Ted Errey Nature Circuit
Bushfires swept through the Brisbane Ranges in 2006, the evidence is still visible.
 Anakie Gorge is part of the Brisbane Rangers National Park located approximately 40 kilometres north of Geelong. The Rangers offer many interesting walks, but we chose the Ted Errey Nature Circuit, which is approximately a 10 kilometre circuit. The walk traversed various landscapes and we were rewarded with views over the Range and of the surrounding lands. The Nature Circuit was created by the Geelong Field Naturalists Club in 2001 paying homage to Ted Errey, who was a botanical expert, a reliable source of all information botanical, the founding member of the botany group in 1972 and was highly regarded in the naturalist community for this knowledge and for his dedicated service. His work has assisted in providing a greater understanding of the flora of the Brisbane Rangers and the interpretative signage dotted along the circuit showcases his efforts, and provides the walker with an opportunity to fully appreciate their natural surrounds. Ted Errey we salute you.
To access the Green Mountains section of the Lamington National Park or "Woonoongoora", located in the Gold Coast Hinterland we took Lamington National Park Road. This is the only road into this section of the park and a road of about 20kms in length, which is narrowly weaved into the mountain side and consists of many sharp turns, blind corners, wallabies, rock falls, head-on vehicles and stunning views.
Our aim was to walk the 17 kilometer Toolona Track that traverses Toolona Creek deep in the gorge, but after a few kilometers of scraping leeches off our shoes we reassessed and headed back to find another less leechy track. This experience reminded me of the time we attempted Smiths Track in Tropical North Queensland that resulted in the same outcome. The land leech will lay dormant in dry conditions, burrowing beneath the soil, inactive, waiting for moisture. Once they become wet however they puff up and rise to the surface to begin feeding. Recent storms and persistent rains in the area had made the Toolona Track very wet and moist, ideal conditions for hungry leeches.  Morans Falls is a 6 kilometer return track that zig-zags through breathtaking dense rainforest culminating in views of the 80 meter Morans Falls and other various forest communities. Information signage highlights 5 different types of vegetation are to be seen; tall open eucalyptus forest, open woodland, subtropical rainforest, dry rainforest and tall open brush box forest.
After our morning admiring nature's beauty we took a drive towards the beach for Heven Yah Gelato. We'd read about this hip gelato joint in a magazine and were keen to give it a crack as the owners, Gold Coast locals had sourced authentic gelato making receipts from Portugal. The gelato did not disappoint. Most definitely the best we had both tasted. We then hit the water, at Mermaid Beach for a white-foam swell session. The conditions were magic, but the view down towards Surfers Paradise errie, as skyscrapers shrouded in sea-mist, dwarfed the coast line, providing us with the gentle reminder that we weren't in Kansas anymore.
Driving to the National Park you cross the river in three places. It’s awesome, but we were slightly nervous crossing these in Cherry, then we spoke to a Grey Nomad that crossed the fast flowing water towing a large off road caravan…. they almost lost the van as it slide off the road… we had nothing to worry about…
The visually stunning Lawn Hill National Park is incredibly geologically significant. Originally formed about 1560 million years ago in the Proterozoic era the gorge and range that we see today were sand and lime deposits in a shallow inland sea. Over time the water has continuously evolved the area, eroding the sandstone and limestone and depositing with it calcium carbonate or calcite to form a porous brittle rock known as tufa.
Croydon to Bedrock (Mt Surprise) was only a short trip so we thought we should take a dirt detour to have a look at Copperfield Gorge. It's about 50 kilometres off the Savannah Way and sits along the Einasleigh River. Copperfield Gorge is a great example of some of the lava flow that happened through the country over 190,000 years ago. Along side the Gorge is Einasleigh pub and a spectacular bridge that the Savannahlander train from Cairns crosses. 🚂🌋
 Sixty kilometres north of Hughenden is the Porcupine Gorge, which expresses millions of years of formation from volcanic activity.
The track Cairn’s Tourism don’t won’t you to know about… The skytrail is $150 pp, the train is $100 pp, but this walk of 20ish kilometres round trip costs nothing. Breath taking views of Barron Gorge interlace lush rainforest, the track peppered by rocky creek beds and strenuous gravel hill climbs, made for an awesome adventure, definitely not to be forgotten.
Thankfully we didn’t spot any feral pigs on this occasion… 🐷
 This rocky path of water also feeds the Cairns water supply alongside Lake Morris. It’s a popular place to visit, the locals calling it the "The Cairns Hike in Paradise" and they're not wrong. The walk is a 6 kilometre round trip and requires a decent amount of hiking uphill to get there, but well worth the effort to marvel at these spectacular views of the pristine running falls .
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