On the way home from Sundown National Park last week, Chris and I spied an interesting looking mountain and decided to one day return to check it out.
After reading up on Mt Flinders, which hosts some pretty tough rock climbing in a secret cave, we decided to give it a shot. In some ways we were lucky, Sunday was grey and overcast, but that kept the heat down compared to the sweltering 35 degrees the day before. Unfortunately our view of the Scenic Rim from the summit would be lessened, but we went up it anyway!
Chris took his three year old daughter along for the trip, after reaching the car park he saddled up and we got hiking.
It was a pretty straight forward walk but very step in sections. We finally got to the top, Josephine helping with route finding by spotting all the trail markers and tape.
While the views were nice even under the grey skies, they were marred by the large communications tower constructed on the peak.
We did the 6 kilometer round trip in about 3 and a half hours, including a nice rest at the top. We arrived back to the car just as it was getting dark and set off back to Brisbane.
A fun hike close to Brisbane, a great effort by Chris, and Josephine was great company.
A trip down to Sundown National Park had been a long time coming. The prospect of remote camping, proper four wheel driving, potential rock climbing and fresh water fishing had definitely aroused my interest, and after a few postponements it was finally time to go and check it out.
Naz, Chris and I left Brisbane on Friday night for the three hour drive south to the NSW border. We made good time heading over the Main Range via the Cunningham Gap, from then it was an easy night drive past Stanthorpe until we made it to the park entrance.
Feeling alert we decided to continue on and try to make it to the Red Rock Gorge campsite for the night. The track was very rough and rocky, but we slowly made our way there under the clear night sky.
We arrived to an empty site, cracked a beer and sat down after unpacking our sleeping gear. After a close call with a large and nasty looking centipede crawling millimeters from my feet we decided hit the sack, considering it was past midnight at this point.
It was such a beautiful night that it didn't take much for Chris to talk me into sleeping under the stars. We each unrolled a tarp and laid out our sleeping gear, trying to fall asleep to the thunderous noise of the nearby frogs and crickets. The far off lightning didn't cause any concern.
It wasn't soon after that the lightning flashes became more frequent and brighter, I had barely checked the car windows before all hell broke loose. Diving back into my sleeping bag and rolling up in the tarp, the sky opened up and proceeded to hammer us with rain for the next few hours. Mostly dry in the tarp cocoon it was impossible to get any decent sleep, and the long night soon turned to morning.
We woke bleary eyed just after dawn as the skies began to clear. We made the short hike to the Red Rock Gorge lookout and were surprised that the waterfall wasn't running.
It was a great view, but the temptation of a hot cup of coffee and some breakfast soon overcame our vista and we returned to camp. I butchered some pancakes, but eventually we were awake enough to continue further into the park.
Given that the overnight storm had cancelled any plans to go explore the gorge and try some rock climbing, we decided to push on to Burrows Waterhole, set up camp again and do some hiking fishing. The continuing track was rocky and rough in places, and we slowly made our way further into the park. Chris, being an avid bird watcher, had us willingly stop every time he spotted a new species. All to often I miss these things when I drive, it was nice to see the outdoors with a fresh set of eyes.
We passed an old mine site, and continuing along the main ridge we came out along some beautiful open fields where we decided to stop for another coffee.
We were getting close to Burrows Waterhole and decided to take a few alternative routes that would prove a bit more challenging than the main trail. We found some steep and rutted sections that proved to be a lot of fun, The videos make it look a lot easier that it was, and it was good to get the pulse racing a little.
Around midday we arrived to a beautiful shady, grassy area on the banks of the Severn River. We set up camp, and I put up my tent (without the waterproof fly) and unrolled my bedding to dry. After a late lunch we lazily explored the area, taking a swim in the river, casting a few lures hoping to catch some fish, and putting out a few things to dry.
Later in the afternoon we decided to visit nearby Rat's Castle. Chris set off on foot looking for wildlife, after giving him a head start I drove to the beginning of the track and stopped at the top of a nasty looking track down.
I was greeted with an unmissable warning sign relating the danger of attempting the Rat's Castle 4WD track. I walked the three tracks down and picked the least intimidating line, Naz was leaving his Pajero back on the hill so I wouldn't have any help getting snatched or winched out.
I crawled slowly down the hill without issue, and further along the track I stopped to check out the rocky river crossing. It wasn't deep at this section, but the natural rock features made the cross slow and delicate, having to dodge diff scraping rocks and making sure my wheels didn't drop down any sharp ledges. With Naz and Chris spotting the rocks I slowly made my way across, as I made it past the point of no return we realized that a storm was almost upon us. Lightning lit up the sky, and thunder and severe winds ripped through the gully.
There was no option but to continue on and hope the rest of the track wasn't too tough. Soon after the rain began to pour down, winds battering the tress, branches and debris flying everywhere. Before long I was driving through muddy holes and deeply rutted tracks that I would have been hesitant to tackle in the dry.
The storm continued to rage, but my Patrol with its front locking diff crawled up every obstacle, performing perfectly when I needed it the most. Steep, rocky, rutted terrain with torrents of water pouring down the wheel tracks, we kept moving, gaining higher and higher ground. The weather didn't let up, as we were nearing the end of the Rat's Castle loop we halted at the ridge. Ahead, as far as we could see, was long steep rutted track back down to the beginning of the track. I hesitated and weighed up my options. I could wait out the storm, then wait even longer for the worst of the groundwater to run off, or I could attempt the descent. If I made a mistake on the way down, or if the car started sliding uncontrollably down over the rock and mud I could very easily slip over the edge and tumble off the side of the track.
