Cainbable Falls

Last Saturday I walked with the Tamborine Mountain Bushwalkers on their scheduled fortnightly walk. Peter and Sara led this walk and as is usual, Peter does not take us on just any ordinary walk. This walk had several bits and pieces of various recognized walks and old tracks up on the Lamington Plateau all tied in together.

Because we would not be doing a circuit we had to first do a car shuffle. We were to start at the Romeo Lahay’s memorial and finish at the entry to the Python Rock Track. Without a car shuffle this would require a long walk down the very narrow and dangerous Lamington National Park Road back to our cars at the end of the walk.

With the car shuffle taken care of we set off down though the very steep rainforested slope. The only sign of a track here is the very old remnants of a snig track left behind by past generations of loggers. The forest is doing its very best to cover these old wounds so we lost our way several times before finally stumbling onto a clear track just upstream of where the Cainbable Falls plunge over the embankment to the valley floor hundreds of meters below.

We had smoko on a little overhanging rocky outcrop further along the cliff. From here there are good views of the falls and the valley below with views out as far as Flinders Peak. The falls were a disappointment as very little water is flowing over them at this time of year. Somebody has placed a white cross here dedicated to “Judy” whoever she may be. While I can understand people mourning loved ones I think nobody has the right to desecrate our National Parks with private memorials. Particularly such a beautiful wild place as this. We have cemeteries for that.

We continued on following the top of the escarpment until a small creek which we followed up before coming out onto Duck Creek Road which we followed for some time. Being a Saturday, all the 4x4 drivers were out so we had to be wary not to be run over or at the least splattered with mud.

After escaping the road we went down to Kurrajong Lookout where we had lunch on a grassy knoll with views out to the west. A very pleasant lunch spot where we attempted to locate our position using a GPS and an old map. Back onto the road then once again back through the bush as we followed a faint track leading out to Luke’s Bluff where we admired the views out as far as Mt Lindsey and across to Lost World, a fabulous unexplored wilderness.

The next stop was at Pats Bluff which has views to equal any with the added bonus of large granite boulders to sit upon while we rested and enjoyed the views. From here we followed the clear marked trail back to where we joined the Python Rock lookout track which led back to where we had parked the car. After a quick car shuffle we headed back to Tamborine Mountain, it was too late in the day for our customary social coffee stop on the way home.