TM Natural History Association - TM Natural History Association

2014-07-12 - Mt Greville

Details: Created: Sunday, 13 July 2014 14:52; Written by Steve Armbrust

Leader – Steve Armbrust
Total Distance: - 6.6k
Walkers – Helen & Grahame, Jackie, Julie, Anita & Damien, Mike, John, Paul, Colin, Steve

Eleven brave walkers ignored the near freezing conditions and all met at the Mt Greville car park for our walk up the mountain. Included in the numbers was Anita & Damien, guest walkers from Brisbane. Temperatures had warmed up a little by the time we set off but fleece jackets were still needed, it’s cold in the gorges as very little light penetrates through the tree canopy.

As usual we ascended the mountain via Waterfall Gorge, there is a lot of branches and sticks in the gorge as we have not had decent rain all year to help flush out the debris. This made the going tough and a lot slower than normal so it took us longer to reach the rocky outcrop below the summit where we normally have smoko. National Parks had recently had a hazard reduction burn so unfortunately we were not walking through the lush vegetation with winter flowers that Mt Greville is known for, instead we had to walk through a burnt out landscape.

2014-06-28 - Toohey Forest

Details: Created: Saturday, 28 June 2014 21:03; Written by Julie Cullen

Leader – Julie Cullen
Total Distance: - 11.4k
Walkers – Michele, Margie, Christine, Jackie, John and Colin

I decided not to do the walks on the other side of the road at the Mayne Estate Picnic Area this time as it isn't a very nice area to walk and usually very dry and not really anything of interest anyway. The bush was looking very dry and some parts had been burnt off. The Grass Trees were looking very black but will come back nice and green with the next lot of rain.

It was quite overcast and so nice and cool to do this walk as no good when too hot. We had morning tea near a nice little dam and then we saw a few spits of rain in the dam. As soon as the umbrellas were up and the jackets were on it went away. Colin took a photo of us all in our gear.

2014-06-14 - Venman Bushland

Details: Created: Saturday, 14 June 2014 14:04; Written by Colin Bridge

Leader - Colin
Total Distance: - 18.4k (with 4.2k deviation)
Walkers –John, Mike, Paul, Michele, Jackie, Christine, Colin

We all met at the Venman Bushland car park and started off in cool overcast conditions – perfect for walking.

We decided to do the walk in an anti-clockwise direction this time. There are many intersecting bicycle tracks which we passed along the way which could offer interesting diversions another time. We were making very good time even with all the conversation.

It was very dry in the area and very little or no water in the creek beds. After arriving at the gate entry to Neville Lawrie Reserve we quickly (as it had just turned 10:00am) found a nice spot to have smoko in a dry creek bed. The last two times we had visited here we would have been sitting in water – not today.

2014-05-24 - Flinders' Peak

Details: Created: Friday, 30 May 2014 14:16; Written by Colin Bridge

Leader - Colin
Total Distance: - 7.0k
Walkers – Grahame & Helen, John, Mike, Paul, Michele, Julie, Leigh, Jackie & Bert, Colin

Starting off in Mt Tamborine fog we drove to Beaudesert and then on to Flinders Plum Picnic Area arriving in cool but bright sunshine.

After a little hesitation on which way to go we started up the mountain. We had an early Smoko to gain some energy for what was to be a hard day’s climbing. At Smoko another younger group came through, some dressed as Zombies, others with make-up on which resembled cuts and abrasions from falls. It fooled leader Colin who offered first aid which was politely refused.

2014-05-10 - John's Local Treat

Details: Created: Friday, 30 May 2014 13:39; Written by John Leisten

Leader - John
Total Distance: - 6.0k
Walkers – Sue, Paul, Helen & Grahame, John

Leaving cars by the Hartley Rd letter box we walked to the Eastern end of the road where the delightful cliff walk begins, and followed the path, making a left turn at Caryyota Court, and crossing a wooden bridge to reach Licuala Drive.

There we turned right to Esme Park, where we walked the little circuits. We returned to the cars by the same route. This time we left the cars at the Macdonald NP and walked through it to the Botanic Gardens, which we agreed had never looked better, and saw a new attraction, the Cascades Walk.

2014-04-26 - Illinbah & Caves

Details: Created: Tuesday, 29 April 2014 08:59; Written by Colin Bridge

Leaders - Colin & John
Total Distance: - Illinbah Circuit & Gwongoorool Pool 18.7k
Walkers – Christine, Helen & Grahame, Hugh, Jackie, Paul, Colin
Total Distance: - Caves Circuit & Gwongoorool Pool 13.0k
Walkers – John, Carol, Michele, Julie

We set off from the Binna Burra Information Centre in two groups, Colin with the Illinbah Circuit walkers and John with the Caves Circuit walkers at about 8:45am. Although some showers were predicted it was warm and sunny.

The Illinbah Circuit walkers started off in a clock-wise direction, making our way down the many steps to the junction for the Gwongoorool Pool/Illinbah Circuit. We decided to make the diversion to Gwongoorool Pool on the Coomera River for our smoko stop. It was lovely sitting in the shade and admiring the cascades and the deep pool.

2014-04-12 - Box Forest Circuit

Details: Created: Wednesday, 16 April 2014 16:20; Written by Julie Cullen

Leader - Julie
Total Distance: - 12.0k
Walkers – John, Mary, Christine, Helen & Grahame, Jackie, Carol, Sue, Colin, Julie

We set off from O'Reillys at 9 am. Everything was lovely and green after the rain we'd had recently. We went clockwise and were aiming to have morning tea at Yambacoochie Falls as not really anywhere else to sit on the way and we had lunch there one other time when we went the opposite way. It is just a little way off the Box Forest Circuit. It was getting later and everyone was really ready for their morning tea but when we got to the turn off it was closed off with orange fencing.

2014-03-22 - John's Local Treat

Details: Created: Sunday, 30 March 2014 14:16; Written by Colin Bridge

Leader - John
Total Distance: - 11.0k
Walkers – Paul, Julie, Colin, Sue, Mary, John

John took us on another of his exploratory walks from Mt Tamborine. We started off at Staffsmith Park and made our way down to Caballo Road. After making a directional error we stopped for Smoko to discuss the best way to retrace our steps and get back on track.

After getting back on track we made our way through some very hill areas which were much more open than usual because of recent bushfites. With little rain there was not the usual green regrowth and the contrasts in colurs (some green - some burnt brown) was spectacular.