29 October 2016 - Girraween National Park

Today we visited Girraween National Park but on the way were momentarily sidetracked by "Heavenly Chocolate".

291016 On the road to Girraween NP - yes we stopped

Girraween National Park is about 40 km south of Stanthorpe. It contains a number of granite rock features, typical of the area and not at all dissimilar to Bald Rock.

"The Pyramid" is the feature attraction but this looked to be even steeper than Bald Rock, so we opted to visit "Granite Arch" and take the walk along Bald Creek.  While we did not walk to or climb The Pyramid, it was visible along the walk and from the Ranger's Office. Only 7500 steps today for 5km and 13 floors according to the Fitbit.

 Our introduction to the park was in the form of some furry friends in the Ranger's Office.

291016 Echidna in the Ranger's Office at Girraween

291016 Platypus in the Ranger's Office at Girraween

291016 Wombat and Quoll in the Ranger's Office at Girraween

Our first rock structure of note was Granite Arch.  However there were many and varied unnamed structures, just huge granite rocks dotted haphazardly across the countryside and on each other, with Bald Rock Creek meandering across and through them.

291016 Girraween's "Granite Arch"

291016 Bald Rock Creek at the start of our Girraween walk

291016 Bald Rock Creek.  How could you fall in here?

291016 Typical of the rocks in the park

291016 Typical of the rocks in the park

291016 More rocks in the park

We were rained upon during our walk so we sheltered in a cozy pocket in some rocks.  The lightning and thunder were accompanied by some small hail. Over time, the water ran down the rocks and was about to wet us when the rain eased. Phew! How lucky can you be. 

291016 Rain and small hail bouncing off rocks

The luck in keeping dry, from Noel's position, was short lived because he slipped crossing Bald Rock Creek and, yes, fell in.

The highlight of the walk was the excitement generated in a number of children by a male kangaroo..... oh heck, the picture tells it all.  

291016 Is there no privacy?

During the walk we had excellent views of "The Pyramid" but from a distance.  We could just make out some hearty souls walking up the rock.

291016 Girraween's "The Pyramid"

There were many native flowers in bloom by the wayside, which will be included in our native flower blog in due course.

We managed to get back safely to the car, where we lunched, out of the occasional shower.

Our trip back to Stanthorpe was along one of the backroads and the runoff from the rain was visible across the fields and in several creek crossings as well.  We drove along the very beautiful Storm King Dam for about six kilometres.

291016 Water over the causeway on Pyramid Road

291016 Storm King Dam

The rain dampened our day a bit but we were happy with what we saw.  Maybe we will climb The Pyramid next time.