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Name: Bunya Mountains
City, State: Southeast Queensland Australia
What's it like?
Queensland's mountain hinterland hides the beautiful Bunya Mountains. Located
about 240km northwest of Brisbane, between
Kingaroy and Dalby,
the Bunyas are worth the short drive.
The heart of the Bunyas is the village of Dandabah
where the majority of accommodation is located, along with access to the numerous
forest walks. The village has an alpine feel about it. Winter mornings greet you
with morning frost and an occasional fog, and the evenings are ideal for relaxing
in front of log fires.
The 11,700ha Bunya Mountains National Park contains the most western rainforest
in south east Queensland, and a weekend escape to the area is an ideal way of
briefly slipping 'back to nature.'
Rising 1,100m steeply above the flatness of the plains below, the mountains are
characterised by thousands of dome-shaped bunya pines, which tower up to 50m.
They are one of only two native stands of the pines in Australia.
The other being near Port Douglas in Tropical
North Queensland.
Walking tracks are well maintained and are criss-crossed by small streams and miniature waterfalls. The 11 walks range from a short 500m to a longer 10km.
Wildlife is plentiful - with dozens of red-necked wallabies and swamp wallabies that call the village home. Also easily spotted are possums, scrub turkeys, kookaburras and green king parrots, with the possibility of a bower bird sighting.
The mountains have a history based on early pioneer dairying and logging settlement until the area was declared National Park in 1908. In reality, its legends extend back much earlier.
The Bunyas were the meeting place for neighbouring Aboriginal tribes who every
three years would come from hundreds of km away to feast on the bunya nuts which
ripened in one year out of three from January
to March.
The nuts are shaped similar to large pineapples and weigh up to 10kg. They contain up to 80 individual kernels that are the size of large pecans.
While the original visitors certainly enjoyed their feasting, to help modern tourists,
some local residents have produced a volume entitled Creating with Bunya Nuts
- a guide to the intriguing produce.
Accommodation is offered in three different styles. There are several commercial
accommodation properties - including the Bunya Mountains Lodge, or the
Bunya Mountains Environmental Centre.
Friendly wallabies visit the lodge every morning and evening.
After a frosty early-morning walk, the Lodge is a warm haven to return to, and a great base to explore all the Bunyas has to offer.
For families or groups, the near-by Environmental Centre offers a range
of houses and self-contained cabins all with log fires, set in 22.5 acres adjacent
to the National Park. There are also over 70 rental houses, cottages or chalets
available for lease on the mountain. Thirdly, there is camping - with a select
55 camping sites available in the park.
There are three camping areas in the park - but with its toilets and hot showers,
Dandabah is the best serviced and centrally located.
The Dandabah grounds consist of the National Park information centre and ranger station. Additionally, there is a kiosk, a small store and two restaurants - the licensed Rosellas Restaurant, and the BYO option, Puzzles at Rice's Cabins.
Visitors can take a ride on a horse-drawn cart through the forest on an old logging track. For day visitors, Dandabah also has barbecues and picnic areas - great for the family.
All routes onto the mountain are steep and caravans can not be taken on the mountain roads (there are sites at the bottom of the range where they can be left). No fuel is available on the mountain, so make sure you fill-up before you make the drive up the range.
For more information:
Fraser Coast South Burnett Regional Tourism Board
Tel +61 7 4122 3444
Bunya
Mountains National Park
Tel +61 7 4668 3127
- By Dominique White
If you know of a great destination we're missing,
review it for us!!
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