White Rock Conservation Park

Wednesday 12 August

We were down to 2 this week and undecided where we should walk, as it was Peoples Day at The Royal Brisbane Exhibition. [ Agricultural Show]
Which road was going to be least crowded?

I met Margot at her unit, in an inner suburb of Brisbane and we concluded that heading west would be the best bet. White Rock had been added to my list of hiking possibilities earlier in the year, so we decided to head there. It was my turn to drive and as I hadn't had time to check out google maps, I asked Margot if we could take her Tom Tom with us.

Now, I must add here that Margot totally relies on her Tom Tom and still manages to get lost. I, on the other hand have a very good sense of direction, once I've seen the map or previously driven it.

Sailing merrily along the motorway towards Ipswich, I suddenly realised that Tom Tom had us on the 'long' route, so I took the next exit -  Redbank. Well, poor old Tom Tom got in a state and had us turning here, there and everywhere, until we suddenly drove onto the poorest gravel road I have seen in a long time. The signage said, 'Unnamed Road' I burst into laughter at our predicament and the fact that this was happening to me! The further we went, the more I laughed. There were other cars following us, so we decided it must be a through road. Well blow me down Charlie if we didn't turn a corner and found ourselves entering White Rock Park, along with half of Brisbane, out to enjoy this beautiful area on People's Day. Then, to add to the humour of the day, the parking space was small and I could hardly get out of the car. My bum all too quickly landed on a clump of grass that was impeding my way. Very comfortable I might add.

The bush was alive with the sounds of a large variety of birds. I spotted my favourite Blue Fairy Wrens, flitting from branch to branch, but as usual, they were impossible to photograph. Much of the path was on a  wide, dusty, vehicle track, with the surrounding bush full of the sunshine of flowering wattle. Alas, my small camera just never seems to be able to focus clearly on these blossoms.

A short way into the park, the unimpressive Six Mile Creek, boardwalk traverses a loop through Paperbark trees. A steep incline had us standing on the 'pebble' of the day - The Bluff.

Nature knows how to impress.

 Is this nature's own hand or not?

After about 4 kms the trail began to climb and, on reaching the ridge line, we were treated to our 1st view of the spectacular White Rock, one of many sandstone outcrops on this ridge.

             West views

    
                               North face

                 East face

The trail wound halfway round the rock and suddenly had us climbing up onto its back face.

At this point we decided to be sensible and retrace our steps. Oh, how I hate having to be sensible.

Further along the ridge, we climbed another outcrop with views to the city and back to White Rock.

        Oh I wish…….

At 10 kms the hike wasn't long, but it certainly got our heart rate moving. We were going to take another trail, but we received a severe storm warning and made it back to the car, just as the 1st drops were falling. Thankfully it wasn't fierce, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

'Hiking down under' has again brought us unexpected beauty.

As a senior, would you have climbed to the highest point? Hope you enjoyed the hike. I would love to read your comment.