PO Box 2199

QUEENSLAND Sunnybank Hills

QLD 4109
BUSHWALKERS Email qldbwc@yahoo.com
CLUB Inc. Phone No 0401 527017
http://sites.google.com/site/qldbwc/

Newsletter December 2020

QBW at Noosa National Park Photo: MH

Club News
From the editor
Welcome to the December newsletter.
This edition features several walks from a weekend
camp at Mapleton and lots of other news.The uptick in
seaside walks in the last while – Coochiemudlo, North
Straddie, Noosa and Caloundra – could be due to the
weather hotting up. A swim is always welcome!
We here at QBW HQ take a break over the New Year
so there is no January club meeting or newsletter.
However we’ll do Facebook posts and emails as
required. Also check the online calendar for updates.
Keep safe, maintain physical distancing and hygiene,
enjoy your walking and a merry Christmas to all…
Michael H
Border Openings 1 December
The borders to NSW and Victoria and Tasmania are
now open so we hope that members can take
advantage of some southern walking opportunities.
If you do head interstate, remember to allow for
daylight saving and please travel safely.
QBW Christmas Party Weekend 4-6 December
There is still time to join us for the Christmas Party
weekend of 4-6 December. The venue is Bigriggen
Campground, Rathdowney where we will have
exclusive use of the hall building. Rathdowney is about
one hour drive south of Brisbane on the Mt Lindesay
Highway via Beaudesert, and the campground is a

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further 10km just off the Rathdowney-Boonah road.
Cost is $25 per person payable to the QBW account
to help cover the hall hire fee and party costs. Payment
by bank transfer is preferred (see p.8 for bank details)
and please indicate your name as the reference.
You will need to book your accommodation directly
with the Bigriggen Campground (phone 5463 6190) at
an additional cost of $14.50 per person per night.
An area immediately adjacent to the hall will be
cordoned off for those camping in a tent, or you can
bring a caravan, camper trailer or mobile home and
locate this nearby. The toilet /shower block is about
60m away. Showers cost $1 for three minutes of hot
water (cold is free!). Full kitchen facilities are available
to everyone in the hall, with cutlery, crockery, utensils,
tables and chairs.
All food and drink is BYO. The Saturday evening
meal will be coordinated on a bring and share basis for
those who wish to participate. Contact Sandy to advise
what dish you plan to contribute.
The dress up theme for this year is ‘Covid Dreaming’.
This can be interpreted how you wish – maybe it’s how
you would dress for that overseas destination you had
planned to go to this year, or where you will go once
the pandemic is over, or represent the politicians or
heroic health workers that inhabit your dreams after
seeing them so often on the nightly news, or the
superheroes that you think would be most capable in
making it all go away. It’s up to your imagination.
Walks are planned for each of the days over the
weekend.
Saturday afternoon/evening will include the viewing,
voting and awarding of prizes in the photo competition,.
We have received nearly 120 photos from eight
contributors so interest is high. Aileen has kindly
offered to be the judge of this years photo competition
(note – Aileen is not one of the contributors).
There will be award presentations for walk leaders.
Activities and entertainment will include a Secret Santa
to the value of $10 (it’s not compulsory to participate)
and a dress-up ‘presentation’.
Those who wish to can also bring along items of hiking
or camping equipment they no longer need and we can
set up a ‘swap or sell’ table on the weekend.
It is expected that we will follow the standard format for
the event, though this year Covid-19 protocols will
apply consistent with Qld Health Directions. Maintain
physical distance and do not attend if unwell.
Please advise Sandy (Social Secretary) if you plan to
attend and if you plan to contribute a dish. More details
will be emailed to participants in due course.
First Aid Training
QBW has arranged for the Queensland Ambulance
Service to provide a full 6 hours of first aid training for
participants at Elements Village on 8 December.
See Helen to register if you wish to participate.
Cost will be around $50 per person or less if you are
eligible for a subsidy as a walk leader.
Michael H
QBW Membership and Renewal
The club currently has 54 members.
Membership is on an annual basis. The fee of $30
covers the 2020/21 club year from 1 July. Helen, our
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membership officer, would be delighted to hear from
you when you plan to sign up.
Payment by direct transfer into the club bank account
is preferred. Payment details are on page 8.
Note that you also need to fill out a membership form
(same form for new member or renewal), sign it and
either post, scan & email or hand it to Helen at a club
meeting. The club email is qldbwc@yahoo.com.
General News
Covid-19 Update
Queensland Health advice must be followed by all club
members while engaging in QBW activities including
social events and meetings. Note the Covid-19
protocol on the club website and click here for the
latest Queensland Health Directions.
Most Queensland national parks, forests and
recreation areas are open for visiting, camping and
walking. For the latest advice about what rules apply
see: https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/covid-19/.
Bookings can be made at https://qld.gov.au/camping in
advance of any planned visits.
Maximum camper numbers will be set for each
campground to limit risks of congestion and to aid
compliance with Qld Health Covid-19 directions.
Native Fauna Preservation
If the sight of native fauna is an important part of your
bushwalking experience you may be interested to find
out more about the issues facing the spotted quoll or
the platypus. Wildlife Queensland has initiatives to help
preserve both these species at
https://wildlife.org.au/ .
Binna Burra News
Volunteers sought: BWQ has forwarded a request
from Steve Noakes, Chair, Border of Directors:
If you (or a friend) have a day or so to spare and would
like a day out having nice chats with interesting people,
why not volunteer from 10 am to 1 pm at the Bushfire
Gallery @ the Barn, Binna Burra. Over December, we'll
give our Barn volunteers a $15 voucher to use towards
your lunch at the Tea House.
Basically the duties relate to COVID management -
reminding everyone to sign/scan in at the desk, making
sure visitors physically distance and sanitise their
hands and the pen they use.
If interested and available, just email
louanne@binnaburralodge.com.au
Discount Accommodation: Binna Burra is offering a
discount of 33% on accommodation to 20 December.
Bushwalking History: Steve Noakes is compiling a
chronology of bushwalking clubs in Australia. Steve is
seeking input from clubs to assist with accuracy.
Refreshments: The Tea House is now open for early
evening meals and the Bushwalkers Bar (Grooms
Cottage) is also open for after-walk refreshments.
National Park Alerts up with Muriel, a former club member, together with a
Two walks (Gwongorool and Lower Bellbird) in the group from BOSQ.
Binna Burra section of Lamington NP remain closed.
Part of the Caves Circuit is also closed due to road
construction work. There will be delays of up to 15
minutes due to roadworks.

