Bushwalk Australia

For a few years now I have been slowly chipping away at the walks in this book, and recently hit the halfway mark (now at 88/170). I'm curious to know whether anyone here has completed all the walks listed in this book?

Being nearly 10 years old now, many tracks have changed conditions from those stated in the book (due to considerable storm damage/weed infestations, loss of landmarks, changes to access/private land etc) which can make completing them more difficult as time wears on.

Overall I feel that the selection of walks is good - it seems to cover most of the graded tracks and a small selection of off-track routes in the NPs - but there are several in there I certainly would not recommend or repeat.

Since most of the walks are on formed tracks I imagine this would be an easier feat than, say, completing all walks in the Bushpeople's Guide, which appears to include many walks of considerable difficulty (and which sadly I have been unable to acquire a copy of).

Didn’t realize the book existed......is it still available for purchase??


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Champion_Munch wrote:Bushpeople's Guide, which appears to include many walks of considerable difficulty (and which sadly I have been unable to acquire a copy of).

Hey Munch, Try these links which indicate used copies available:
https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780646037530?clickid=yKb2HTTmwUQGS8F3eyyUQz2NUkmSoX1x7SQqUI0&cm_mmc=aff-_-ir-_-64682-_-77798&ref=imprad64682&afn_sr=impact

https://www.amazon.com/Bushpeoples-Guide-Walking-South-East-Queensland/dp/0646037536

Also see this topic http://www.bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=11299

p.s I have an older edition of Take a Walk in SEQ but unfortunately my intermittent forays to SE QLD mean it will take me forever to finish it .
I quite like the Take a Walk series although the format takes some getting used to. I've had John and Lyn Daly's earlier SE NSW book for years.

The Bush Peoples Guide to South East Queensland does pop up on eBay every now & then...just have to keep your eyes peeled or save a search & flick the 'alert on' button on the eBay app.
There's one on there at the moment...

There's also the incomplete online version here...dated info, but still usable.
Keep in mind possible seasonal regrowth, fires, landslides, land access, storms blowdowns, flood damage etc etc over the last 30yrs since the book was last published.

http://www.southee.com/

Hey guys, thanks for all the hot tips! Seems there is still hope for getting my grubby hands on a copy of this book after all.

Bushpeoples guide went out of print whilst or before i was working at K2 Base Camp pre 2003. It simply didn't sell enough to keep it going.
I always assumed John Daly did a deal with the publishers etc because his books are written in the same way and are a shortened but continued version of Bushpeoples guide. I often refer to version 1 and version 2 of Bushpeoples guide. They both offer snippets of interest.

For a few years now I have been slowly chipping away at the walks in this book, and recently hit the halfway mark (now at 88/170). I'm curious to know whether anyone here has completed all the walks listed in this book?

Is that the total number of walks in the book? Isn't that discounting variations to walks. I never thought about a particular guidebook representing all walks possible. My first book was the first edition of Bushpeoples guide to bushwalking in SEQ. The number of walks grew with the second edition. It shrunk with Take a Walk.
I know i would have covered alot of the book. There simply is a number of walks or places i wouldn't bother with. For that matter, many people wouldn't go some places i would and have.
The way i began bushwalking was by studying maps. I would approach features like mountains and creeks and navigate them. Guidebooks came to me later.
As a result, my view is toward creating my own walks. Or doing variations on walks but not necessarily with regard to the route.The variation may be in terms of time, of day, night or year, or duration.
What i often wonder is, Who else has strung together the Scenic Rim as a walk? I've always assumed there would be a few. Maybe only a few.
I will likely do it again, for the fourth time since 2004. It provides a good many reasons why people wouldn't want to. It's just that it gives an opportunity for a multi day walk in southern queensland. I mean more than a few days. Realistically, it takes 8 - 12 days. Depending on your logistical requirements. I've met many people who go interstate, overseas ( i do too) for long walks. They don't seem to see possibilities in queensland. One point that sticks in my mind is that we saw only two people on one 8 day walk.
After decades of doing routes in queensland and northern nsw, covering every part of the scenic rim and many variations, it became a logical thing for me to do.

Any Favourites so far Munch?
I haven't actively been pursing the listed walks but I've probably only got through a quarter of take a walk and maybe a third of the 100 suggested walks in the bush peoples guide.

Who else has strung together the Scenic Rim as a walk?

