Day 234
Saturday
19 August 2017
Boonah – Lake Moogerah – Mt Alford – Queen Mary Falls
Magpies cooing on the roof of our van heralded the beginning
on the new day. The wind had kept up for most of the night, but the morning was
still. I happily read my book for an hour before getting out.
We had breakfast, did our usual bits, packed up lunch and
then left the campground at 9am. First stop was across the road for bread rolls
and then we made our way to Lake Moogerah through the Moogerah Peaks.
We parked at the Haigh Park and proceeded to walk out along
the dam wall. The wind had made an appearance and was whipping over the water
giving us a good cool blast of air. We watched the water being released into
the valley beyond and the people enjoying the lake for fishing and water
sports.
After completing our walk, we returned to the car and drove
on to Mount Alford. We arrived at 10am just as the Scenic Rim Brewery was
opening. We made our way inside, spoke to the brewer Mike and Paul tasted the
beers. An hour later we were all done and free to continue exploring the Scenic
Rim.
We navigated to the Falls Road and began our journey along a
very twisty, turny and narrow road. A sign on entering advised no caravans,
trucks or busses were to use the road between here and Queen Mary Falls and it
soon became very apparent as to why.
The road traversed the valley before heading up and up.
Large trees lined the roads and it reminded us of the drive over Mount
Shadforth in Denmark. Large sprawling paddocks were intermingled with the
national parks. We eventually made it to Carr Lookout. This provided a great
view over the Head Valley, but we knew we had climbed in altitude as it was so
cold. The car had acted like a greenhouse keeping us warm, but stepping out of
the bubble was an assault on the senses. It was so cool green hanging moss
clung to the wooden fence posts and the street signs.
We returned to the car’s warmth and made our way on to Queen
Mary Falls for 12noon. We parked up and checked the walking track information
before taking off to follow the 2km Falls circuit.
We descended the stairs into the gorge before following the
sloping path. It wasn’t long after hitting the flat stuff that we had three
snakes slither off in front of us. They were all the same; long and whippy
like, olive green on top but a rusty colouring underneath. We were not sure
what species they were and I was happy to see them take off and not bother us.
We eventually reached the bottom of the falls where you
could look up and see the water cascade over the rocky ledge above, the spray
of the water hitting you in the face as you looked up. It was really cold down
in the shadows and Paul was feeling it as he had no jumper.
I took the photos I wanted and then we began the climb up
the other side of the gorge. There were no steps on this side so it wasn’t too
taxing. We checked out the views from a lookout at the top and then followed
the path back to the picnic area.
We grabbed or lunch things from the car and chose a picnic
table in the sun to help warm our bones. We ate while enjoying the quiet and
peacefulness that being in amongst large trees always brings.
Our afternoon was spent completing the circuit through the
towns of Kilarney, Emu Vale, Yangan and Freestone before reaching the
Cunningham Highway and following it back to Boonah for 2.30pm.
I laid about lazily for a couple of hours, watching a DVD.
Paul wrote up his review and then went about loading the car ready for tomorrow’s
move. When he had finished his job, we went for a walk around the suburbs to
burn up energy ready for dinner.
When we returned, Paul began preparing and cooking while I
loaded his review. We then ate and settled in for the evening.
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