Day 232
Thursday
17 August 2017 – Happy Birthday Marcello
Stanthorpe – Girraween National Park – Ballandean
For a change I didn’t wake til 7.15am, I think it had
something to do with being in a spot surrounded by trees. Thankfully it wasn’t
a cool morning. Stanthorpe is known for its cool temps, in fact at this time of
the year they often experience snow, but the winter has been mild.
I read for a while before eventually dragging myself from
bed and starting the morning routine. We were ready to head on just before 10am
with a few more tips from the manager. I had decided yesterday that we would
head out to Girraween National Park to check out Pyramid Rock. The park and the
range that forms it is basically the divide between Queensland and NSW, with
the town of Tenterfield only 50km beyond the border.
We made our way through the town of Ballandean before making
our way into the park. We grabbed everything we would need and then began our
trek. From the edge of the Bald Rock Creek we could see Pyramid Rock in the
distance, we had a climb ahead of us.
The weather was perfect for being out in the fresh air and
doing some bush walking. We followed the steep path, climbing the stone stairs
where needed, all the time looking ahead of us and wondering what we had set
ourselves up for.
The large granite boulders rested in interesting stances,
many looked like massive dinosaur eggs.
About 30min into our walk, we had the end in sight. The
large granite outcrop peeled away above us only getting steeper and we decided
that we had climbed far enough. The wind was quite severe and if you didn’t
have your wits about you it could end in disaster.
I enjoyed the view, taking in the 360° panorama over the
park. My hat and sunglasses became victims of the wind, so Paul carefully took
off in earnest to rescue them, which he managed.
We then began the descent, carefully placing our feet on the
rock face, but right once we reached the path. A school group was in the park,
we assumed a camp and the kids were busy doing orienteering, we wondered how
many they might loose and how buggered they would all be tonight.
We followed the path to a second point in the park, Granite
Arch. This was a collection of granite boulders that through weathering and
erosion had created a natural arch. We posed in front of it before making our
way back to the car, a good start to the day.
We drove back towards Ballandean, stopping at the Ballandean
Pyramid, a large stack of granite that has been carefully placed into a pyramid
shape. It would have taken a fair bit of effort and time to create this
structure in the paddock.
We then stopped in Ballandean to have lunch at the local
sports ground before driving out to Ballandean Winery. We did a tasting of
their range, enjoying a chat with the Italian woman behind the bar. We came
away with a rose and some port.
Our next calling was the Brass Monkey Brewery, the final
brewery in the region. We chatted to Ernie the owner as Paul tried the beers on
offer. Other patrons came in and we chatted with them as well before finally
heading back towards home.
After unloading, we walked into town to post a post card to
Rebecca and to pick up groceries. We then made our way home where I spent the
afternoon going through the photos and things I needed to catch up on with the
net. Dad phoned from an open top bus in Vienna where he could get decent wifi,
but he had trouble hearing due to the background noise of passing traffic. At
least all is good at his end.
Paul made dinner then we ate and enjoyed the evening listening
to the ipod before heading to bed to read our books.
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