A mechanical issue with our car resulted in our spending more time than intended in the Scenic Rim and Warick region of Queensland. There was plenty to keep us busy. 

The Armistice Way

Still reeling from the Rabbit Factory at Texas, we came into the region near Stanthorpe and decided to do the Armistice Way loop as our introduction to the area.

This route runs 35 km from Stanthorpe to Thulimbah, executing a little semi circle off the New England Highway. 

It is so called because it is an area where returning soldiers from World War I were given land grants and resettled. They named the farms and localities after WW1 battles.

The display area at Amiens gives a good oversight into the period. Unfortunately the retired railway carriage which is used as a little museum is only open from 10 – 1 on Saturdays, so we missed that but there are plenty of explanatory signs around it. 

That particular area was actually the site of the government experimental farm. The consensus seemed to be apples and the soldiers were given 3 months training and basically left to get on with it. They got a grant towards clearing 5 acres of bush, most living in tents at the beginning before they built their houses.

Even today this looks forbidding ground, full of huge boulder outcrops. One example of the 4th generation made good is visible at Foxbar Falls Campsite. It is a huge vegetable farm in the bush, growing celery, onions and carrots (they do a mean carrot ice-cream!).

Water is supplied from a variety of large dams which they have cleverly developed for camping. The sites have great waterfront positions, there is lots of birdlife and they supply free canoes. We had a peaceful day enjoying the walks in the area and sunset over the water. 

Foxbar Falls are small but pretty, falling over a huge expanse of bare rock, with a couple of good swimming holes at the bottom and a great flat rock perfect for picnics. A crested glebe swam with us.

The drive continues on through Baupaume and Pozieres which other than the names have little to distinguish them. It is worth detouring to Donnelly’s Castle, reputed to have once been a hideout for Thunderbolt the bush ranger.

It is a pleasant picnic spot and a short walk leads to a lookout over the veggie patches, apple orchards and forest. Some wag has contributed his own version of indigenous art on the rock below!

It is an area of giant boulders, seemingly precariously balanced, which produce sheltered overhangs and small caves. Children love it! 

Within the semi circle, one also finds the Truffle Discovery Centre. Here there are lots of truffle products made from locally grown black truffles. They buy the English oak and hazelnut seedlings from Victoria, already inoculated with the spores. These take about 5 years to start producing truffles, which are then sniffed out by dogs – the company seems to have a lucrative sideline in training truffle hunting and attack dogs. 

We enjoyed the tasting though it is fair to say some products were better than others. The truffle butter would have been wonderful on hot bread but would not have survived 5 minutes in the heat in the back of our car. Instead we settled for a truffled pomodoro pasta sauce and some black garlic, which seems to be the in-thing in Australia at the moment. 

The shop also has a great range of other diverse foodie stuff for sale, along with jolly china mugs and rather incongruous dog toys!

The nearby Stanthorpe Cheese place annoyed me as they were already closing down half an hour before the advertised time, with bins up on the loos and floor mopping.

The tasting plate costs $3 or $5 with crackers (not recommended as a bit overwhelming) but I did not like their cheeses much anyway, their having the not uncommon Australian trait of being rather rubbery and tasteless. The pick of them was probably the Ruby, which had a nice crumbly texture within a red wine washed rind. The Jersey Girls Cafe appeared to be quite popular when we drove past earlier in the day.

We emerged at the rather waxy looking Big Apple model at Vincenzo’s Cafe. Just across the road from here is Suttons, renowned for their apple pies. I found them rather overstuffed and overpriced at $13 a portion (big enough for 2 to share) with canned cream and ice cream and would have preferred a plate to a takeaway carton, despite eating in the garden. The coffee was good though!

Stanthorpe

A pleasant stop just south of the city is Ashbern Farms  which does everything strawberry. You can pick-your-own, or take the easy option and buy them ready picked. The second grade variety at $6 a kilo looked perfectly good to us and tasted sweet and delicious. There are also strawberry jam, ice creams, shakes and coffee on offer.