Fraser Island is currently closed due to bushfire.

Logan Canoe / Kayak trail

A new canoe / kayak trail has been developed along
the Logan and Albert Rivers from Carbrook to
Waterford and Beenleigh. It includes 10 launch points
and numerous riverside parks. For more info see:
https://www.logan.qld.gov.au/canoe-kayak-trail

Coming Walks
With the update of Covid-19 pandemic
restrictions applying from 1 October 2020,
QBW continues to provide walks and
activities under specific conditions. The vision of Colin Campbell to transform a railway
Updates are posted on QBW’s website. shunting yard into a public space of exceptional
Any person wishing to come on a club walk must botanical beauty has been realised. Thank you to all
contact the walk leader first. The leader will organise members who joined in the morning and to Sandy for
the meeting place and car arrangements and has full organising.
discretion on who can come on the walk. If possible Michael H
provide leaders with plenty of forward notice if you wish North Stradbroke walk/ride 10 November
to nominate for a walk or if you change your plans.
John Brunott organised and led eight adventurers on a
Nominations close 9:00pm on the Wednesday prior to day trip to North Stradbroke Island. The plan was to
a weekend trip or by 9.00pm on the Monday before catch the Straddie Flyer from Cleveland ($10 return for
Wednesday trips. seniors) to Dunwich. From there John, Dave, Mary,
More details are available in the club calendar. Sandy and I rode our bikes 20km to Point Lookout
while Lynn N, Helen and Belinda took the bus. We
December 2020 enjoyed a catch up with former member Anne Kemp
1 Tues Club meeting (Buranda) 7:30pm and David Sydes of BBW over brunch, followed by a
Michael Hoopmann 0401 527 017 lap of the walking path around the gorge. The wave
4-6 Fri-Sun QBW Christmas Party (Bigriggen) SOC action at the gorge entrance and a squadron of manta
Sandy Thomas rays off the point held our attention.
13 Sun Albert River Cct (Green Mts) D/W
Aileen Elliott

January 2021
1-2 Fri-Sat Lizard Point (Main Range) T/W
Aileen Elliott

Proposed Walks
Bibbulmun Track WA September 2021
I plan to walk the 1000km Bibbulmun track from Perth
to Albany starting in September 2021.
If you are interested to join me please let me know.
Mary Sherlock

Past Walks
Roma Street Gardens Social 7 November
Twelve members enjoyed a morning breakfast at the
Gardens Cafe followed by a stroll around the beautiful After lunch and a refreshing swim it was back on the
Roma Street Gardens. We appreciated the water bikes to Dunwich. A great day was enjoyed by all.
features, wide expanses of green lawn, varied plant Thanks to John for organising.
types and art installations. We even unexpectedly met Michael H

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Mapleton Basecamp 19-22 November

This basecamp was originally planned by Patricia for Easter, but Covid-19 restrictions caused it to
be postponed till November. It was worth the wait.

