TRIP REPORT

LIONS ROAD & BORDER RANGES

 26.06.05

All photos taken by Albert & Kathleen Hill. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger image.

We met at McDonald’s Beaudesert at 8:45 for a 9:00 departure. It’s great having a meeting spot less than half an hour’s drive from home. The people attending on the trip were Ron and Glenys (trip leaders) in the Challenger, Bruce and Pam Ottway in their Liberty, Albert and Kathleen Hill in their L Series, Kelvin and Elizabeth Bradshaw with their son in their well kitted out Liberty, Dave Martin in his XT Forester and me in my Brumby.

The day was fine and mild.

At the meeting spot we had a bit of a chat about the previous trips to the area that the club has run. The first run of the trip started at Milton, then proceeded out. The logistics of a trip like that now would be impossible with the traffic lights.

We also talked about the last run of the trip, which was 5 years ago, and where Ralph got washed off a causeway.

We headed out to Rathdowny, Albert and Kathleen stopped in Beaudesert to go to the bakery to stock up for morning tea.

Our first stop for morning tea was at the Loop lookout. Visibility was low thanks to the low clouds. By this time the temperature had dropped by a couple of degrees, and it had also started to rain.

After we left the lookout we saw a goods train attempting the loop, so we stopped to watch it go through one of the tunnels. It entered from the right, then went under ground and came out below where we were standing. This line is an engineering marvel - to be cut so long ago, and looped to combat the steep grade of the mountains. This line would need some serious work if it was ever to be electrified.

We continued on, and hit the dirt/mud. It had been wet for some time. Ron had to get his bearings at one of the forks in the road, and announced that we were on the right track. At the first causeway it was again announced that this was where Ralph had been washed off. The water this time was up to the hubs in depth, and slow flowing, so we would have no problems. Nobody checked the depth of the water, but the bottom could be seen.

We crossed into NSW, and put our donations for the upkeep of the road in the donation boxes provided. We had an orchard on the left of the road, Dave said that they were Queensland nuts growing, but Kelvin’s son said that they can’t be Queensland nuts as we were in NSW.

We did a loop of the park, and stopped at a lookout, which was overgrown. After a short break we got back into the cars, and headed for another lookout. We strolled up to the top, and the sign at the top had the names of the mountains that we could see, and the fact that we were actually standing at the lip of a dormant volcano, which last erupted over 180 million years ago.

At the end of the Lions road, Border ranges road was where we split up, with me heading towards Murwillumbah, then on to Mullumbimby to see family, and the rest of the convoy heading towards Kyogle before returning to Brisbane.

A great day out, sorry if I have left any one off the report, and thanks Ron for a great day, but next time we should go when it is a bit warmer.

Dwayne Boyton SC481