Main Range National Park (Goomburra) 

Cascades/Ridge Trail Circuit

This mountainous park lies to the east of Warick and has escarpments and vallies which have been carved out of the volcanic rock which was the result of an explosion 23 million years ago. 

Among many diverse habitats, it shelters remnants of once vast ancient forests with the subtropical rainforest sheltering rare songbirds whilst the sunnier slopes have an abundance of  eucalypts, wattles and grass trees (once known as black boys in less politically correct times!). 

We  checked into Manna Gum Campsite for a couple of nights to enjoy the northern Goomburra section of the park. The open grassy camp was very peaceful although sadly Dalrymple Creek was hidden in the forest and not obvious.

A cheeky lyre bird visited us and at night a little bush rat emerged. Given our recent experience with bush rats on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Great Walk we were careful to put our food away securely in the car! 

A stereo of bell bird song woke us up the next day: the bell birds are actually tiny and almost impossible to spot which is disconcerting given the noise that they make. 

The Cascades Circuit leaves from the campsite and follows the stream up the valley. The rain forest was lush and dense with tangled vines, strangler figs and epiphytes. 

Although the area was once logged – there are some huge tree stumps around and overgrown tracks – there are still some breathtakingly giant trees left. 

We rockhopped up the stream, stopping after about 40 minutes for a refreshing dip. The water was far older than I had imagined and I did not stay in very long.

The track led to Cascade Falls which, although not a particularly big falls by volume, was rather attractive as it sprinkled down through the verdant surroundings. 

Somewhere nearby, the Scenic Rim Trail had joined our walk. This 47 km Great Walk takes 4 days. It is only 2 years old and leaves from near Laidley to the north, following the escarpments due south to Cunninghams Gap – one for another day.

We followed it briefly as it turned into the Ridge Trail, climbing steeply to the ridge where it left us and headed south as we continued along the ridge. It was a pretty walk: we had gone from rainforest to eucalypts, from ferns to grass trees. 

The descent led us directly back to the campsite and I was glad we had chosen to do the 7.6 km walk clockwise as it would have been a killer the other way. The bell bird chorus still echoed all around us.

The North Branch Track 

The creek crossing by the Kurrajong picnic area was unfortunately too rough for our 2WD, and not wishing to walk 8 km steeply uphill on gravel – and back – we gave up any idea of visiting the lookouts on the escarpment above. 

Instead we set off on the North Branch Track which left from near the picnic area and followed North Branch Creek for 3.5 km. This runs into Dalrymple Creek. 

It was quite interesting in that it initially traversed private land which was grazed by cattle under soaring eucalypts, but soon we went through a gateway into the park section and as the valley narrowed, the rainforest pockets appeared until at the end, we were lost in its lushness. 

The return route was the same in reverse. We found a nice flat rock for lunch with a cooling pool and dawdled alongside the stream. Huge tadpoles swam in the water. This is a habitat for the rare Fleay’s Barred Frog. 

We left the Park in the afternoon, heading out on the rough gravel road along the Goomburra Valley. There are many private campsites here which probably offer better riverside camping. However, the valley is heavily grazed with wandering cattle everywhere and we rather enjoyed the peace and quiet of Manna Gum and the bell birds.

The author P. L. Travers grew up nearby in Allora in a rather pretty white cupcake style house with picket fences and shady verandah. Dating back to 1879, of course it is now known as the Mary Poppins House and can be visited on request.

Dalrymple Creek runs past the town and we camped that night in a free reserve just north of the main street. In the dusk a possum descended from a tree and scampered towards the water. The Railway Hotel is just a short walk away and does bar food. 

Glengallan Homestead

About half way between Warick and Allora, this impressive colonial house is a good example of hubris bought to earth.

Glengallan was the 10th run on the Darling Downs and was established by three Campbell brothers on a 42,000 acre lease belonging to the Leslie Brothers during the 1840’s and 1850’s.

In the 1850’s, it transferred to an Englisman called Charles Henry Marshall who 4 years later in 1854 went into partnership with John Deuchar. 

Deuchar’s ambitious plans for the house proved his undoing and following his removal, Marshal formed a new partnership with W. B. Slade. Marshal died in England within 18 months but his widow continued with the run until it was carved up for closer settlement in 1904.