The main camp was a cabin in the Mapleton Cabin and Caravan Park where Patricia, Lynn N,
Helen, Aileen, Sandy and I stayed, while John, Belinda and Anna took up sites in the camping area.

Our first walk on Friday

commenced northwards from
Sunshine Beach where a beach
walk led us into Noosa National
Park. We followed the seaside
path past the beautiful seaviews
of rocky headlands and sheltered
bays (see page 1). The antics of
pod of dolphins captured our
interest and the mandatory manta
ray appeared. At the main
carpark we rested under the
pandanus palms with coffee and/
or icecreams, then returned via
the Tanglewood track through the
forest. It was about a 10km walk.
Our reward was a relaxing dinner
on the verandah of the Mapleton
Hotel which features excellent
service, fine food and drinks, and
a top view across to the coast.

On Sunshine Beach
Noelene joined us on Saturday for our next walk at Booloumba Creek near Kenilworth. The drive
down the Obi Obi gorge road got our pulses racing before we even left our cars! We drove to
campground 2 and commenced the walk to Artists Cascades. This 11km return walk follows
Booloumba Creek through dense sub-tropical forest in a steep sided valley. We spotted a couple of
lace monitors. The creek was only just running but the scenery was idyllic. We appreciated a restful
stop at the cascades and soaked our feet in the cool water.

A lace monitor finds some sun

A badly cracked egg

A couple of short side trips to an abandoned gold mine and an interesting egg shaped stone
structure provided interest.

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 Artists cascades
Booloumba forest
John did a quick ten minute reccy of Lobster Creek as a possible walk option for the next day, but
as he found quite a bit of lawyer vine, and spent most of the drive back to Kenilworth pulling barbs
out of his arms and legs we weren’t sold on the idea!

The Kenilworth Dairy was a definite stop on the way homewards for refreshments.

The heat possibly turned our thoughts

coastwards so on Sunday we packed up and
drove to Caloundra.

Shelley Point view

A 5km seaside walk from near Kathleen

Macarthur conservation area at Currimundi to
Kings Beach led through a surprising variety
of natural bush areas interspersed with beach
and suburban aspects. The sea breeze was
welcome on a delightful sunny day. Nearing Moffat Beach

We said our goodbyes at Kings Beach from where drivers were returned back to their vehicles and
we made our separate ways home - some a lot later than others.

A big thankyou to Patricia for patiently organising this interesting, varied and often relaxing
weekend. And thanks to fellow campers and walkers for your fun company – Lynn N, Aileen, Helen,
Sandy, Anna, John B and Belinda.
Michael H

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‘Top Walks’
I recently came across an article in a hiking magazine that listed the authors choice of top ten walks in
Australia/New Zealand. There are plenty of such lists online as well readily obtainable by search engine.
Typically I checked it out to see which ones I had done and could relate to, and assess whether I agreed
with the author. These lists also open my eyes to future walk options.

This got me to thinking that as a collective, there would be a wide variety of walking experiences amongst
our club members and it would be interesting to do a survey to see which walks members deem the best.
They could be categorised based on whether they were day walks, through walks, limited to South East
Queensland or included interstate and overseas walks.

Of course the rating of a walk can depend on a multitude of factors. Weather, the season, experiences with
fellow walkers, logistical challenges, time availability, and equipment (or memory) failure are just some of the
elements that can influence one’s reflections. Sometimes an apparently negative factor can make a walk
more memorable.

As a discussion starter, I have reproduced below a list from the reliable source ‘Australian Geographic’.
What do you think? I’ll leave it with you….
Michael H
Top Ten Day Walks in Australia
1.Ormiston Gorge & Pound, NT.
2.Carnarvon Gorge, QLD.
3.Flinders Chase Coast, SA.
4.Razorback Ridge, VIC.
5.Wineglass Bay Circuit, TAS.
6.Cathedral Range, VIC.
7.Bishop and Clerk Towers, TAS.
8.Mt Townsend, NSW.
9.Kangarutha Track, NSW.
10. Bluff Knoll, WA.

Ormiston Gorge, Tjoritja (West Macdonnell) Ranges, NT

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Wordplay
Wordplay is the art of making a minor change (preferably one letter) to a word to change it’s
meaning. Each year more are added to the list – here are some favourites...

Cerebrawl A battle of wits

Dismangled The result of taking something apart and realising that you can never
reassemble it

Nanarchy An environment in which grandma rules the roost

Calmity Serenely moving towards total disaster

Deafinitely Said vehemently when he didn’t hear a thing

Pregret Knowing you’ll later wish you hadn’t

Realastic A flexible view of reality

Baroquen Broken 17th century antiques

Mediochre Yellow pigment that just isn’t trying hard enough

Hetour The unnecessarily long and meandering route taken by a male driver
after refusing to ask for directions

Elephont Really BIG type

Nogotiation A lose-lose strategy

Apologuy A remorseful bloke

Serenude Singing on the shower

Toreadoor How the bullfighter gets out of the bullring

Cybar Pub for tech-heads

Jokes
Q. What kind of Christmas music do elves like?
A. Wrap music.

