This is the third Great Walk we've done as a group. After looking at the map I saw that the waterfalls were off the Border Track. Water is a big drawcard for hiking for us so we decided to look into taking the alternate route the Toolona Creek Circuit or the Coomera Circuit or perhaps both.
We set the car at The Settlement near Purling Brook Falls on Thursday and headed up to O'Reilly's to camp the night so we get a quick get away on Friday morning (PB Falls to O'Reilly's is a 1h 45m drive so it's hard to get away early if you drop the car in the morning).
The Border Track is like a highway... sturdy and well maintained. We veered off at the Toolona Circuit and it's much slower hiking due to the rocky nature, creek crossings and the undulating landscapes. It's also more taxing on the body.
It is very beautiful however and I highly recommend this detour if you have the stamina. It seemed there was a stunning waterfall around every corner that blew our collective minds.
We got back onto the Border Track eventually and it was much easier going. There was a turn-off that says 7.5km to Binna Burra or 10km via Coomera Falls that we stopped at to consider. It was very tempting to cruise down the Border Track and have a rest but the lure of the waterfalls led us to take the longer course and it was absolutely stunning.
We definitely did feel those extra 2.5km but the swim and falls made it worthwhile. We got in just before dark and had a beer. It's not completely off the grid this walk thanks to the walkers camp being at Binna Burra!
The extra detours put our day one walking at 31km and 9hrs.
We were definitely a bit sore from the detours which as you can see in the video are a bit more taxing on the body than the BT.
We got up early on Saturday, had some breakfast and set off again. This section of the track is not as well signed. We struggled a few times, including at the very start where the Lower Bellbird Track is closed so we had to take the Caves Circuit... but if you don't do your research this is not clear as it's not signed well.
The descent into Numinbah Valley is down some pretty steep hills and along the prison fence.
The walking along the road isn't very well maintained. We stuck to the road a lot because the track was boggy and impossible sometimes. We stopped at the Windmill Cafe for a coffee but were on a bit of a mission as we heard heavy rain was coming.
At about 1pm we got to Woonoongoora Walkers Camp which was pretty unimpressive. It's not close to water and the tank next to the long-drop was yellow water so we didn't have much water to drink or cook with. It's also not well maintained with the tables broken so when we were boiling water, Tom spilled boiling water on himself.
We decided with impending rains coming we'd take on the final 10km up the 900 stairs and into Purling Brook Falls.
This was a tough decision because we were all tired and sore. If Woonoongoora was a better camp we would have stayed and taken on the rain.
The stairs were obviously hard but not as bad as I thought they'd be. Once up the top there's still a long way to go but there's plenty of watefalls on the way to PB Falls and some enticing swimming holes if you can brave the cold water.
They were doing some repairs along the final section into PB Falls and I suspect that the track was actually closed but we didn't see any signs. Once again, this section of the walk is poorly signed and I recommend you carry a good map!
The trip from the bottom of PB Falls to the top was flat out hard... probably because we were all cooked from a big day of hiking.
Definitely an incredible hike though!
Негізгі бет GOLD COAST HINTERLAND GREAT WALK VIA TOOLONA & COOMERA CIRCUIT - April 2024
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