I've been thinking about this for a long while and had even drawn up a route at some point. I've always thought how cool it would be to go from the Mistakes all the way through to the Cougals. I feel like you'd hit a fair chunk of what's in the guidebooks this way without multiple trips. I think I had trouble working out the best route between Barney and Point Lookout without just following the border the whole way. Maybe I'll set it as a goal even if just done in sections. I think I enjoy planning as much as I do bushwalking!

I've always thought how cool it would be to go from the Mistakes all the way through to the Cougals

Take a look at GlenRock or Mt.Beau Brummel on the Little Liverpool Range as start points.
The Little Liverpool Range is effectively cattle country. It is a natural extension of the 'Rim' and provides for the interesting traverse of Kangaroo Mtn to Main Range. Stay on the watershed. Landowners don't have a problem with you sticking to the property border along the top of the range.
There are two likely routes from GlenRock. Going from Glen Rock to the Winder track on the Mistake Range is off track and needs care. The top of Blackfellow Ck does provide access to the carpark at Mt.Castle lookout carpark.

Beau to Barney has a nice ring to it...

Hadn't really considered the little liverpool range, I'll look into it. Beau to Barney does have a nice ring to it ! A walk in the Bushpeoples guide describes walking from Junction View to Laidley Gap which could also be an option.

The back of the Secrets of the Scenic Rim has a few stories of traversal, with most starting from Cunningham's Gap. In 1948 a group spent four weeks walking from the gap to Binna Burra in Summer during a drought! It says the first full traversal from Beau Brummel to Point Danger was completed in 1978 by Bruce Stoff, unassisted and in 9 days! I'll give it all a good research this weekend anyway, should be fun.

It's the section from Laidley Gap to the winder track. That's always been overgrown and off track as i've known it. Much slower going than from GlenRock and Beau Brummel.
In 2004, My partner and i went from Beau Brummel to Mt.Tomewin in 10 days. In 2008, we went from GlenRock to Mt.Tomewin in the same time.
In 2011, we went from GlenRock again. We had concluded by then that it was better to carry maybe 15kg on average and resupply every couple of days. That meant we spent a day before putting caches at Cunninghams Gap, Teviot Gap, Boonah Border Gate, Collins Gap, Richmond Gap and Numinbah Gap. Another day was spent retrieving them.

I think I had trouble working out the best route between Barney and Point Lookout without just following the border the whole way.

If your own rules dictate that you stay on the watershed of the Main Range and the Macpherson Range. And if you are doggedly determined to stay on the border route, then you must ascend Mt.Ballow and turn down over Nothofagus and to Collins Gap from there. Mt.Barney would have nothing to do with it.
(There is some good reading on Roberts 'the surveyor' and the establishment of the state border.)
The approach to Mt.Ballow (Junction PK) from the south is off track and the fence long gone. I have done it. It prevents alot of difficulty for a throughwalking pack as it gets virtually no traffic and is hugely overgrown.
Even the usual route up Ballow from Minnages can be problematic for some as the vines and sharpies the render it off track. That may be preferrable though if you took out Clunie and went east from Boonah Border gate. There are two routes from there.
Of course all Ballow and Barney can be circumvented.
At a point where the border fence turns northward , about 7-10k east of Clunie, a rabbit fence route continues east down to farmland crossing Lindesay Ck and onto the Mt.Lindesay highway. A couple of km along the highway is Collins Gap. From here you follow the forestry road around the back of Mt.Lindesay to Glennie Gap, ascend Levers Plateau (still on the border fence the whole way) to Long Ck Falls and down to Richmond Gap. Mt.Gipps is problematic in that so little traffic and absolutely no fence maintenance for decades leaves an overgrown route with nothing but nightmares. About the only traffic along the border section from Richmond Gap to Tweed Trig over Nungulba is those who ascend Black Snake ridge (further up into Lamington - off Running Ck) and go onto Tweed Trig. You would do better to descend the road to Running Ck and continue up Running Ck to an old track that can take you to Gap Ck saddle. That is the end of the Stretcher track. Continue east to Pt.Lookout and follow the escarpment to Echo Pt. Graded track to Mt.Wagawn. descend to Numinbah Gap. Then go over Springbrook via Best of all lookout, down the Cream Track to Tallebudgera Ck. Ascend the northern spur of the East Cougal and along to Tomewin.
I know i did every leg of it, sometimes dozens of times before putting it all together.
I'm sure the planning will give you hours of joy.
My recommendation is to allow as much time as you can for the whole thing. There are sections where it warrants going slower and absorbing the surrounds. There are parts you wish were over because it is tedious following a fence and it provides little distraction with views etc. Realistically it is covering about 20k a day every day. I find i get homesick after about 8 days. That's with no breaks, some distance every day. It might be worth considering a day off, or a couple of half days. You could organise a detour and spend a night in a B & B. Maybe camp down by Barney Ck or Cronans Ck. Hardgraves road off Mt.Lindesay hwy gives easy access to Cronans Ck.

