Beeburrum West State Forest - Wamuran

So excited because we went for a short walk (about an hour) in the Beerburrum West State Forest. This was exhilarating for me because I have travelled many a times through this forest but always in a 4WD (as with Mt Mee). This time the other half recognised the dogs needed a walk, as with the toddler and myself, so he suggested a walk whilst he mapped a 4WD track.

Beerburrum State Forest is north of Brisbane near Wamuran (about an hour north of Brisbane on the D'Aguilar Highway). It is a mix of pine forest and native eucalypt (gum) forests and has a large number of tracks (most of them are about a car width wide). The park offers tracks that can be utilised by all number of recreational vehicles, including 4WDs, motorbikes and mountain bikes, with some of them being quite extreme offering excellent roll-over opportunities.



Our walk followed a number of the vehicle tracks and I think when we passed one group of four-wheel drivers they were a little bewildered as to where our car might have been. Certainly unusual to see people just walking around the part of the park we were exploring. The tracks were a little muddy still with all the rain we have had in the last few weeks, but nothing that prevented us getting around the park.

We saw a few bird species, a snake rapidly slithering away from us when we startled him on the track, a number of 4WDs (from the daytripper through to the serious four-wheel driver) and a couple of motocross bikes. Overall a nice leisurely stroll up and down dale in a big loop returning to the car after about an hour (we took a GPS with us to confirm that we would get back to our 'car park').

Nice weather and something a little different for us.

Mt Mee - Gantry Picnic Area

A weekend day trip to the Mt Mee State Forest is a fairly typical outing for us. We have been to this State Forest on a number of occasions, mostly as it is in close proximity to Brisbane (less than 90 mins from the centre of Brisbane) and with a number of activities within one park it has become a regular for us. Many of our trips to this park have been for four-wheel driving adventures, but this time I insisted on a picnic as our motivation for choosing this as our destination.

The Gantry is a picnic ground within Mt Mee State Forest which is accessible by a two-wheel drive. This picnic spot is a fairly level location with car-parking, picnic tables (looks like there are some new undercover ones being constructed), toilet blocks and bbq facilities. The biggest feature for the picnic grounds is the Gantry, which is the remains of an old sawmill that was once located on the site.

After our lunch break, which for us was under the Gantry (shown in the photo above) because it was pouring at the time, we went for a rainforest walk. Just near the entrance to the carpark of the picnic ground there is a rainforest circuit walk. This is a short and flat walk. This seems to have been around for a while, with occasional sign posts pointing out items of interest relating to the forest's logging history. The piccabeen palm grove is probably the coolest part of this walk for me and there were certainly a lot of birds also seemingly enjoying this area.

Apart from the brief showers we experienced, it was a great 1/2 day out and about.

Roller Derby

Saturday night saw the opening game of the Roller Derby, Brisbane season between the 'Love Rockettes' and the 'Diner Might Dolls'. The event was held at the Brisbane Convention Centre and saw 4000 spectators line the derby rink! This was my first game and it was an eye opener! These girls are built of stamina man.....two 30min halves with a lot of argy bargy and tactics seeing me exhausted as a spectator about 20 mins into the first half.

The event was well organised, except for the lack of seating for more than half of the crowd. But the seating arrangement seemed to create some atmosphere, although having such an event at a traditional roller skating rink may have created the event atmosphere I was expecting.

Apart from being very athletic, the ladies were dressed to fit the game, with each team member having an individual name, such as 'Dead Meat' and 'Strawberry I Scream'. There were also a lot of tattoos, with one of the media groups covering the event seemingly an online tattoo tv channel.



Great night out for me and my mates. The next game is on 15 May, again at the Convention Centre. For $15 a ticket, I might just go along again.

Caboolture Markets

Every Sunday morning at the Caboolture Showgrounds (approximately 50kms north of Brisbane city) the Caboolture Markets are held between 6am & 12pm. We ventured to this market last weekend with the view to get some cheap plants and some fruit and veggies.

The markets are quite large, with parking streaming out from the organised carpark into the surrounding streets and parklands. The markets host a variety of stall types with some being permanent and others offered on a more casual basis. Stall types include fruit and vegetable produce, cheap plants (including native, but with a good variety of traditional garden plants), pet fish and bird stalls, meat truck, bric-a-brac, cheap imports, hot foods through to the trash and treasure stalls. There is even a shed with the local poultry club selling chickens, ducks and other birds.

We arrived mid-way through the markets, finding the markets not too overwhelming in terms of number of people thankfully. By the time we reached much of the fresh produce stall it was around 11am and it seemed that much of their nicer produce had probably already been sold and they were busy consolidating produce or packing up. There were still certainly some bargains to be had from the plant stalls, with plants generally ranging between $2.50 & $20. Not bad really.

It was a good day out, although the day we went the weather was quite hot and there weren't many shady spots to seek refuge from the blazing sun. Overall the markets are probably just like any other local, weekend markets that you can find across the State. If you're wanting to make a day of your trip up to Caboolture, perhaps incorporating your visit with the Caboolture Historical Village just next door would do the trick.

Currimundi Lake

Off to the Sunshine Coast! It really doesn't take that long from our place, particularly if it is a weekend when people think it will rain or the weekend after a long weekend.

Currimundi Lake is located just north of Caloundra. It is a nice quiet spot where you can fish, kayak, laze around, watch tandem parachuters land, have a bbq, picnic or sit at one of the cafes. It is a particularly great place for us at present as we have a toddler and she appreciates the calmer waters.

The south side of the lake, where the lake meets the ocean offers the cafe scene and some organised picnic areas. It has all the facilities one needs for a day at the beach, with a children's playground as well. The south side of the lake is the more expansive (sandy beach) and easily accessible side of the lake with a carpark not 50m from the water's edge. The north side has a number of access points for the recreation purposes, with the area within the suburb of Wurtulla housing a number of grassy, shady picnic areas and good access points to throw a line in. There is also a walkway entrance down to the ocean beach through the southern part of a conservation area.

We have spent many a weekend afternoon just lazing around in the waters of Currimundi Lake, particularly at the entrance point to the surf. Over summer these creek waters have been warm and certainly hosted many young families. The entrance of the lake is also tidal, so it does create some nice "rapids" most days to create an interest point for kids and their boogie boards or surfboards when they are tired of the big waves!

Easter Sunday and Brisbane City

Didn't do anything particularly interesting in the city, but thought that I would share some of the photos that I took of St John's Church on Ann Street and some of the adjacent buildings this morning.

St John's Cathedral



Buildings in St John's Cathedral complex

Festival of Sails

Easter Friday every year sees the Festival of Sails on the Redcliffe Peninsula. It celebrates the start of the Brisbane to Gladstone boat race with a number of markets, stalls and activities. I have been to a couple of these now and this year was no different with large crowds occupying the markets along the Margate beachfront and carparking battles throughout the surrounding suburbs.

Due to the crowd and my toddler in tow, we didn't stay long or venture into the depths to discover the details. It did however look like a good day out for those that got there early and saved themselves a sensible picnic space and there were some great vibes being drummed out by a couple of local musician.