Introduction to today's journey
Today's journey starts with a dramatic red sunrise at Dahmongah Lookout Park from where I descend the Mount Mee Plateau through Delaneys Creek State Forest into Wamuran Basin. I follow the basin down to Wamuran and cross the D'Aguilar Highway to follow the recently opened rail trail to Caboolture, where I watch the sunset from Centenary Lakes Park to close off the first section of this trek.
Distance hiked today: 30.4km
Total distance hiked: 214.7km
Today's Journey
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The sky dawns bright red at Dahmongah Lookout, coloured by the ash from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha-apai volcano a few weeks ago dispersing over the upper atmosphere over the entire southern hemisphere. From here I see the distant lights of Wamuran and Caboolture where I will be hiking through later today after descending from the plateau. |
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After sunrise, I depart the lookout breifly following Mount Mee Road before turning off along the much quieter Pedwell Road winding its way through the lush farmland. |
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The sealed road becomes a gravel road, and the gravel road ends at the edge of the plateau. Here it continues as a dirt firebreak heading up the hill into Delaney Creek State Forest, where the creek begins to the left joining with Neurum Creek further downstream becoming the main stream feeding the Somerset Dam. Upon reaching the top of the hill, I follow a horse trekking track descending a ridge heading the other way into the Wamuran Basin. |
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The track ends at the top of R Williams Road, which continues a moderate descent until easing off to give an amazing view into the Glasshouse Mountains, which I will be exploring in the next section of the trek. I continue descending following R Samson Road until reaching the bottom of the Wamuran Basin at Jackson Park, a historical early settlement camp. |
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After following Basin Road through the basin, I reach Campbell's Pocket Road, the main roadway descending from the Mount Mee Plateau. This road was too busy to hike down from the plateau, but it is wide enough here to walk along and soon becomes easier again with a wide footpath running beside it through the lifestyle blocks of farmland. |
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I reach the small town of Wamuran on the busy D'Aguilar Highway. This was once a sawmilling town with a railway line coming up here and beyond from Caboolture to transport all the logs into Brisbane. The railway closed in 1996 and was dismantled and converted to parkland through which a new track has recently opened making for an easy final 11 kilometres into Caboolture. |
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The sealed path follows the old railway line over its gravel bank, with various remnants of the railway repurposed for the walking and cycling track. |
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The track straightens and the landscaping becomes more fancy as I leave the rolling hills of Wamuran pass through the residential suburbs of the flats of Caboolture. |
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I reach the end of the rail trail just across the road from Caboolture Station, there the railway joins the main trunk line heading up and down the Queensland coast. Across the road are numerous commuter trains parked ready for tomorrow morning's commuters into Brisbane City less than 50 kilometres away along a direct route. The not so direct route I have taken from Brisbane to Caboolture over the D'Aguilar Range has been over 200 kilometres. From here I turn right for a short walk into the Caboolture town centre. |
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After hiking through the Caboolture town centre, I head a little further to Centenary Park on the banks of the Cabooture River, where I watch my final dramatic sunset closing off the first leg of this trek. |
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