I started down.Very slowly I went, inching down over the drop offs, crawling as slow as possible in 4L first gear, down the track. It was a long few minutes in which I barely breathed and my heart was racing, but we made it down without incident. The videos make it look tame, but it we were on edge the whole way down.
Another small river crossing then the hard slow ascent back to Burrows Waterhole and we were back at camp! I breathed a very big sigh of relief.
Or what was left of it....
In our absence camp had been destroyed. Eyelets had been torn from the tarp which had collapsed, container lids covering our food had been ripped off and scattered, and the tent containing all of my sleeping gear was sitting in a few inches of water.
Naz's tent stayed dry, and Chris's sleeping gear wrapped in a tarp had managed to stay untouched, but the rest was drenched.
Thankfully the esky was fine, so we opened a few beers, and once the rain had passed we set to work on getting a fire started. Once done, Chris and Naz went off in search of fish while I went about trying to restore some order to our camp. Dinner had to be improvised as the box of cous-cous had exploded in the wet container, but two minute noodles and Osso Bucco next to a camp fire with a few cold beers is pretty hard to beat.
Naz returned just in time for dinner with a nice sized Murray Cod. It was released into the Severn River to catch another day, and we spent the rest of the night relaxing around the fire.
It was an early night as we were tired from the night before, so I made space in the back on my Patrol, laid out my windscreen sun shield as a mattress, wrapped myself in a picnic rug, pulled a beanie down over my eyes and went to sleep.
Sunday morning was glorious, we laid out a few things to try and dry off and spent the morning relaxing around camp.
Chris was up early to go fishing, but came back empty handed. He was soon cheered up when he spied a whip snake nearby camp.
The day grew hotter as we packed up camp, and set off out of the park. Driving back we noticed a lot of debris from the previous nights storm, but the trip was uneventful, slow going over rocky roads and a few more mud puddles on the way out.
It took just under two hours to get back to the park entrance, then another three hours back to Brisbane. All things considered it was a fantastic weekend, we will definitely return with some kayaks and a lot of waterproof gear!
My first attempt at finding the Steamers rock formation didn't go quite as planned so Naz and I returned to make amends. Knowing that a second attempt would take the better part of the day we decided to drive down on Friday night so as to awake early on Saturday morning and get started early.
Leaving Brisbane we drove towards an impressive lightning show as a large storm moved through Warwick, huge thick bolts of lightning constantly illuminated the encroaching front, we drove through heavy rain but as we approached Emu Vale the skies cleared.
That still left muddy tracks and swollen river in between us and our camp site, luckily Naz's Pajero was up for the challenge. He had water over the bonnet a couple of times, and did some four-wheel drifting around some of the muddier corners (at low speed, the greasy mud made the tyres like slicks) but we arrived at a clearing late on Friday night. By the time we had set the tents up, relaxed over a beer, and settled on a plan of attack for Saturday is was past midnight. Time for bed.
Daylight was streaming through the tents as we awoke the next morning, we roused from our sleeping bag to a chill in the air, mist on our breaths. It wasn't yet 6 AM, but sleep was elusive so we brewed a big pot of coffee and started the day.
Once the sun crested the surrounding mountain range the day warmed, and we set off towards 'The Prow' rock formation, the most western of the five features. We followed a faint track towards the imposing rock seen towering through the canopy, it soon became quite steep but we easily found our way up to where we needed to be.
From there it was just a matter or following the rock face east until we reached a saddle where we could ascend to 'The Funnel'. This was easier said than done, we spent the next hour rock hopping, scrambling, and trying to stay as high as possible avoiding the occasional steep drop off below. We made good time and before long we had climbed to the next formation and were rewarded with a stunning view.
We stopped for second breakfasts before trying to find a way further west to 'The Mast'. Not being able to find a path down the ridge we backtracked and looked for a way to follow along the lower cliff face. Nothing was obvious so we decided to go off-track (usually when the trouble begins) but after zig-zagging down the scree slope we found a solid boulder field that we could use to ascend back the ridge.
We were back on track and stopped for another break at 'The Mast', a formidable rock outcrop. Walking around the base, I couldn't help but notice the potential for some amazing rock climbing... Something for the future perhaps. Even though the trail in this area became quite defined we decided not to continue further to 'The Stern' and 'Mt Steamer' but to retrace our steps. We wearily forged a path along the rock face all the way back to 'The Prow' before heading back down to mountain.
Seven and a half hours later we were back at camp, sweaty, dirty and tired. Luckily, the night's rainfall had left the nearby stream swollen and raging with cold, clear water. A short dip in the frigid water was revitalising, and with another fresh cup of coffee brewing we were able to pack up camp and set back off home.
We stopped off at Warwick for some delicious pizzas before heading back over the range to Brisbane. For the second time that weekend we drove towards a lightening storm but once again missed the worst of it.
There is still plenty to see at 'The Steamers', we will return again (hopefully after a heavy storm) to explore more of this amazing area.
