May 2025 - Greenup Meeting Place

 We're off to an AOR (Australian Off Road) get together at Greenup Meeting Place for a few days.  Greenup is 350km west of Mullumbimby, 80km from Stanthorp and 25km from Inglewood in Queensland.  The plan is to visit Girraween National Park on the way.

Wednesday 14 May 2025 - Mullumbimby to Girraween

It's not hard to tell when you leave the coast and head up into the mountains.  The temperature drops considerably.  By the time we reached Castle Rock camping area in Girraween National Park, it was time to get the beanies out.  The bit of rain hanging about added to the "it's cold" atmosphere.

We set up and went for a walk around the camping area.  It's a popular spot for the Eastern Grey kangaroos.  A nice view of Pyramid Rock in the distance.  If the weather's fine tomorrow, we might just walk it.

Girraween National Park gets its name from the Aboriginal word Girraween, meaning 'place of flowers', which is not from the local language in the area but emphasises the year-round wildflower blooms. The area is part of a granite landscape belt, which carries a rich historical and cultural significance to Indigenous owners for its toolmaking use. The environment is varied and dramatic within the granite landscape, with eucalypt forests, sedgelands, heathlands, unique fauna, and fungi endemic to the area.

Thursday 15 May 2025 - Girraween to Greenup

 Famous last words: "If it's fine tomorrow".  We had a bit of rain overnight, and as part of the Pyramid Walk is up the face of the rock, we decided "Not for us today".  The alternative was a very pleasant stroll - Granite Arch Walk.  This is a pretty easy walk and starts from Bald Rock Creek day-use area, just across the road from our camp.  The route is well signposted, crossing over Bald Rock Creek on a concrete bridge, then ambling on a circuit, up through a forest of tall blackbutt and stringybarks to the arch and back to the bridge.  

After packing up, we decided to take the "back way" into Stanthorpe for some lunch before heading off to Greenup.  At first, we thought it was a big mistake, as the gravel road was pretty rough and steep but once out of the mountains, it was fine.

Lunch in Stanthorpe, then the 80 km to Greenup Meeting Place.

Friday, 16 May 2025 - Greenup Meeting Place

 

Our spot for the next few days is Greenup Meeting Place, on a property located at Coolmunda, Queensland, approximately 25km from Inglewood. Set on the site of the former Greenup School (closed in 1976), it is now a 50-acre retreat popular for camping, functions, and community gatherings.  The camping area is on the banks of Bracker Creek, which flows into Lake Coolmunda (created by the construction of the Coolmunda Dam).  We're here with almost 50 other owners of AOR vans.  Should be a pleasant few days, even though there is a bit of rain in the forecast.

After breakfast this morning, we decided on a walk to Lake Coolmunda, probably about a kilometre from our camp.  It's fairly open country with not too many trees and an easy walk.  Nice to see some red rump parrots on the way to the lake.  So many black swans on the lake!! 

Dinner tonight at the Greenup Meeting Place cafe.  They did a wonderful job catering to all of us.

Saturday, 17 May 2025 - Greenup Meeting Place

After our morning walk along the creek (lots of birdlife around at this time of day), we went for a drive to Inglewood. 

On our way into town, we called into Coolmunda Dam.  Completed in 1968, the earth–fill dam structure is 18.6 metres high and 2,286 metres long and holds back 69,090 megalitres of water when at full capacity. It supplies water to the Macintyre Brook Irrigation Scheme, supporting crops of olives, lucerne, citrus, stone fruit, vines, grain crops (wheat, barley, sorghum & corn), as well as being the urban water supply for Inglewood.  It's also well stocked with fish, offering anglers the chance to hook several species, including Murray Cod, yellowbelly and silver perch.

We should have come to Inglewood earlier, as there's not much open on a Saturday afternoon.  We did, however, visit the Inglewood Heritage Centre and Australian Tobacco Museum - a fascinating place, dedicated to preserving the region's cultural history, specifically its century-long legacy of tobacco growing.   Of particular interest was "The Golden Leaf" exhibition, which details the history of tobacco production from the late 1880s to the 1980s. The industry became a significant economic boost to the area and really flourished after World War II due to a large influx of European migrants, particularly from Italy, who brought specialised farming skills to the region.  The completion of the Coolmunda Dam also provided essential water for irrigating tobacco crops in the surrounding district and kept the industry afloat until the commercial tobacco production in the region collapsed following the deregulation of the Australian tobacco market in the late 80s.

The museum is quite a little gem and does a great job of displaying Inglewood's heritage - not just tobacco.

Home via Tobacco Road, no doubt where all the tobacco was grown back in the day.  We had heard that there was good coffee at the Dreamtime Nursery & Garden Ornaments along this road, but unfortunately, not even it opens on a Saturday afternoon.  We'll just have to wait until we get back to camp.

Sunday, 18 May 2025 - Greenup Meeting Place

 Quite a bit of rain overnight, but fortunately it did stay fine enough for our walk along the creek.

Once again, lots of birds - even a couple we don't often see, the Red-Winged parrot and a Restless Flycatcher (Scissors Grinder).  Plenty of water birds and so many corellas.

A lazy day today, dodging the showers.  Fortunately, the rain eased off to give us a beautiful sunset.

Monday, 19 May 2025 - Greenup to Mullumbimby

Pack up this morning and head home via Jimboomba to drop the camper off to Paul to have a few more things done to it.  It has been a pleasant few days in country we do not often visit.