Wow, that's some great and motivating info Aardvark, cheers! I'll have a look at all of it.

Reckon the main aim of a traverse will end up being more of a checklist. A number of locations I've had marked for a while of with targets species, and there's a couple of vantage points I'm keen to get to - so lot's of detours. I'd definitely have a few days off if I were to do it in one go and I've got a couple of contacts I could drop into along the border.
I'll head down to Levers soon and do some scouting. I might even have a copy of the surveyor somewhere. The old man has a decent collection of those books. He's been keen to get to Montserrat/Nothofagus for the Beech trees as they're his favourite thing, so I'll give that a scout too.
The Lantana/Blackberry/Lawyer vine combo is really something, but I think I've experienced some of the worst of it in D'Aguilar and Nightcap so hopefully it's only comparable and not worse!

Thanks again for all the details!

Moocattle wrote:Any Favourites so far Munch?
I haven't actively been pursing the listed walks but I've probably only got through a quarter of take a walk and maybe a third of the 100 suggested walks in the bush peoples guide.

I love the Lamington/Barney/Main Range region, many of those walks listed in Take a walk I would (and have) done many times.

I’ve managed to get myself a copy of Bush peoples guide 2nd ed) and am impressed by the breadth of walks therein. Although have only done 25 of the hundred suggested walks. That particular list seems to have higher quality walks overall than the 170 in Take a walk (yes, that’s walks listed in the front pages - excluding variants mentioned in the text, aardvark), although the difficulty is greater. The Daly’s seem to enjoy making loop walks by stringing together service trails, which aren’t always much fun.

Still can’t understand some of the gradings given in the two books.

Still can’t understand some of the gradings given in the two books.

As you've probably heard before, gradings are strictly a guideline. Some people grade differently.
The general expectation is that the grading is based on the hardest part of the walk. Even if that is only a small part of the walk.

I'm just piecing together a plan to tackle the rim again in september.
Main cost is fuel for cache drops. It can take a long days driving to place six main caches. A number of smaller drops such as water will go out on various daywalks between now and then. I purchased canoe barrels 30l and 60l many years ago for this. They have helped on many occasions now so the initial cost (couple of hundred) has been spread out alot now. It is convenient to have someone drop you off at the start , such as GlenRock. It is easy enough to catch an uber or such from Mt.Tomewin and spend a night on the Gold Coast before getting a train at Robina to Brisbane.
Like last time, we will place a significant cache with overnight gear at Cunninghans Gap and do the part from GlenRock as a daywalk.

an still be bought on Ebay.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Take-a-Walk ... SwZ~ha49p9

Standing on Mt Mitchell on saturday looking north along the range ridgeline i wondered what it would be like to traverse it or if there was a track of any despription along it past Cunningham's gap and continuing south. I know there is a few short walk tracks but is there anything to link them together.
I have ordered a couple of topo maps to get a better idea of a possible route but was wondering if anyone here has ever attempted or completed a decent length section.
I would love to hear from anyone that has done it or tried to.

pulseevents wrote:Standing on Mt Mitchell on saturday looking north along the range ridgeline i wondered what it would be like to traverse it or if there was a track of any despription along it past Cunningham's gap and continuing south. I know there is a few short walk tracks but is there anything to link them together.
I have ordered a couple of topo maps to get a better idea of a possible route but was wondering if anyone here has ever attempted or completed a decent length section.
I would love to hear from anyone that has done it or tried to.

Graded tracks in Main Range NP are limited to the area around Cunninghams Gap and Spicers Gap . Everything else is off track.
It is all trafficable though. Off track is a very broad term. Basically it is anything that's not a graded track.
Most places worth visiting will have something of a pad to follow. ie a path of least resistance.
You should however have an understanding on how to navigate.
I regularly cover the section in the north as a daywalk. Typically from Cunninghams Campsite no 6 in the foothills to the east of Sylvestors Lookout via Boars Head, Sylvestors L/O, Bare Rock and to Cunninghams Gap. appx 9 hrs.
Alternatively, from Glen Rock Regional Park to the Winder track and the carpark for Mt.Castle L/O and beyond to Sylvestors L/O.

