Bushwalk Australia

so i am planning to spend the may day long weekend out walking somewhere - can anyone give me some suggestions? i am considering doing the mapleton section of the sunshine coast great walk, or perhaps the binna burra & oreillys section of the gold coast great walk?? i have done several long walks before but i am not so confident with maps that i would venture somewhere that wasn't well signposted. thanks in advance for your help
- dan

Maybe consider Girraween for something a bit different. Although the longer multi-day walks aren't signposted, it is pretty hard to get lost there. There are old roads running through the park and if all else fails, head to the top of the nearest hill and find the pyramid.

My gf and I did a two day walk there last year following the first two days of a walk in "take a walk in SE qld". It went out along the Mt. Norman track to the picnic area then followed old roads back around via twin peaks to underground creek. The book suggests heading across the road then up to wave rock for a second night but we just followed the road back to the start.

My brother and I were out there climbing on the weekend just past and the weather was stunning (when it wasn't raining). Starting to cool down a bit during the days but the nights weren't super cold yet.

Binna Burra to O'reillys & back would be a decent two days but its gonna be pretty soggy and there are a ridiculous amount of leeches at the moment (on the plus side you won't have to carry much water, just look up and open your mouth) I was up in the mountains a bit south of there yesterday and they were crawling all over me only 5 minutes out of the car.

If you have the Girraween topo theres plenty of options for a couple of days walking staying on formed tracks and fire trails. I'm heading out there for a 4 day walk in 3 weeks and plan to cross country most of it and to use some trails to dodge the swampy bits, it can be a bit scrubby but its generally pretty easy going. Like cams said you only have to climb the next slab and you can pretty easily figure out where you are (disclaimer: depending on your abilty to read a map & compass which I noticed wasn't a strong point in your post ).

How cold was it getting down to at night cams? We went out to Boonoo Boonoo a couple of weekends ago and it got down to 6 on the second night which was pretty fresh compared to the 15 we've been getting here near the coast. It was really tough, we were staying in Robinsons cottage and we suffered through by throwing another log onthe fire and keeping the shiraz topped up

Ahhh something to look forward to. I've had a minimum of one a week for the last few weekends and Im headed to lyrebird/orchid grotto/moonlight and castle crags in the lamington in a few weeks (not before acquiring a few more leeches on my 3 dayer up in the D'aguillar next weekend. I think its time to start wearing the knee high stockings under the gaiters

I must say thankyou for this post. Whilst I've only recently moved up here so Im no great help for ideas for the OP, I had no idea we had a long weekend in early may so thanks for the heads up

thanks for the sugestions guys giraween looks good and is definitely on my "to do" list but i reckon it'll be rather cold around may?? could be a bit unpleasant!!?

gold coast GW might be a go-er?? i guess it'll probably dry out pretty quick so (fingers crossed) the leeches might not be a problem??

otherwise i was looking at the map for the sunshine coast GW and there seems to be a relatively isolated section up around mapleton? so i was thinking maybe doing 3 days around there could be good?? has anyone done this part of the work and is able to comment?

dannnnn wrote:thanks for the sugestions guys giraween looks good and is definitely on my "to do" list but i reckon it'll be rather cold around may?? could be a bit unpleasant!!?

gold coast GW might be a go-er?? i guess it'll probably dry out pretty quick so (fingers crossed) the leeches might not be a problem??

otherwise i was looking at the map for the sunshine coast GW and there seems to be a relatively isolated section up around mapleton? so i was thinking maybe doing 3 days around there could be good?? has anyone done this part of the work and is able to comment?

Anywhere will be getting pretty cold by May. Lamington stays cool all year around. It is still a great time to be walking IMO. Just prepare for the nights with a warmer bag. I'm sure the Tassie walkers would laugh at us thinking even Girraween winter is too cold to walk in. hehe

phan_TOM wrote:Binna Burra to O'reillys & back would be a decent two days but its gonna be pretty soggy and there are a ridiculous amount of leeches at the moment (on the plus side you won't have to carry much water, just look up and open your mouth) I was up in the mountains a bit south of there yesterday and they were crawling all over me only 5 minutes out of the car.

If you have the Girraween topo theres plenty of options for a couple of days walking staying on formed tracks and fire trails. I'm heading out there for a 4 day walk in 3 weeks and plan to cross country most of it and to use some trails to dodge the swampy bits, it can be a bit scrubby but its generally pretty easy going. Like cams said you only have to climb the next slab and you can pretty easily figure out where you are (disclaimer: depending on your abilty to read a map & compass which I noticed wasn't a strong point in your post ).

