July 2021 Newsletter of the Townsville Bushwalking Club

Who can believe we are nearly at the end of July?  It’s a fantastic time of the year to be out and about in the great outdoors.  What have we been up to recently?  A few members have ventured to Central Australia and done segments of the Larapinta Trail.  From all reports it was a fantastic trip.  Another of us went north to Cairns and beyond to swim with Dwarf Minke Whales.  That trip was amazing.  Others have had the trip from hell in Western Queensland, while others have retired and have caused nothing but rain to fall wherever they have gone.  Looks like we finally found the weather jinx.  

On top of that we have done some excellent walks in the creeks around Paluma, as well as inspecting the giant trees on the Bambaroo Track.  Regrettably due to the lockdown not many people were interested in a 3-day extravaganza on the Townsville Show long weekend, such is life, but three members and friends of the Club did a social walk on Mt Paluma over on Magnetic Island that weekend instead.  They didn’t see any Blinky Bills though.  The following weekend 5 of us spent a lovely day on Magnetic Island to walk the track system, finishing at Horseshoe Bay (well the Marlin Bar to be precise).  Excellent weather, beautiful views and 3 Blinky Bills.  A week ago a few of us returned to the Bambaroo Track to inspect the big trees again.  Slightly less water in the creek than the June visit, but this time there were clear skies and the most magnificent chorus of birdsong throughout the day.  I doubt I have heard as much birdsong on any of the walks I’ve done with the Club.  On Sunday (25^th of July) we did one of our classic and loved creek walks – Walkers Creek.   

We do have a jam packed calendar for the next month: all Club favourites for one reason or another. Starting Sunday August 1^st we’re going to visit Paradise Beach near Cape Cleveland.  The destination we know but the exact route we’ll take to begin the walk is yet to be decided.  It will either be scrubby or sandy.  How’s that as food for thought.  Two weeks later (13^th or) 14 – 15^th August we are going to walk to the Cape Cleveland Lighthouse, an extraordinarily rewarding walk.  I would suggest that if you haven’t been on our Lighthouse walk before and would like to do it, the Paradise Beach walk would be a good walk to do as it will give you an indication of what to expect on our Cape adventure. 

On the weekend in between Paradise Beach and the Cape Cleveland Lighthouse extravaganza we’ll either have a well-earned rest or go on a mystery walk – location to be announced 😊.  I am hoping to reintroduce the monthly meetings for the Club in August.  The most likely dates will either be the 2^nd or 9^th of August.  The time will be six pm, but I will confirm the date with everyone later this week.  The objective of the meeting will be to welcome prospective members to the Club to show them a couple of videos of the strange and unusual things we do, as well as plan for the Lighthouse walk.  

Our chancellor of the exchequer (Keith) was in touch with me last week about the number of members in the Club: at that stage 28, but we’ve had a couple of extra joiners since then so we are up to 30.  Great effort.  And we’re going to get a couple more in the next few weeks.  Here is the subtle reminder for our members, if you haven’t signed up again, you have until the end of July, otherwise you’ll be non-financial.  Also a gentle reminder that all members have to sign an Acknowledgement of Risk form when they rejoin.  This is a requirement of our insurance.  This serves to remind us that we are going into an environment that is neither engineered for simple walking or strolling, but does have inherent risks associated with it.  All visitors to the Club must sign an Acknowledgement of Risk for each walk they do, again, to reinforce that although undesirable, incidents may occur when we go into the great outdoors. 

Talking about incidents on walks, your glorious President was so busy talking  on a recent walk he wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings and took a backward step into thin air, followed by twist and half pike in rocks.  A beautiful example of the Irish Acrobatic lineage continuing through the generations.   He was very grateful to his travelling companions for their care and concern, a couple of onlookers had bruises on their chins when their jaws dropped after watching Phil’s acrobatic performance, they were even more stunned when Paula indicated that we don’t do this sort of thing for free and asked for a performance fee.  No incident or accident is desirable, but it is how we respond to them that matters.  

Next walks

Paradise Beach

01 August 2021

Leader Wilfred Karnoll: 4778 8441 or 0447 822 626.  

Meeting Point: Alligator Creek Roadhouse @ 0715.  

Traditionally we have done this walk travelling on 3 beaches to get to our final destination Castle Rock at the northern end of Paradise Beach, but last year we decided to develop a cross country route to get us the first headland before we descend to the little beach.  This new track has been marked and we’ll bed it down further by putting some feet onto it this Sunday.  Once we descent onto the little beach we’ll have a drink break and take a few photos of the rock formations around us.  Then it is along the beach and up the next creek to the watershed and down the other side to reach what ‘Pricey” would call Paradise.  

