22.01.11 Waterfall Creek Reserve

Yes, it's been awhile since we've been out.  Four whole weeks! 

Due to the flooding in the Great South East (and pretty much everywhere in Qld) it's been hard to get anywhere we like to go.   My heart felt heavy when I heard about the "Inland Tsunami" that went through Toowoomba, Murphys Creek (Escape especially ... another good camping spot), Grantham, Gatton ... just to mention the more (now) famous towns.  I feel so badly for those caught in that weather event.  They never knew it was coming and it's a complete tragedy for those little towns.  However, we intend to support them, by visiting Glenn Rock as often as we can and buying our goods in town (Gatton).  If you can belive it ... they had 6 metres going over those 16 creek crossings.
I hate to think how GR looks now, but I'm sure with some love and attention it will be back to how we remember it. 

So this time, I've had to pick a location that hasn't had major flooding and that we still have access to.  Major mission that one I can tell you!  But I found it.  I spoke with the local NPWS Ranger, who said the road was passable, but had several washouts.  And the weather is finally on our side, with clear blue skies for most of the weekend and not 1 drop of rain!

Waterfall Creek Reserve (sometimes known as Mt May Reserve) is nestled against Mt May on Waterfall Creek Road.  It's basically on the other side of Mt Maroon to Flanagans Reserve.

Mt Maroon

Newman Road ... Glenn liked this road.

Through a washout or two ...

And we arrived ...

There are 4 designated sites to choose from and each are numbered for convenience.  Each has a concrete BBQ ring, which really are much larger than required.  You really need to be self-sufficient here and also bring your own toilet facilities as there is nothing here but those BBQ rings and a sign.  We had a look around and picked # 3 as it was close to the creek and we liked it best.   We didn't use the concrete ring (to the left of the car), as we have our little Pig.

Once settled, we checked out the creek for which the reserve is named.  As you can see we have that kid with us again.  Luckily this time we've cut down on the amount of gear required and he now has his own lodgings too!

So that's the creek right in front of us, now to find out if there is an actual waterfall.  We head to the next creek crossing about 50 metres from our camp and head upstream.

Yep there it is!

I get adventurous and head above the falls and even further upstream ...

Yep, more waterfalls!

So now we know why they have this name.  Wonder what this place looks like after 10 years of drought?  Not like this I'm sure, being that this is our wetest wet season in that 10 years.  So we make our way back to our CT home for lunch.  After an afternoon snooze for Glenn and some sitting around for the rest of us, we decide to make the 5.5k trip up the 4X4 only track to see what's to see.  The track is steep in places, there are more washouts in the creek crossings, we have to wait for cows to move off the tracks, and it takes us about 1/2 hour, but we make it to the Upper Portals carpark.  Nothing exciting about that, but if you walk 200m from the information hut you will see exactly why the drive is worth it.

That's Maroon dam in the foreground and the Scenic Rim region.  Stunning!

So we drive back down to camp to find that the place has been overrun by locals out for a swim.  It seems it's a very, very popular spot for them.  They even have a day use carpark to utilise.  So there are car loads of swimmers coming and going amost the entire time we were there.  And why not, it's a beautiful swimming hole with extremely refreshing waters. 

So as nightfall descends, we are almost on our own.  Some young folk come and go ... might be the local version of lover lane ... and we have 1 neighbour.  After an excellent dinner, we head back to the creek for a frog hunt. 

We did see an eel but I don't have a photo sorry.  There were lots and lots of spiders setting up for a night of air survailance however, so you had to be wary whilst walking about.  It really is amazing the animals you can see at night!  We saw a hare and a somthing-a-roo (probably a Potta Roo but I'm not sure).

 

We went to sleep to the sounds of cicardas and the creek gurgling away. 

I really liked this place for a weekend getaway as it's not much further than Flanagans and quite a bit cheaper for a larger family, at $12 per site.  You'll need to contact Scenic Rim council for more details as it's not on their website P: 5540 5111.  It was a little crowded through the day with swimmers, but they go upstream, so really don't have too much of an impact except for driving in and out and you can't hear them over the sound of the creek.  If you have a 4by, I recommend the drive up to the Upper Portals carpar in Mt Barney NP for a spectacular view.

All in all a nice weekend for us.  We'll have had our CT for 6 months next week, so this trip brings us to the end of our "Honey Moon" period I guess.  Can't belive how well it's behaving for us.  A few teething issues which is to be expected but otherwise we are really happy with our Aussie Swag!