How cold was it getting down to at night cams? We went out to Boonoo Boonoo a couple of weekends ago and it got down to 6 on the second night which was pretty fresh compared to the 15 we've been getting here near the coast. It was really tough, we were staying in Robinsons cottage and we suffered through by throwing another log onthe fire and keeping the shiraz topped up

Haha, sounds terrible. I think it only got down to around 10 or so. There was a fair bit of cloud cover which probably kept the temps up a bit.

I did the illinbah circuit from Binna Burra a few days ago. 12 creek crossings and not one leech was encountered

cams wrote:Anywhere will be getting pretty cold by May. Lamington stays cool all year around. It is still a great time to be walking IMO. Just prepare for the nights with a warmer bag. I'm sure the Tassie walkers would laugh at us thinking even Girraween winter is too cold to walk in. hehe

I think your giving those taswegians too much credit cams, it's not like their heads aren't big enough already!

Here's some minimum temperatures to prove why, the coldest temp recorded:

on the Australian mainland was -23°C at Charlotte Pass in 1994;
at Girraween was -16°C in 1941;
in Tasmania was -13°C at Shannon in 1983 (It was probably more like 12.6 though and they rounded it up down for a bit of extra credit)

Flame suit on

I completely agree that its a great time to be walking, I love being out there on cool days, beats the mid summer heat/humidity anyday. Heres some pics of Girraween in snow, I'm hoping it doesnt get that cold while I'm out there next month though, my gear is only 'comfortable' down to about -5...

phan_TOM wrote:

cams wrote:Anywhere will be getting pretty cold by May. Lamington stays cool all year around. It is still a great time to be walking IMO. Just prepare for the nights with a warmer bag. I'm sure the Tassie walkers would laugh at us thinking even Girraween winter is too cold to walk in. hehe

I think your giving those taswegians too much credit cams, it's not like their heads aren't big enough already!

Here's some minimum temperatures to prove why, the coldest temp recorded:

on the Australian mainland was -23°C at Charlotte Pass in 1994;
at Girraween was -16°C in 1941;
in Tasmania was -13°C at Shannon in 1983 (It was probably more like 12.6 though and they rounded it up down for a bit of extra credit)

Flame suit on

I completely agree that its a great time to be walking, I love being out there on cool days, beats the mid summer heat/humidity anyday. Heres some pics of Girraween in snow, I'm hoping it doesnt get that cold while I'm out there next month though, my gear is only 'comfortable' down to about -5...

Tom, you can use those extra flames to keep you warm down at Girraween

Anyone who has been up to the New England Tableland and Queensland's Granite Belt in winter would know what freezing is though! I certainly have and haven't even experienced snow up there! Wind chill was um, breathtaking...

Just to add some perspective


The coastal regions of Tasmania are much more temperate the the central plateau.

Edit:
The main island of Tasmania lies between 40°39' S and 43°38' S. Roughly from the top of the south island of NZ down as far as Christchurch, or roughly from Osorno to Quellon in Chile. Over 600 km further south than the southern tip of Africa, but not as far south as the Falkland Islands. So its not the coldest place on earth. Actually, Tasmania has a nice temperate climate, rather than a cold climate.

Obviously, this is only looking a minimum temperature, nothing more - not the whole picture. As you can see, Liawenee is a cold place. Colder that Toronto in summer, autumn and late spring, but the winter is not as server. The real cold parts of Tassie, where people go walking, don't have devices to keep an on going record of temperature.

Climatologist keep telling us, 3° average over time is a BIG difference. To me it looks like Girraween is warmer in the summer than Tasmania, but the winters aren't much different for Launceston.

I know, average figures don't tell us anything about unexpected server weather. It is good to remind everyone just how cold it can get on some of these walks. Always best to prepare for the worst, even if it does mean carrying an extra Kilo of gear that you never seem to use.

Pteropus wrote:Tom, you can use those extra flames to keep you warm down at Girraween

Anyone who has been up to the New England Tableland and Queensland's Granite Belt in winter would know what freezing is though! I certainly have and haven't even experienced snow up there! Wind chill was um, breathtaking...

haha true Andrew, I didn't seem to attract many bites in the end though so I may have to make sure I take some extra layers instead I haven't experianced any snow out there either (yet) but you're right, that cold wind cuts right through you. Last time I went to Bald Rock it wasn't much above freezng but it was blowing a gale and standing staggering around on the summit was very refreshing...

walkinTas wrote:The coastal regions of Tasmania are much more temperate the the central plateau.

