Minjerriba - Dunwich for Breakfast

Becoming a regular Sunday paddle in recent times. It is around 13 kms from Cleveland to Dunwich if you paddle over the reef platform on the north side of Peel Island, or around 15 kms if you have to paddle around the reef.  It is just over 13 kms if you paddle back to Cleveland via the southern side of Peel Island making it at least a 26 km round trip.  We are stopping in the bay near the research station just south of the little ships club.

Today's paddle had some downwind sections for part of the trip and some fun runners to link together.

Breakfast at the Fruit Barn is worth the walk!

Scouting out a sea cave on Humpy Island

On a recent trip to the Keppel Islands, some of the crew decided to have a day off the water to explore the cliffs on Humpy Island to scout for some potential new sea caves.

The entrance to this cave is a little narrow and there is a large rock over the entrance where I was standing to take the picture so low tide access is recommended as is low swell.

The cave isn't as impressive as the well known sea cave on northern end of North Keppel Island (see below), but it is worth exploring if you have the opportunity.

North Keppel Island Sea Cave - advise bringing kayak lights to see in this cave as it goes back and hooks around so you have no visible light.  This cave could have done with a good flushing out!

This is the bay on the southern side of Humpy Island that has the sea cave - the point is on the south-east side of the island.

Minjerribah for Breakfast

Sunrise was a moody affair this morning with light winds and glassy conditions for a paddle from Raby Bay to Minjerribah for breakfast at "The Barn".

A Cleveland Point we surprised what may have been a hump backed dolphin as we silently glided over to get a better look at what creature was breaking the glassy surface of the bay - video footage to come.

We paddled past the reef platform and mangroves on the northern side of Peel Island, watched by a beautiful Brahminy Kite and  a very large sea eagle who was on the hunt for breakfast.  The mangroves along this stretch are home to many different shore birds as well as a creche for our local fish population - plenty of wildlife to keep you interested.

13 km's later, we found ourselves parked on the beach between the passenger jetty and the Research Station.  There was a flock of large birds closely watching our arrival which turned out to be (Royal) spoonbills.

The northern end of the beach provides some habitat for migratory birds. Along with the spoonbills, there were pied oyster catchers, a white heron and the ubiquitous "bin" chicken.

A short walk to the shops for breakfast - pays to keep an eye up along the path that leads around the point as there are often koalas in the surrounding eucalyptus trees.

We paddled over to Goat Island on the way home to get a good angle for the wind which never came. There is a stealth campsite on Goat Island with high tide access - and a nice surrounding reef.  Another 13 km flat water paddle saw us come home via the southern side of Peel Island.

Moreton Island Paddling

 A typical Queensland winters morning - around 8 degrees and a classic clear sky and a gentle south-westerly breeze. The colours at this time of year under our clear skies are always dynamic.

The 10-15 knot South Westerly failed to show and there was just a hint of wind around so a nice flat water paddle was on offer for the crossing to Moreton Island from Bribie Island.

We had a few days of strong westerlies earlier in the week which had blown the sea stars out of the sea grass and onto the western beaches on Moreton Island.

This lot were clustered around the shallow pools near the Bulwer Wrecks.

This is the resident tern on his favourite perch.

Some green to go with the blue - Bulwer Wrecks.

Cockpit view on the crossing - all shades of blue.

Cycling the BVRT from Moore to Yarraman Return

I was at a loose end last weekend and was a bit too sick to join my paddling mates on a downwind kayak from Mooloolaba to Noosa so decided it was about time I ticked the top end of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail off my TODO list - not to mention hijacking my own paddling blog for a cycling diversion!

This section of the rail trail starts at Moore and heads up the range to Blackbutt via Linville which is around 30 kms.  You can add another 20 kms onto the trip by heading up the rail trail to Nukku and then onto Yarraman.  I turned this into a 100 km day out by riding both ways, but if you were looking to do a car shuffle for a shorter ride, then I would be heading up to either Blackbutt or Yarraman and riding down the range to Linville or Moore.

I wasn't looking to push the envelope on the ride so was just in spin mode, stopping regularly for gates and photo opps. Overall, it took me 3.5 hours from Moore to Yarraman (2 hours from from Moore to Blackbutt), and on the way back it took 3 hours.  The main time difference was on the Blackbutt to Linville section as this includes a steady 20 km climb on the way up the range which turns into a 20 km downhill for the way back.

I was surprised by the amount of wild life I came across on the ride.  The day started with some wild deer on the Moore to Linville section, along with Kangaroos, lots of lizards and other unidentified scaly creatures that were out enjoying the heat on the trail over the day.  The forrested sections were amazing with the sounds of bell birds echoing around the valleys as well as numerous different types of parrots and finches flitting in and out of the trees.

Moore to Linville - 7kms

I parked in the middle of Moore at the park near the main road which includes a toilet block.  There are some signs that will lead you out of town to the BVRT which starts off to the left of the main road to Linville.  This section includes a couple of steeper gully's which are a bit more of a challenge than the normal trail which is rated easy.  If I was doing this trip again, I would probably drop my tyre pressure a little as there were some sandy sections and some loose gravel on some of the gully's - but I have a lot more experience on a road bike than I do mountain biking so don't take this as the voice of experience!

This section of the trail is undulating so only short downhill and uphill sections.  There are lots of gates which I find a little frustrating, but chillin' in the country with no traffic is a good thing.

Linville to Blackbutt - 23 kms

The trail turned more rocky from this point on as I started to climb the range.  The old station still survives at Linville and there is some old rolling stock on a short section of track.

As you started to climb the range, the vegetation changed and groves of (big) grass trees started to appear.

This is a great section of the track as the gates aren't so close together and at the top of the range you start riding through some forested sections with lots of bird life as well as some great views on the way.

There is a toilet along this section of the track, along with a small tank under a covered area.

Blackbutt to Yarraman - 18 kms

There is a great bakery in Blackbutt so well worth the deviation into the main street for something to eat and drink.  Don't forget to refill your water bottles in this section as there isn't much infrastructure on the rail trail to Yarraman.

This section of the trail is a little less used so there is more grass over the track in spots and in other areas it gets sandy and there are a number of washouts.  This section is undulating, but still interesting with a gully or two to provide some challenges.  The more difficult gully's generally will have a black (expert) MTB hill legend sign which is a good hint about what is in front of you.

The main street of Yarraman is a kilometer or so up the road which has a foodstore, pub and a bakery if you aren't there on a Sunday!

The Wrap Up

Definitely worth doing this trail.  There was an intermediate trail off the right hand side of the track on the way up the range from Linville to Blackbutt (before Benarkin from memory).  It could be worth another visit just to explore this trail and the forestry around Blackbutt.

Peel Island again

We left Cleveland Point with 15-20 knots of beam wind and fought our way across to the north side of Peel Island where we floated through the mangroves in complete shelter from the wind with only some heron's and collared kingfishers for company.

The wind model had the wind turning to the south and keeping in the 10 to 15 knot range so we were looking forward to the down wind trip home after the slog around the island pushing into the wind.

We decided to let the tide turn and have a break at Platypus Bay before hoisting the sails for the downwind home - that would be the down winder that never happened.  The wind dropped off so we had a flat water paddle home.

The March Flies were out in force on Peel Island so I am guessing they are only going to increase across summer.  This one was annoying me and a bit slower than her mates!

Not enough flies were injured in the taking of this photo!  Here are some of the other shots from around Platypus Bay.