The homestead block, now consisting of only 650 acres, was bought by Alexander Gillespie. Animals were superceded by lucerne although some sheep and pigs were maintained. 

Gillespie’s widow became insolvent in 1910 but her son regained control in 1912, having 5 children with his wife, Keena. 

However, he was killed at Messines Ridge in 1917 and the title was forfeited to the bank with caretaker managers moving into the cedarwood extension. It was then repurchased by Oswald Slade, who was living on East Glengallan at the time, although the house was never occupied after 1927. 

The house, without the acreage or will to support it, would fall into dereliction within 70 years.  In the 1940`s it came close to demolition when it was offered to the Slade School in Warick but it never went through, although the gates were removed and reerected at Leslie Park in Warick as a memorial to the pioneering Leslie brothers. 

The present trust took over in 1993 and a government grant of $2 million went towards the restoration you see today

John Deuchar’s Dream

John Deuchar came to Australia in 1839 from Aberdeen and arrived on the Darling Downs in 1840. He managed various properties and had several leases before he entered into partnership with W. H. Marshal at Glengallan in 1854. The boom years were to follow. 

In 1857 at the age of 37, he married the 16 year old Eliza, sister of a Warick doctor. They had an extended honeymoon in Scotland and Europe; Deuchar even found the time to buy a prize winning merino ram from Germany to improve his herds in Australia. The couple returned in 1861 to the solid cedar homestead that preceded the great house.

Building started in 1867 and the grand opening in September 1868 saw the elite of the district and Brisbane dance all night. 

However, Deuchar had greatly overextended himself. Although he had agreed to buy out Marshall’s share, he was unable to find the money and had to leave the property in 1870. He died penniless in Warick in 1872.

A House out of Time

The house was unfinished but no plans exist so what the final aim was is unclear. However, the stone teeth exist for further building to each side at the back – I would suspect 2 long sides with maybe another to form a rectangle with an inner courtyard. 

As it was, a wooden extension ended up been built off the back of the house for additional accomodation and then a separate kitchen block. There was another building for servant accomodation and another sandstone building which served as the estate offices – this actually predates the house, being built in 1864. The stables have been long lost. 

Today it stands in a state of suspended decline, although the restoration of 20 years ago is already starting to show its age and the paint is flaking.

In areas the decay has been allowed to remain, with crumbling lath and plaster ceilings and faded paint. The original fireplaces have disappeared, bare wires are all that is left of the servants bells. In fact, I am surprised that so many of the wonderful cedar doors and their surroundings survived at all and a lot of the demi lune glass above them appears original.

“It’s just your basic two up/two down!” Simon remarked and that does just about sum it up, although the rooms are spacious. A dining room to one side of the central hall, a drawing room to the other. 

They have been refurnished in the style of the day in a slightly subdued fashion as most has been lost and the replacements are of inferior quality. However, they give a good impression of what might have been

One of the saddest sights was Myrtle, the mummified cat who was discovered under the drawing room floorboards during a recent restoration.

It is supposed that it was buried (alive??) when the house was built.  Apparently there is an old East Anglian/English tradition that  interning a cat in such a manner wards off witches and fire – thank heavens we have outgrown such ridiculous superstitions. 

A red cedar staircase with a splendidly big arched window leads to a landing from where a short corridor leads to a bedroom to either side. Each had another small room adjacent to the corridor. That by the main bedroom had the remains of a splendid slate bath and flushing loo which must have been the height of luxury in those days. The other had been crudely divided at a later date to serve as a nursery.

All the rooms in the house have floor to ceiling window doors on all sides with splendid red cedar arched architraves: the 12 foot wide balcony unfurls to the front and wraps around the edges – the house seems to draw the breezes through it and it is wonderfully cool. 

From the verandahs there is a rather slanted view out towards the distant ranges. There are the remains of a tennis court to one side, a central parterre and an area of lost beds.  Two great bunya pines marks where the gates once stood. 

The modern cafe is stylish with big glass windows and great views. Light lunches are available or just coffee and cake.