Once at Paradise we head to the northern end for another well-earned drink break and photo stop.  Then it is a lovely uphill walk to the top of Castle Rock.  We might even make the journey to Balancing Rock.  Our lunch break will be in the high country, enjoying the breeze and the views.  The return does not follow exactly the same route: There is a lovely ridge just over yonder from us and we will take a stroll over and along it, before dropping back onto Paradise Beach about halfway along it.  From here we’ll follow our original route and end up back on Cape Cleveland Road, where we began. 

What to bring: usual day walk things 

Hat, sun protection (sunscreen) and long sleeves if you like.  Insect repellent.  Camera.  Togs & Towel. Since we’ll be walking through long grass at times gaiters or sock protectors would be helpful.  First aid kit and a snake bandage.  Camera.  Lunch, snacks, morning and afternoon tea.  

Water.  There are no water sources on this walk, so you will need to bring enough water for the day.  This is something only the individual walker can judge for themselves.  I’ll probably bring 3 – 4 L: yes it’s a heavy load, but worth it.  Also a very good idea to drink a lot before you start the walk (but not out of your day’s supply).  Yes it will have a consequence of needing a tree or two, but you will be hydrated and not behind the 8ball before you start.  

Please ring Wilfred directly to nominate for the walk.  

Visitors are required to pay a $5 visitor fee and sign and AOR visitors form.  

Non financial members will have to sign an AOR visitors form as well (you still have a few more days to get paid up).    

Join us for a fabulous day out on the coast.  

Cape Cleveland Lighthouse walk

2 or 3 day options available.

3 day: Friday 13 – Sunday 15  August (Black Friday?  Whose idea was this???)

2 day Saturday 14 – Sunday 15 August. 

The 3 day walk will be lead by Wilfred Karnoll and you must contact him if you wish to go on the Friday to nominate and seek approval.  

The 2 day walk will be lead by Brent Campbell

This walk will follow our track to Castle Rock from Cape Cleveland Road and from there we continue along the high country on the coastal side to the north of us.  We will follow the ridges and enjoy lunch at the traditional lunch rock.  We will also visit the seat of incredible wisdom, take a seat and rest your feet for a moment while you are here; look imperious and leave none the wiser.  

We continue along the ridges until we get our first view of the lighthouse.  When we are close to Red Rock Bay we have the beautiful descent to Cleveland Bay.  Be aware that this descent is a little treacherous at times and there are rocks underfoot.  We keep following the coastline of Cleveland Bay from Red Rock until we most likely miss the turnoff to the old telegraph track.  Its not done intentionally, it just happens a lot.   The course of our walk is slightly elevated so we do get beautiful views of the Bay and get some shade as we go along.  We also see turtles swimming in this area on most walks along here.  At last our destination is in reach and we see the lighthouse.  Just one more push uphill to get there.  

Why would you do this walk?  We usually see whales swimming past Cape Cleveland at this time of year.  On the same weekend last year we saw more of them than we’d usually see, especially those who had the Saturday at the Light.  The scenery on the way there is incredible and you will have done a walk that not many other people in Townsville have ever heard of before, let alone done.  You will also see the rare Cape Cleveland Night Seagull: a creature that is absolutely beautiful and the purest of whites.  

Another good reason to do it is that you don’t have to carry a heavy pack with you!  That’s right do an overnighter with a day pack.  How does it happen?  Ray Boundy has a lease on the buildings that surround the lighthouse.  He has a barge and he will take our gear to the Light on the barge for us for the low cost of $40 for two pieces of baggage.  This includes your camping fee as well.  Don’t feel like walking? Don’t worry Ray can take you over and bring you back, or if you want to walk out but not walk home, Ray will take you home.  The cost of each leg of the journey will be $40, so if you only go one way that’s $40, but if you go both ways that’s $80.    I took the barge out last year and despite the complaints of one Keith Dyson about us running late or worse (sinking and the gin and tonics not arriving), we were privileged to see  a mother and baby humpback.  

The joy of the barge is that you can bring fresh food instead of the usual dehydrated gastronomic delights.  You can also bring the nectar of whichever God you worship to assist with relaxation and social lubrication.  

On the Sunday we all walk back together (unless you wish to take the barge home) and essentially follow the same route.  We won’t take the same ridgeline to Castle Rock, but we will take the inland ridge, which also affords excellent views and is cooler than going back via the Valley. 

We will provide advice on when to drop your gear off to Ray in the week before the walk

Please join us on this perennial Club favourite.  You won’t regret it (OK you will have sore feet). 

The Mystery Walk

Well that one will have to be revealed to you in a few days time.  Stay tuned. 

I will send a link to some of the photos from our recent trips in a subsequent email (on Wednesday – I promise).  

Enjoy the rest of your week and I’ll see you on a track on a weekend in the not too distant future. 

Phil.