Tenterfield sits 1000 metres up on the Great Dividing Range. It is Australia’s most substantial mountain range and the third longest land-based range in the world. It stretches more than 3,500 kilometres. Tenterfield is surrounded by numerous National Parks and one of the most popular is Bald Rock National Park. It features the largest exposed granite monolith in Australia, 260 metres above the surrounding bushland, Bald Rock is a massive granite dome 750 metres long and 500 metres wide, the largest exposed granite rock in the Southern Hemisphere. Those are the impressive statistics I read and today we are going to see and experience it.
I have to admit that we are past the age for energetic rock climbing so I was pleased that there were 2 routes to the top. One, I was told, is very steep and 1.2 kilometres almost straight up. The other winds gently around and through the bush and boulders and is 2.5 kilometres. That is our sort of walk.
It starts with a gentle track winding through lush green ferns on every side. The light is radiant, lighting up all it touches and sending rippling shadows across the track. Jack strides ahead while I slowly follow taking so many photos.
Not many wild flowers at this time of the year, but in spring the undergrowth will be a blaze with them, but I spot a couple of paper daisies gallantly surviving the cooler weather of autumn and this strange face peers at me.As we get higher shallow steps lead us round piles of granite boulders. Jack climbs up to study this large clump of rock orchids. I can imagine their beauty in spring when they flower, I have a small clump in our garden that dazzle me every year. This is what Jack is reading…Information boards were placed to explain what was around us. They say it so much better than me. So now we are entering the area called “granite titans” I love this descriptive term. Just look at them, they are overwhelming and so grand in stature…
Look carefully at the above photos because we are in them. They tower above us covered in moss and lichen. They are quite intimidating.
But what a change in size as we round another corner. The smaller rocks are scattered so prolifically around here that passers-by have gathered them up to create cairns, small sculptures, a gathering of little gnomes, calling to me”take my photo”…
A gap in the trees, rocks and bushes reveals that we are now quite high up. The going has been so gentle and easy it is a surprise to see how high we are.Suddenly we come out of the bush and onto the bald rock.
We feel on top of the world, as though we are invincible. We have had all this beauty to ourselves not having seen another person. But now we meet up with 2 Canadians they have been up the same way as us but now they are going down the steep, quick and, I think, quite dangerous way. I take their photo as they disappear over the edge.We have made it, very slowly, but with time to really absorb our surroundings. It is breathtaking.
But what goes up now has to go down. But we are going back down the way we came up.The light has faded and no longer suitable for photography, so it is a faster trip down. Until, suddenly, we hear a rustle in the undergrowth. What is it? We stand with bated breath, maybe it is a wallaby, or some small bush creature. I wait with camera at the ready. Then I get a fleeting glimpse and catch a blurry picture as the 2 birds scuttle off into the bush. Look at what I caught. I think it is the very elusive and shy lyre bird. Can anyone identify it for me?What a satisfying ending to the day. But as we drove home I was brought to a stop by this…
Keep this standard of post up and National Geographic will be giving you assignments.🏅
The burl like an animals head I noticed too it was very obvious to the observant.🐻
Pity you got the head of the male and the tail of the female birds.
The other way around and we could have been positive that they were Lyre Birds.🐨
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I’ve had a comment come in confirming it was a lyrebird. You are so kind with your comments Jack, thank you
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Definitely a lyrebird according to my resident ornithologist.
I’ve got to go there, Pauline. Looks absolutely magical. Was your trip to Bald Rock NP a full day trip?
And the leaves are just glowing in the afternoon light. Beautiful.
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Thanks for the confirmation Tracy. I thought it was a lyrebird, but have never seen one before. We had another couple of side trips on the way to Bald Rock, so it was about a half day trip. We do walk very slowly too with lots of photo stops… the light was magical on those poplars
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That’s good to know for trip planning.
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Never heard of this place and it looks amazing. You and Jack are the fittest ‘people of a certain age’ that I know! A 5 km walk which seemed to include a fair number of steps from you photos is quite a feat. But well worth it. Those rocks at the top are fabulous.
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Wow! This is an amazing place, Pauline. The fern-lined trail, the monstrous boulders, the small cairns, the views, all are fabulous. This is definitely a journey, almost a journey into another world.
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It did have that other world feeling Cathy, especially as we never saw another person till we got right to the top
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Seclusion always adds to that otherworldly atmosphere! And light. 🙂
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Incredible landscape, Pauline. What a treat when you got up there! Did you know what to expect? It’s wonderfully dramatic, isn’t it? Thanks, darlin 🙂 🙂
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It was very unexpected the way it opened out onto that large plateau with amazing views. Dramatic is a very good word for it
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What a great place, and the bird bonus too! A great day indeed!
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That bird was a bonus. Surprisingly didn’t see more birds
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Beautiful and amazing landscape. I’d have taken that same track as well. A near vertical climb is too much for me (and I’ve walked Mt Warning 3 times). We have lots of National Park treasures like this in Australia.
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I know all about Mt ⚠️ Warning… I struggled to the top (many years ago) for the view, and it was all low cloud when I finally got there. Then I tripped on a tree root and sprained my ankle on the way down….😱😢 always go the easy way now!!!
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Not the best of days for you.
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It did have a happy ending though
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🙂
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Wonderful!
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It was Sue
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What a cool place! We also came across a garden of cairns in Arches National Park. It was such a funny surprise!
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They are very cute aren’t they
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Indeed!
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[…] Into the Mountains : Day 4 of the road trip – Living in Paradise… […]
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I’ll have to put that one on the bucket list. The bird looks like a lyrebird, how lucky are you they are so elusive.
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I could hardly believe my eyes when I studied the photo, it was such a fleeting sight. Well worth a visit
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OH MY! I would have so freaked out if that bird had been a wallaby!
All that granite resembles that on the way to Yosemite. There are rounded over hilltops of granite that are quite amazing, although I think it would be even more amazing to see it in Australia, without any wallabies around of course.
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I actually thought of you when I thought it could be a wallaby… 😄
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Yes, I figured as much.
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😄
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Isn’t it a great region to explore glad you had such a wonderful day. As keen walkers we have seen many of these cairns and it may shock you but they are discouraged in our parks as not natural and in their larger form can confuse walkers on the true direction of a track. We have been asked both in Australia and overseas to knock down as many as we can.
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What a shame to knock them down. I think they are quite a feature. I noticed lots of them in Korean mountains. I think they have a spiritual meaning there.
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What a fabulous landscape Pauline, the boulders are huge. Not tempted to sketch up there?
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Took lots of photos and plan to do a painting
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[…] Into the Mountains : Day 4 of the road trip […]
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Amazing place! On a smaller scale I am reminded of the granite outcrops in Portugal’s Alentejo, where I have recently travelled. I wonder if the process for producing the granite was similar?
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I think it probably is.
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