I would suggest you start with a visit to Goomburra SFP on the NW side of the range. You can walk the road up, or 4WD it to Sylvestors L/O and the carpark for Mt.Castle L/O. Perhaps in time you will venture off track to Laidley Ck Falls and maybe Mt.Castle.

The part of the range in the north which most people will baulk at is the section between Sylvestors L/O and Bare Rock. It is a matter of following the escarpment but that still weaves about a little. It is off track and there is plenty of regrowth in places. It generally requires some experience picking a route. The vines and nettles can frustrate.

I can't tell you how many times i have traversed Main Range. Dozens frankly. There are dozens of routes when you take in the ridges running westward.
Southern Main Range is a three day effort for some. I would generally try to tackle it in two. It can be done in one but that is a continuous effort over about 18 hrs.
The only record of a one day attempt that i could refer you to is in 'Secrets of the Scenic Rim' by Robert Rankin.

Feel free to ask any questions.

Hi folks,
It's nice to hear the comments about our book Take A Walk in South East Queensland. We regularly re-walk many of the tracks and have just finished a camping/walking trip at Stinson Park where we walked up to Neglected Mountain and Westrays Grave. They are still great walks.
John

I did the Scenic Rim walk in 1978. Six of us got off the train at Grandchester and walked from there to the coast. We took 20 days (several rest days in there) and had one resupply - boxes that we sent by freight to Borderloop Siding. Three of us finished. I had grown up on tales of my parents doing that walk. My children have grown up on my stories, and now one wants to do it with me. E have done the Lions Rd to Mt Lindsay Hway section in recent times. Id like to try Lions Rd eastwards now. I see reference to dropping down to Running Ck and walking up from there. Can someone point me to specific directions for this access? First time posting so will try and get a handle on the discussion. TIA

I see reference to dropping down to Running Ck and walking up from there. Can someone point me to specific directions for this access?

It’s about linking up with the western end of the Stretcher track to get to Point Lookout.
Gap Ck provides access to the saddle on the Christmas Ck side. A pad runs down a spur to Running Ck from the saddle. The pad is obscured at Running Ck and I would recommend doing a daywalk from Christmas Ck to check it out.
It is also a chance to deposit water at the saddle for the extended walk. Something I have recently done for a traverse of the rim again in august.

Thanks for info Aardvark. There is a post called Running Creek Falls that has a map included. Would this be the route you are talking about? I am scouting about right now looking for the route. Heading to Christmas Ck

ESA wrote:Thanks for info Aardvark. There is a post called Running Creek Falls that has a map included. Would this be the route you are talking about? I am scouting about right now looking for the route. Heading to Christmas Ck

You can access Running Creek falls from Christmas Creek/stretcher track or via Ken & Jans farmland, just drop them a email 1st...they're a bushwalker friendly couple. Accommodation also available.
https://m.facebook.com/rimfall/

Thanks! I will ask their advice. What I want to know is, is this a viable way up to get onto Lamington Plateau from Richmond Gap.

Thanks! I will ask their advice. What I want to know is, is this a viable way up to get onto Lamington Plateau from Richmond Gap.

The Running Ck trip reported took the approach from Christmas Ck , Gap Ck saddle, Stretcher track and England Ck . That meant dropping from the stretcher track to Running Ck Falls via England Ck. That is perhaps a little unorthodox.
As you have apparently not been in the area before, i suggest you leave England Ck alone. It won't be what you're expecting.
The obvious route on the map from Richmond Gap is to continue over Mt.Gipps, Nungulba, Tweed Trig and around to Point Lookout. If you're not experienced at off track walking, you will find it a bit of a bash and very indistinct in most places. It is a broad ridge as would navigationally be tricky due to treefall etc. It just doesn't get the traffic anymore. The border fence is non existent and not due to removal but more collapse and decay due to being overtaken by bush.
The stretcher track is currently followable. There is a little tape, although i removed some excess. It is NOT a graded track. It still requires careful navigation. There is treefall and alot of vines, nettles, lantanna etc and it does weave some.

Thanks for that. Taking your excellent advice, I am going to do some day walks in the area first.

Just posted 2 copies of Bushpeoples guide in the market square

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=28185

I just bought a copy of Bushpeoples Guide for $35. Happy.
Between that, John's Take A Walk and Rankins Secrets of the Scenic Rim I should be covered for walks for a while!