catered for all the locals and was the hub for the
Looking up!
The steepest part of the climb. Kevin is lying on his stomach looking up! social meeting place and watering hole. It was also a great starting point for an early start in the morning to drive into Girraween National Park in readiness to climb the 3-5km return walk to The Pyramids, a vast scrubland and granite escarpment. There are many interesting walks of differing lengths and difficulty but this walk, although challenging proved to be well worth every step of the way. The boulder studded landscape crossed creeks and exposed granite slabs along narrow stepped pathways winding up to a steep trail of white painted markers on the rock face to ascend to Balancing Rock which towered above your head and almost defies gravity as we circumnavigated the summit. The views were spectacular and we could see across the escarpment and across to the second “Pyramid” which could only be climbed by experienced rock climbers. The yellow Wattle trees in flower filled the valley below and sitting snuggled up against the boulders out of the wind and warmed by the sun we watched large eagles soar above us against a cloudless sky. Here we were able to see across to Bald Rock National Park which merges with Girraween and where seamless boundaries join and
Almost at the summit.
We followed white painted markers across to ascend the steep rock face. spot the huge granite escarpment, the largest in the southern hemisphere. Needless to say the descent was much easier once we had negotiated ourselves down off the steep rock face and we were pleased to have achieved such a climb by mid-morning allowing plenty of time to do some more exploring.
It is easy to see why it is a popular place to come and camp and have a holiday, there is so much to see and explore and in the spring time enjoy the abundance of wild flowers that apparently adorn the park.
A short drive further south took us across the border into New South Wales and the town of Tenterfield. Here Bald Rock National Park could be accessed by a 20km drive north along a dirt track named the Mount Lindesay Highway, nothing could be have been further from the fact! We decided to walk The Bungoona Walk a 2.5km gradual climb walk around the back of the escarpment and enjoy the natural arches that have been created by these mammoth granite boulders, it was also less of a strain on our legs! This huge granite dome stands 260m above the surrounding countryside,is 750m long
Contrasts
Examining the rock formations. and 500m wide and shows how thousands of years of weathering have made a striking landscape where huge slabs of balanced boulders stand above the forested hills. Fantasticviews could also be had looking south to Mount Warning and New England.
We stayed in historic Tenterfied at the northern end of the New England tableland for our second night at Stannum House, built in 1880 and designed by Italian architects and became the home of John and Emma Reid and their twelve children. It was a fascinating place and every room was flled with antiques some genuine and some not quite so. We were also givena tour of the house after breakfast and talked about the details and stories that came with the house. In its former days it was the centre of Tenterfield society during the tin mining boom and has had its fair share of owners. Kevin enjoyed taking photos of many of the buildings in the town there were 25 mentioned in the information sheet some dating back to 1850.
Boonoo Boonoo National Park, east of Bald Rock winds through forsest land forming rock pools on the upper reaches before plunging 210m over the falls, a
Contemplation
Actually I was texting photos back to the UK as I had signal! viewing platform shows the drop down into the gorge and no doubt is a spectacular sight after the rainy season.
We decided to continue driving back to Brisbane through the Condamine Gorge east of Killarney, where we crossed fourteen watery creeks, through Main Range National Park, we also enjoyed great views of Mount Barney as we drove up to Boonah and then Ipswich before returning home.
A great weekend and well worth visiting, we will certainly be returning one day.
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