Girraween National Park 

This park lies just 10 km north of the Queensland/NSW border and is the perfect demonstration of the granite in ‘granite belt’. 

The entire park is largely composed of sheet rock and huge boulders which have been weathered into fantastic formations. The poor soil supports eucalyptus and a heath like vegetation; the spring wild flowers are supposed to be rather beautiful and indeed Girraween means Place of Flowers.

The drive in was on a good sealed road and we settled in to the Castle Rock Campsite, finding a nice elevated platform for our tent.

A Trio of Rocks

A blue sky greeted our first outing in the park which was an 8.4 km circuit, firstly trekking out to see the Spinx and Turtle Rocks. A heady scent of warm eucalyptus filled the air as we wound upwards through scattered boulders, the granite sand crunchy under our feet.

Both the Spinx and the Turtle were fairly loose interpretations of their names but we had a pleasant time scrambling amongst the rocks. A backdoor ascent of the Turtle took us about two thirds of the way up to a flat ledge and a fabulous view over the wild landscape to the heights of Mt. Norman at 1,267 m and, only 10 m higher in NSW, Bald Rock.

We backtracked to the Castle Rock turnoff and headed up to its distinctive squared summit. The final section involved some rough scrambling but we were rewarded with a fabulous view. It was surprisingly windy too so pleasantly cool; Stanthorpe is supposed to be the coldest town in Queensland and now we were even higher. 

After enjoying a long picnic lunch on the top we headed back for afternoon tea and lazy hammock lounging.

Some Indian climbers had set up camp nearby. They had obviously been born in Australia: it is funny that one is used to hearing Indians in England speaking English and thinks nothing of it, but it sounds strange to me when they have a broad Australian accent.

Their indigenous origins were further verified by one throwing his mobile telephone on the table and exclaiming

“fucking shithouse reception”! 

Pyramid Rock

Another day, another rock, this one the Park icon. It is indeed pyramid shaped, with a collection of great boulders on its flattened head. 

The 3.6 return walk starts off pleasantly besides Bald Rock Creek, and goes on to wend its way through the bush. After about a kilometre, the steps start, climbing steeply up to the face of the Pyramid.

Suddenly one is confronted by a sheer grey rock slope, the precipitous path marked by white paint splashes. The ascent is actually easier than it looks, the granite surface giving excellent grip, but I would advise one not to look down as there is quite a drop-off! 

Once on top, the amazing Balancing Rock can be admired: this huge boulder is precariously balanced on a very small surface area: looking at it from below, I felt distinctly unsafe.

Behind is the Second Pyramid, a giant inselberg of grey granite, this one surprisingly boulder free with smooth rounded sides. 

There are still signs of life however: we spotted a little mouse and Cunningham’s skinks whose black and white markings remind me of an aborigine painting – they are perfectly camoflaged against the speckled rock.

Plants hang on in tiny grooves and crevices, and blue green algae and lichens coat the rock surface, producing a chemical reaction which breaks down the granite. 

There was a panoramic view from the thankfully flat top before we had to reverse our steps. It don’t think it was anymore unsafe going down than up although I didn’t feel particularly safe either and I was glad to get back to the steps area.

We lengthened our return route, visiting the Granite Arch, rather like a giant dolmen. It is incredible to think this is all created by erosion. We then hit the creek and followed that back to the picnic area where there is a lovely swimming hole for cooling off, with easy ladder access. As we dried off on the hot rock afterwards, turtles came to the surface: we had obviously scared them off with our splashing.

Mt. Norman

Although we could have combined this walk into one 15.4 km circuit, visiting the Turtle, Spinx and Castle Rock as well, we decided to do the 11 km walk by itself.

It was actually fairly straightforward and a lot less precarious than the Pyramid. The hardest part was the slog back up to the Castle Rock Junction, then it was largely flat, with a couple of minor creek crossings.

The climb to the top of Mt. Norman proved too steep for us, but the views around the area were great anyway, particularly towards Bald Rock. 

