With our time left in Queensland very quickly disappearing (we are moving to Tasmania in March), Maree and I were forced to stop being picky about the weather in order to give ourselves the best chance of finishing off our tick-list of local adventures before we go. So with this mantra in mind, and despite the poor forecast of hot and stormy weather, we hit the road as soon as work finished for the week and headed north.
Harrys Hut camp ground sits on the Noosa River, but forget the hustle and bustle of the lower reaches, this area is relatively unspoiled and holds a special place in my heart. Over the years I’ve had some great times here. Certainly there were ups and downs, but overall they were memorable to say the least. Some of the highlights include:
A failed multi-day walk along the Cooloola Wilderness Trail with scouts, ending in the whole troop being ferried the last leg of the walk in a 4WD.
A successful multi-day canoe trip visiting the more remote campsites and beautiful areas of the river even further upstream.
Getting bogged with my Dad trying to get into the camp ground in his Camry after rain (the road in is a 4WD track).
Escaping the camp ground after huge amounts of rain with a car packed full of friends from interstate … also in Dad’s Camry.
Various trips to the Carlo Sand Blow. The best way to do this walk is to canoe half the way to Camp 3, then walk the 12 kilometres return from there. The most memorable trip though was when I convinced two uni friends to do it without a canoe in the middle of summer, resulting in a 23 kilometre walk and one of them spewing his guts out when he thought a good way to cure his dehydration was to skull a rum and coke when we got back!
It had been a few years since my last visit, and I was keen to take Maree here before we packed up and headed south. With Dad ditching the Camry years ago (to some lucky new owner), we had to break with tradition and test out our own recent acquisition: an actual four wheel drive!
It was well after dark by the time we arrived at Harrys Hut, and after recovering from the wall of humidity that hit us as soon as we stepped out of the car we quickly set up our tent in preparation for the onslaught of mozzies. To our surprise they weren’t as bad as expected, so we went for a wander down to the river with camera in hand.
The night was dead still, and with a bright moon I was able to capture some great reflections on the river.
Saturday morning arrived and we set off along the Cooloola Wilderness Trail for Fig
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Bushwalk