Thanks for a bit of perspective walkinTas. It's amazing the difference in median temperature that Toronto gets between summer and winter, its very close to the warmest place in summer (in your table) yet by far the coldest place in winter, 24° swing compared to Liawenee's 6. I think if I had to put up with winters that cold I'd at least want to have decent summers! Having studied the global climate and ocean systems I'm not suprised at the effect that the oceans have on nearby land temperatures, its often a very moderating influence & with Tassie being such a comparatively small land mass the surrounding oceans really help to minimise large annual variations in temperature.

walkinTas wrote:I know, average figures don't tell us anything about unexpected server weather

Yeah, cold temperatures are one thing but I've spent time in the Southern Ocean & they don't call 'em the Roaring Forties for nothing, especially after experiencing a couple of deep lows with the accompanying wind & utterly massive swells. I've never camped in the Tassie highlands but I imagine it must be humbling to experience a severe weather event with only a sheet of 30D nylon to protect you!

walkinTas wrote:I know, average figures don't tell us anything about unexpected server weather. It is good to remind everyone just how cold it can get on some of these walks. Always best to prepare for the worst, even if it does mean carrying an extra Kilo of gear that you never seem to use.

Absolutely agree

wow, interesting table walkinTas!! i think that has motivated me to give giraween a miss at this time of year!!! brrrrrr.

i got the map for the sunshine coast great walk and i am now pretty keen on doing it as a 2 night walk starting from just near the flaxton walkers camp and heading north. this will be about a 42km walk and will avoid the kondallilla falls area where i expect you'd see the most people. has anyone done the sunshine coast great walk and is able to comment?? what's the end section like??

For two nights I reckon I hike from O'Reilly's to Binna Burra, then back to echo point and then back out O'Reilly's would be a good haul, longish (24km each way from Binna Burra to O'Reilly's). This way you can make it a loop and not have to worry about a long car shuffle.

I hear the Cooloola Great walk is pretty good and at this time of year it would be beautiful up there.

The sunny coast walk is great but again you suffer from the car shuffle issue. Although, the northern section you could def make a 3 day walk easily and be in some beautiful country.

If you are adventurous and like hills, Barney is the go !!

Have fun

thanks for your tips 24km is probably a bit long for some of our group, and cooloola is too long overall... otherwise i'd love to do that walk. the sunshine coast car shuffle is only a few km apart so pretty easy i think that is the one we're going to do!

walkinTas wrote: As you can see, Liawenee is a cold place.

Yet it's one of the most sheltered areas on the Plateau.

phan_TOM wrote:Thanks for a bit of perspective walkinTas. It's amazing the difference in median temperature that Toronto gets between summer and winter, its very close to the warmest place in summer (in your table) yet by far the coldest place in winter, 24° swing compared to Liawenee's 6. I think if I had to put up with winters that cold I'd at least want to have decent summers! Having studied the global climate and ocean systems I'm not suprised at the effect that the oceans have on nearby land temperatures, its often a very moderating influence & with Tassie being such a comparatively small land mass the surrounding oceans really help to minimise large annual variations in temperature.

And of course, altitude is the other thing that is lacking in Tasmania. The only other two substantial land mass at the same latitude are New Zealand and South America. Aoraki Mount Cook at 3754m is more than twice as high as Tasmania's highest peak. Mt. Aconcagua at 6962 m is nearly twice as high again and is the highest mountain in the Americas, but its surrounded by a dozen equally impressive peaks. They're real mountains, with night time temperature as low a -30°C and day time temperature in winter never above 0°C. The lowest temperature I can find for Aoraki Mount Cook was -8°C in August. Even compared with Aoraki, Liawenee is *&%$#! cold place.

Hey - i am a pretty new walker. But last weekend a bunch of my women friends and I did the Binna Burra to Springbook leg of the Great Walk. It was a challenging hike but good fun. Camp overnight at the walkers camp. You do have to do a car shuffle or (as we did) get the dudes from Binna Burra to pick you up from Springbrook for $40 (ish). The first day is long 24 kms... the beginning beautiful, the middle boring adn the end hard. But the camp ground has great view and no people. Teh second day about 9km. all up and down. includes 900 steps and is truly beautiful!@! it is all worht it.