Did you hear about the actor who fell through the boards? He was just going through a stage.

So what if I don’t know what “Armageddon” means. It’s not the end of the world.

The world tongue twisting champion just got arrested. I hear they’ll give him a really tough
sentence.

I recently decided to sell my vacuum cleaner as all it was doing was gathering dust.

Don’t you hate it when someone answers their own questions? I do.

My partner and I often laugh about how competitive we are. But I laugh more.

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 General Information Club Equipment
QBW Management Committee Compasses Topo Maps PLB
Garmin GPS First Aid Kits
President Michael Hoopmann 0401 527 017
Vice President John Brunott 0448 761 097
5 GPSs which have a 20 metre contour topo map of the whole
Secretary Lynn Nicol 0400 705 041
of Australia included.
Treasurer Aileen Elliott 0457 144 012
PLB with inbuilt GPS
Outings Officer Richard Kolarski 0455 879 785
1 PLB with inbuilt GPS. The PLB may be made available at
Membership Officer Helen McAllister 0419 684 319 each club meeting and will need to be returned at the following
Media Officer Michael Hoopmann 0401 527 017 club meeting.
Training Officer Vacant Contact John Brunott on 0448 761 097 to book these items.
Social Secretary Sandy Thomas 0403 821 525
Reciprocal Walks with Other Clubs
Other Voluntary Positions
Equipment Officer John Brunott 0448 761 097 Redland Bushwalkers Club
Supper Convenor Mary Sherlock 0457 990 067 The only stipulation is that Redland club members have priority
Librarian Noelene McCay 0407 658 023 over visitors. Calendar is available at:
http://www.redlandbushwalkers.org.au/static/calendar.html
BWQ Rep Ralph Hales 0422 205 120
BWQ Rep Richard Kolarski 0455 879 785
Bushwalkers of Southern Queensland (BOSQ)
Members of other BWQ affiliated clubs can join up to three
Insurance Hotline 1300 574 980 walks per calendar year. This will be with the agreement of the
Meeting Place activity leader. Members of BOSQ have priority for nominations.
Calendar is available at http://www.bosq.bwq.org.au/
Club meetings are on the first Tuesday of the month starting at
7.30pm. There is no club meeting in January. Bushwalking Adventures Queensland
Meetings are held at the Little King's Hall on the corner of Carl (formerly YHA Bushwalkers)
and O'Keefe Streets, Buranda. Entry is via the gate on Carl St. Members of other BWQ affiliated clubs can join up to three
There is parking within the grounds and in Carl Street. walks per calendar year. Calendar is available at:
Tea/coffee and cake/biscuits are provided after the meeting. https://bushies.org.au
A coin donation is appreciated. Gold Coast Bushwalkers
Membership Gold Coast Bushwalkers may admit as honorary members
Probationary Membership financial members of bushwalking clubs affiliated with BWQ.
This dispensation will be at the discretion of the Management
A non-member automatically becomes a Probationary Member Committee. https://sites.google.com/site/goldcoastbushwalker/
on his/her first walk after signing the Acknowledgement of Risk
form. No fee is payable to become a Probationary Member. Ipswich Bushwalkers Inc
A Probationary Member must become an Ordinary Member on Intending walkers must contact the leader in advance. The
his/her second walk by filling out a membership form and paying newsletter also contains a full description of the grading system
the membership fee. and a list of Committee members and their contact numbers.
Calendar available at www.ipswichbushwalkers.bwq.org.au
Ordinary Membership
A person may become an Ordinary Member by filling out and
signing a membership form, having a proposer sign the form Feature Pic
and handing the form with the membership fee to a committee
member or walk leader.
The proposer may be any current member of the club.
An Ordinary Member has the right to vote at an AGM or be
elected to a committee position.
Members of Another Bushwalking Club
Members of another bushwalking club which is affiliated with
Bushwalking Queensland Inc. (or an interstate Federation) and
who are covered by the same insurance do not need to become
a member of our club to go on our walks. However QBW
members will have priority if there is a limit on numbers.
Payments
Pay fees or other items direct to the QBW club account at:
BSB: 124-057
Account No: 20421276
Account Name: Queensland Bushwalkers Club
Reference: Include your name and what the payment is for –
eg “RSmith member fee”.
Website Love rock -Girraween
Photo: Michael H
Additional information is available on the club website at URL:
https://sites.google.com/site/qldbwc/

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