One point of interest is the Eye of the Needle, where another balanced rock overlaps another to create a slightly distant opening. There was also a cave formed from fallen boulders – one was certainly aware of the weight of stone over ones head.

We backtracked, but I never mind doing this as it is just an alternative view. Our descent had expansive views over Castle Rock and the Pyramids. We saw no one else on the walk so had a day of splendid isolation in the wilderness. 

The possums above our tent were getting friendlier; that night no less than three appeared and cavorted around the tent and up into the trees. 

Eastern Walking Tracks

Before we left the park, we explored the Eastern end where two short walks are found. The car park for these is about 3 km from the visitor’s centre on a good gravel and sealed road.

First of all we followed a pleasant path to Underground Creek which is a fairly easy flat 2.8 km return. The title is actually a bit of a misnomer as the creek has not actually gone underground but has been buried under a rockfall. A huge granite face still looms above, but a good chunk of it has collapsed directly onto the creek bed.

It is worth wandering around the area clockwise to the top of the formation where the creek has carved its way deeply through the stone. Deep holes have been left by the force of the water and further behind there is a wider area of water. 

We headed back and near the carpark turned down to Dr Roberts Waterhole, another simple 1.2 km return walk. It led to a serene waterhole which was named after the man who in the 1930’s instigated the creation of the park. He was concerned about the survival of the local superb lyrebird and common wombat populations.

There are actually quite a few remote campsites in the park which could be explored by someone wanting more of a wilderness experience. For example, if one follows the track on from Mt. Norman, there is a campsite in the valley and it is possible to walk through to Underground Creek. Others are towards the Bald Rocks.

WARICK

Beautifully situated on the Darling Downs to the west of the Great Dividing Range, Warick also benefits from the Condamine River. The area was first settled by the three Leslie brothers in 1840 and the town followed in 1847.

Old Warick

Today many fine sandstone buildings survive and the walk to our next sight allowed us to admire some of them, including the 1901 Police Station, a classical style Masonic Temple from 1887 and the smart 1888 Town Hall which is now the visitors centre.

On one corner of the central Leslie Park, which is dedicated to those first three pioneer brothers, we even found the Glengallan stone gates which were removed from the house in 1940.

At the opposite end is the War Memorial, where mention is made of the Dungarees, who seem to be a later version of the Gilgandra Coo’ee March. This one covered 170 miles from Warick to Brisbane between 16th – 30th November 1915. 28 volunteers started and the numbers snowballed to 125 by Brisbane.

The railway station once had 50 steam locomotives but is rather out on a limb today, surrounded by goods yards of old cattle trains. It seems to be chiefly famous for an egg throwing incident when the then prime minister visited the town during a conscription referendum in 1917. Today it is possible to have a ride in a historic steam train. 

Pringle Cottage Museum Complex

I am always impressed by the quality of the regional museums in Australia and this is one of the best I have visited. 

There are several buildings on the site but Pringle Cottage is the only original one. It was built between 1871 and 1874 and for 7 years from 1898 was run as a private school by Mrs Pringle.

The downstairs rooms are furnished as they would have been: note the richly carved sideboard from the Glengallen homestead – as a suite of furniture was ordered in Brisbane for both drawing and dining rooms, one wonders where the rest of the pieces are. 

In the kitchen I found a brilliant piece of kitchen equipment: a Metters Revolving Pantry from the 1920’s. It is basically a revolving metal drum with assorted drawers for cooking ingredients but I had never seen one before and thought it an inspired idea!

Other buildings have been relocated: an overseers’s cottage from the historic Canning Downs station with recreated grocery store (I have never come across Zulu Soap before!), an amazing array of early hand operated washing machines and stoves (Metters to the fore again here with their Early Kooka gas cooker with a smart kookaburra picture on the front!) and basically everything else you could think of. 

There is an old slab shepherd’s hut which reminded me of some of those in Kosciuszko National Park. The Presbyterian church had an interesting early wheeled ambulance propelled by a person to each end, and a neat solution to the increasing birth rate in the local hospital: another wheeled invention with multiple baby slots.

