Reports

Report from Julie

And what a great weekend it was. So very different to our usual rainforest walks. There is just something very special about all those granite boulders around that area. Plenty to look at in this report with GPS maps of the walks, slideshow and video.

On Friday night Paul did a great job with the BBQ at Bonaways. The steak was just so tender that it melted in your mouth. On Saturday night we went to Anna's Restaurant for the Buffet Dinner and it lived up to its name.

We did some lovely walks at Girraween on Saturday including The Pyramids & Bald Rock Creek and Dr Roberts' Waterhole & Underground Creek.  We walked up Bald Rock Sunday morning and on our way home we stopped at Daggs Falls and then at Queen Mary Falls and walked the circuit. What beautiful falls they are. We then had lunch and parted company.

Joy, Margaret and I had a coffee across the road at the Cafe and then continued on our way home, stopping at Carr's Lookout on the way. We sure fitted a lot into our weekend away with lots of Bushwalking and a fun time as well. Thanks to all who helped make it a great weekend - Julie

Report from Helen

Excellent coverage with the photographic record of the trip from group photographers extraordinaire, Colin and Julie. Talking of photos, I also happened to see in  the Virgin Airways on-flight magazine over the weekend a photograph of Bald Rock. Wow! What a wonderful mass of rock – described  in the magazine as the largest granite monolith in Australia. The visit to see this magnificent landform was certainly worth the trip on Sunday morning en route home.

Colin mentions a number of groups arriving on what was the coldest day Stanthorpe had experienced this year, according to local garage owner.  Our little group arrived (that is, Sue, Hugh, Grahame and Helen) and settled into our accommodation which afforded some pleasant space for our socialising over cups of tea or a tipple or two of something stronger.  We loved the rocks in the front garden as we swept majestically up the drive in our almost new car. l would certainly recommend a peep into the grounds to check them out for anyone going up to Stanthorpe. We rugged up to fend off the Arctic conditions on that Friday afternoon.

But what do you know? The next day dawned with no wind and the sun shining (this was after our car had been totally whitened with frost overnight according to early morning riser, Michelle, used to checking on her livestock in the early hours). So prospects were great for a wonderful day, Stanthorpe looked pretty good. Anne stayed behind to suss out the local art studios, while the rest of us intrepid lot took to the hills once all of us were marshalled by Steve and others.

The Girraween National Park is beautiful with a range of walks from the challenging to very pleasant strolls with the occasional rock hop to add a bit of excitement: a  range which met  all our needs. I am grateful to have been part of the weekend. It was a wonderful experience in a wonderful part of the world made possible by organisers Julie and Paul and the company of all of us who made up our group - Helen