Paul and Dixies Stanthorpe Quickie

Paul n Dixie

Part of the furniture
Stanthorpe Quickie.


Dixie and I recently spent a couple of days in the Stanthorpe area, on the Veekstrom of course!
Heres a bit of a ride report of our travels :)


Day 1. Alstonville to Stanthorpe via Tenterfield, incl Tank Traps and Thunderbolts Cave!
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Headed to Stanthorpe for the weekend for the Bi Annual Apple & Grape Festival (piss up)
we followed the mighty Bruxner Hwy to Tenterfield where we are welcomed by the classic tree lined street :) In another few weeks these trees will be displaying rich Autum colours and attracting admirers from around the region. If you look closely you can see one tree is just starting to turn.
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I couldnt help but notice this sign, seems fair enough to me!
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I also noticed on a local storyboard WW2 Tank Traps, and Thunderbolt the bushranger
had a cave hideout a little way up the MT Lindsay Road ;) ,we had been intending to take this road to Stanthorpe, but recent rain turning the dirt into mud dissuaded us. Thankfully these attractions were still on the sealed part of the road :)
Story of the Traps.
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Heres whats left after 70 years.
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Just 150 Metres up the road is the track to Thunderbolts Cave hideout.
A kindly person has corrected the signage.
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After a reasonably comfortable trek,
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Here we are!
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The cave has several rooms,the largest is this one,the low opening is about 75cm high,
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The ground inside is scalloped out somewhat, and I was easily able to stand inside this area.
There is no evidence of water flowing through during rainfall, however I imagine it could get a bit draughty!!
The camera flash has exaggerated the available light.
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A more distant view offering a chance to appreciate how massive this rock that forms the cave is. The rock btw is unsupported above the cave...
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Another entrance.
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After exploring this most worthwhile attraction, we returned to Tenterfield for a light lunch, followed by a quick squirt up the New England HWY to Ballandean. (a slight detour to Ballandean Estate Winery for some medicinal tonic) and then we continued on to Stanthorpe via Emu Swamp Road (dirt ) :)
After settling into our lodgings for the next two nights and enjoying “happy Hour” drinks in the motel garden setting, I saw a streak forming in the late afternoon sky.
Heres a few otherwise meaningless images. (please excuse the pesky powerlines!)
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More or less day 1 over :)
 
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John_Johnny

Long Timer
Lovely Paul. Those caves would hold some secrets. Imagine the stories that would have been told there. I guess there would have been an aboriginal tribe there? Were there any markings?
That twilight view from your motel is beautiful with the reflection on the water. Those concrete paths look great for skateboards or scooters! I see a few people are gathered around the barby. I reckon I would have waltzed over and joined them. We had a bbq at Rutherglen recently and there was another large group beside us. One old bloke liked our chicken, capsicum and red onions in turkish bread and he just helped himself. He chatted for a while and eventually asked if we were on the new bride's side of the family as he didn't remember seeing us before. Lol!
 

Paul n Dixie

Part of the furniture
Hi John, I reckon the cave would've made an amazing cubby house! no evidence or mention of Aboriginal occupation, and strangely no hint of smoke staining on the cave roof- indicating very few fires lit , ie not occupied for any length of time... fwiw "Thunderbolt" -real name Fred Ward-
whos buried at Uralla , seems to have quite a few hideouts in the New England area ;) We have visited another of his caves just off the N.E HWY also.

Hi Willo! , interestingly the surrounding countryside is SO rocky (MASSIVE boulders) that it is hard to believe A) how the hell tanks could even get this far South and B) how the hell they would be able to negotiate the Great Dividing Range...
It is hard to imagine 10,000 troops camped in the local area, the troops would have outnumbered the residents 10:1!
 

Paul n Dixie

Part of the furniture
Day 2!
Paul and Dixies Stanthorpe Quickie Day 2.
Day 2 and we took a nice loop through Girraween National Park :)
Heres a map and a few pictures.



Riding out along Amosfield road,this old house caught our eye, sadly I couldn't get a shot without powerlines in it :(
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We continued on,rounding Storm King Dam on the Eastern side, taking Pyramids road, as opposed to the usual Western side (Eukey Road).



We found some “reserved parking” ;) at the waters edge ;)



This road,though attractive, was considered “Too easy”



So we hit the dirt and headed off in search of Girraween.



Typical countryside :)



This big rock had us “Cracking up”



This road being around the above rock, was anything butt shit. In fact it was very enjoyable :)
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Plenty of these colourful little Daisies along the roadside.



More local terrain.



Very nice thankyou :)



We're here! Girraween NP :)
The road did get a bit sandy and loose in places, but overall very well compacted.



This sealed section was VERY steep and narrow !



We were grateful we didnt meet any “fourbies” coming the other way!



Back onto the dirt and the land opened up and road widened :)



I love a rusty gate :)



Just through the above gate and across the paddock are these rocks,
I image they must have some significance within the Girraween- but I didnt see a storyboard to describe them.



Heading back towards the road I spied these two characters ;)
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Peeky Boo! I can see you! ;)



Perfect 'Strom country.



We rejoined the N.E. Hwy at Wyberba, and detoured back to Stanthorpe via Ballandean and MT Stirling :)
This 70 km loop was a most enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours :) there are still a few roads to explore within Girraween NP :) Which means we'll just have to come back again, next time we're up Stanthorpe way :)
Riding for day 2 over, we took on the food and wine on offer at the “Apple and Grape Festival”
(photos' suppressed to avoid incrimination)
 

Paul n Dixie

Part of the furniture
Thanks Brian :) , I commented to Dixie that I half expected to see little specs (people) climbing the rocks ;)
Possibly there is a hiking/climbing route somewhere on the other side of the rocks? as we did pass one or two hiking tracks exiting the road.
One thing's for sure-we will be going back to check out some more of Girraween NP, especially the MT Norman track :)
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
What a sweet loop of the Granite Belt, I love that area and Girraween will always special memories. :clap::clap:

Thanks for showing it off!...and it is quite a climb up Bald Rock, especially on a warm/hot day when the rock throws back the heat.

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Paul n Dixie

Part of the furniture
Cheers Pete,:) good to have you all back from Un Zud :cdle
We,ve got a few more pics from the ride home via mt Lindsay road, I,ll flick them up to complete the quickie ride report :)
Day 3 - asap!
 
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