I supplied the breakfast foods for Mum and Dad, and after we’d eaten we drove to Donelly’s Castle – it looked much better in the sunshine! This time we went to the ‘caves’ first.
Though you can’t see it, he’s standing next to the Yowie rock.
I was much more willing to explore this time around. You can see a flat table rock and a little passage beneath one of the boulders.
A lot of the boulders were covered in plants, making them seem almost furry. Mum and her purple hat are in the edge of the shot.
Me between two boulders, taken by Dad.
Tree roots wrapping around a rock.
No, this picture isn’t upside-down – it’s a glimpse underneath one of the boulders.
Some Sarsaparilla flowers – they were all around the castle.
Then we headed up to the lookout. The views looked much nicer in the sunshine. I also got a photo of the stairs, just cut into the rock. Eventually you just have to climb the rock face, but at least you have handrails.
The view was much nicer without the clouds and rain. If you look closely, you can see someone has scratched some interesting graffiti.
Mum and I at the lookout, taken by Dad.
Looking back into the castle.
We found these balancing rocks on the way down from the lookout. No idea who stacked them or when.
We drove down a road that might as well be called wattle lane, because they were everywhere. Dad actually stopped the car so we could take pictures.
There were also some orchards that were flowering.
Surprise bird nest! I love my camera’s zoom function!
We headed to Stanthorpe Cheese for lunch (they should start paying me commission), and had a ploughman’s lunch and a cheese platter between us. We also had milkshakes, because why not? We didn’t manage to finish it all, so I got some leftovers to take home for dinner.
We stopped briefly at the Turtle Shell, then it was on to Girraween National Park. There were several walking paths, but our first trip was to the Granite Arch.
Starting off, you can see how the storm filled up the creek.
As you can see (and hear) there was a lot of water moving through the creek.
A lizard Dad spotted on one of the rocks.
Mum and Dad examining the vegetation.
Me on the wooded path, taken by Dad.
Dad conquering the granite.
Granite Arch’s little brother. In fact, when we first saw it, we thought this was Granite Arch.
Mum and Dad in front of the little arch.
The scenery was so beautiful, I took a lot of pictures of the trees and the granite formations.
One of the tiny grass trees that were everywhere.
The real Granite Arch.
The explanation for Granite Arch.
Weathered rock peeling away from the granite in layers.
After Granite Arch, we decided to tackle a much harder walk to the top of The Pyramid. The round trip was 3.2km, and we were told to expect steep climbs. Little did we know…
This rock obviously has water flowing over it at times – see the ripples?
The Pyramid from the bottom of the trail.
A gorgeous bird that never actually stayed still long enough for me to get a good picture. Have an unfocused photo anyway, just to see the colours. A quick Google told me its’ a Yellow-Tufted Honeyeater.
Me next to a rock that wasn’t actually Balancing Rock, but gave a pretty good imitation. Taken by Dad.
It was a long, exhausting climb through the bush, but at one point we broke out into the open to get a bit of a view.
Funny looking granite outcroppings across from us. I see a man with a backpack beside someone who’s wearing too many winter coats – what do you see?
Silvery trails of water down the face of another granite outcrop.
Eventually, we reached the granite capstone and found out that although they say you don’t need rock climbing experience for this trail, they lie! You need to be practised at walking or climbing up steep, smooth inclines, and I confess that’s not a skill any of us have had much occasion to practice.
Dad was happy at the base of the capstone, but Mum and I attempted the summit, until it got so steep we were genuinely worried about how we’d get down. And it’s not just steep for a little bit – it’s at least 100 metres of very sheer granite. In the end, we admitted defeat and climbed down.
I took this photo from as high as I was able to get – you can just see Dad at the bottom.
Another picture with more of the mountains, rolling off into the distance. You can also see what I had to climb – I started from where Dad was, and basically crawled up.
A picture I took just to try to get across the crazy angle we were climbing at. It doesn’t look like much, but when there are no handholds and nothing resembling a path, it can be quite intimidating.
Mum descending backwards. I went down forwards, scooting along on my butt.
A photo I took as I was descending of Dad, creeping down carefully just like I was.
Mum and I on the huge granite slope, taken by Dad.
I took a few photos of the view from the base of the summit.
After all the effort of climbing, it was a relief to go downhill for a change. But my calf muscles were trembling with the work of controlling my descent, and I suspect my legs will be killing me tomorrow.
Some ground wattle we found near the path – they look like little puffballs. I kept thinking my camera was out of focus.
A female Australian Wood Duck near the car park. Don’t the spots look funny?
We stopped off at a shop called Heavenly Chocolate on the way back. We’d worked hard, after all – we deserved a reward!
Mum and Dad had a brief cup of tea and coffee before they headed back to Brisbane. Dad left his laptop with me so I can finally update this blog and let you all know what’s happening, so thank him for all these posts! I had the Stanthorpe Cheese leftovers for dinner, then went to bed, thoroughly exhausted.
Jenny's Adventures 