Bunya Mountains

CONTENT: Australia / Queensland / Bunya Mountains National Park / Western Downs / South Burnett Region

READ JOURNAL BELOW

TRAVEL JOURNAL:

Our new journey with no exact time-frame and fixed route kicks off from the Sunshine Coast towards Birdsville.

Bunya Mountains National Park is the second oldest national park in Queensland which is visible in it’s well established Dandabah camping and chalet village; walking tracks and footwear disinfection stations. Bunya Mountains National Park was declared in 1908 to protect the world’s largest stand of ancient bunya pines Araucaria bidwillii and more than 30 rare and threatened species.

Bunya Mountains National Park is located some 240km inland from Brisbane and Bunya Mountains Road divides the national park between Western Downs and South Burnett Region.

The Bunya mountains were formed about 30 million years ago and are thought to be the remains of a volcano. The range rises to an average elevation of 975 m; however the two tallest mountains on the range, Mount Kiangarow and Mount Mowbullan, rise to over 1,100 m. The vegetation between the Eastern and Western side differs a lot: the Eastern side being dryer is dominated by narrow-leaved bottletrees (Brachychiton rupestris), eucalyptus and is featuring orchids on rockwalls; while the Western side preserves subtropical rainforest from the wetter times of Australian climate. Mt Kiangarow is famous for almost 5 metres high and several hundred years old grass trees.

Walking between moist or dry rainforest of the Eastern side of the mountain range is a step back into prehistoric times. The hiker can admire the massive hoop (Araucaria Cunninghamii) and rare Bunya pines (Araucaria Bidwillii). Neither of those species are botanically pines. They belong to Araucariaceae family which is a very ancient family of coniferous trees. Conifers are cone-bearing plants which replaced the ferns as the major vegetation about 200 million years ago, long time before flowering plants appeared on Earth. Once the whole planet was covered with species belonging to Araucariaceae family, but nowadays there are only rare pockets left in Southern Hemisphere.
Besides Bunya pines, the national park protects another natural feature called ‘bald’. Bald is a native grassland ecosystem harbouring totally different flora and fauna not found and able to survive in the rest of the surrounding forested areas. Letting balds to be invaded by woody plants, would mean loosing that unique flora and fauna. Scientists believe that during the last ice age (18000 years ago) those grasslands covered the majority of the Bunya Mountains but due to warmer climate are now gradually disappearing. Prior arrival of European settlers, traditional owners managed the balds with controlled fire. Bunya Mountains have important cultural significance amongst Aboriginal culture. Bunya Mountains were the location of Bunya festivals. Every 3-4 years bunya pines are carrying higher quantity of bunya nuts which was an important food source in indigenous diet. During Bunya festivals tribes gathered to harvest and socialize with each other. In 1840s and 1850s Europeans settled into Darling Downs and South Burnett area and discovered the red cedar trees (mostly cut down by now) growing along the Bunya ranges, which was the start of 100 years of excessive logging history. After red cedar was cut down, loggers turned their attention to hoop and bunya pines, but this activity was finally put to an end around 1950s which was some 50 years after declaring it a national park. Tree-cutting and mills were operating at the same time while the tourists admired the unique scenery. Nevertheless, Aboriginal people left or were removed from the area and the last great festival was held in the late 1800s.

Bunya Mountains was already a loved scenic location in the 1860s. In the early 1930s roads were constructed and the first walking tracks were established in 1939. Nowadays the park offers more than 35km of walking tracks; to protect the unique and fragile ecosystem each of them starts and ends with a footwear disinfection station. Dandabah village is a typical example of a mountain getaway. It offers cafes, cute rental cottages in a clearing framed by tall bunya pines and grazed by a population of red-necked wallabies and a wide variety of birds. In the bush just next to our camping spot, we discovered a satin bowerbird treasuring blue bottle-lids in his bower.

NEXT
Our journey takes us through the Western Downs Region, where we visit lovely countryside towns and find memorable camping-spots at local lagoons.

If you want to see some photos, have a look on our Instagram page.

https://www.instagram.com/sweephorizon/

Filmed with IPhone7, SamsungS10e,
Canon7D, DJI Mavick Air 2s and edited with IPhone 7

Enjoy watching!!!

#sweephorizon

Видео Bunya Mountains канала SweepHorizon