Outside there is a fascinating array of old mechanical implements. I liked the butchers cart designed for dropping off the carcasses, and the car that was converted into a fire engine. I didn’t even in recognise half the things but luckily there are willing volunteers happy to explain the intricacies – and even dust apparently!

We could have spend much longer in this fascinating place where there is so much to intrigue – I can’t recommend it highly enough.

The Horsepower Statues and the Australian Rodeo Heritage Centre

Warick takes great pride in the horse heritage of the area and this is on show at the 15 m high, 23 m wide metal sculpture on the northern entrance to the town. The idea of a local man, John Simpson, it took him 14 years to get the funding together and he died in early 1999 just a month before the foundations were laid.

His ashes are buried at the foot of the structure and a variety of horses now cavort above his head in their various metiers. From the Cobb & Co coaches which opened up regional Australia to the first buck jumping contest which took place at Canning Downs Station in 1857, the horse played an essential role.

The rodeo theme continues at the adjacent Australian Rodeo Heritage Centre which has displays on the famous cowboys who followed the rodeo circuit with displays of battered hats and festooned prize saddles.

And finally: Pink Chickens

Refreshment was required after a long day and typically, on our last day in Warick, we found the superb Gardens Galore Cafe

Set within the lush confines of a garden centre, complete with quirky old trucks, metal sculptures and dyed in the feather hens – the fluorescent pink was particularly striking – we enjoyed the usual high standard Australian coffee but also scummy cakes. There is also a nice shop.

I would have happily returned the next day but the Ute was repaired! The friendly family at EFI Logic had done a brilliant job and at last we were free to go in a car that rumbled smoothly away once more.

Killarney and the Waterfall Way

We had transport again! In a transformed car we decided to leave town via the little country town of Killarney 

We followed the Waterfall Way from the town. The first one we found was Brown Falls. There is a pleasant picnic area with tall straight trees (though the children’s playground seems a bit overkill in the country – can’t they just play tag around a tree?)

After an inauspicious start through a corrugated tin underpass, the path followed the creek upstream.  It was thankfully fairly flat but quite rough: we had to step over quite a few tangled tree roots and rock hop across the creek. We found a good swimming hole and a pair of pretty waterfalls early on with accessible swimming holes. 

Huge trees had fallen across the creek in places but after about 20 minutes we found the Falls cascading over a volcanic lip in a semi circular enclave at the end of the walk.

It is possible to climb around behind them, but be careful as the wet rock is very slippery – I found it easier to walk in the mud. 

Next in line was Daggs Falls which fell off an escarpment through thick eucalyptus country. Far away downstream the distant hills were visible. This was an easy one: there is just a lookout which was all of 5 steps from the car!

Marys falls

The biggest of the waterfalls in the region, Mary’s Falls cascades 40m over a rapidly receding edge. It is possible to walk down to view this one from the bottom on a 2km circuit (clockwise is much easier) which takes about 40 minutes.

There is a cafe and caravan park on the other side of the road. We wandered over for coffee and watched all the gathered birdlife: it is possible to buy corn to feed them.

The road continued on with quite a steep descent to Carr’s Lookout, which was a great spot with views over the cleared valley far below and the dark mountains beyond.

On 9th April 1955 a Lincoln aeroplane crashed on Mt Superbus whilst taking a baby to hospital. All the people on board were killed but they did find one survivor: a ginger kelpie. 

It is possible to walk to the crash site, although it sounds quite steep and slithery, and there appears to be quite a lot of parts left, including a tailfin with the RAAF roundels.

We had intended to continue through to Boonah but unfortunately the road seemed to be permanently closed just before the distant Teviot Falls, abruptly bringing our short cut to an end. Backtracking did, however, reward us with a fabulous view of a carpet python crossing the road.

It was quite possible that we would end up back in Warick but we resisted the temptation and swung eastwards through Cunningham’s Gap, finally breaking away from this captivating area. 

NOTES

For tours of the Mary Poppins House, contact Les Struthers on 0408 746 458 or lesstruthers@bigpond.com. There is also cottage accommodation available. 

Glengallan is open Wednesday to Sunday 10 – 4 pm. Entrance is $15.