Riding in places like Cooloola National Park reminds me that we’re just kids in grown-up bodies. Every Saturday we get up early to ride our bikes with friends. But we always try to get home in time for dinner.
We started our adventure at Harrys Hut on the Noosa River and followed the river north into the national park through thick forests of paperbarks, cabbage tree palms…
… and scribbly gums.
We then followed the smooth clay roads of the Cooloola way northwards alongside vast pine plantations.
Clare and Anna demonstrated some “Bush Yoga”. Unlike the last time they did this on one of our rides, I didn’t try to copy them.
Since our previous visits, the surface of the road has been graded which made some of the downhill sections smooth and fast.
We stopped at Neebs Waterholes for morning tea.
This gorgeous chain of freshwater lagoons form part of the upper reaches of the Noosa River.
Recent rain has raised the water level in the creek. Tanins from leaves make the water look like weak tea – but it’s still beautiful.
The rain has also made the track wetter in places, so we were grateful that the creek crossings had been strengthened with rocks to make them easier to pass.
From there we started our return journey southwards via Wandi Waterhole.
The water looked inviting. It might be cold. Should we have a swim?
Absolutely! What else is a kid supposed to do?
The water was cold – but it felt delightful.
After this point the track became hilly and rocky in places – perfect terrain for mountain bikes.
Like hot snow on tropical mountains, the giant sand patches on the beach-side dunes loomed larger as we rode home.
We’d definitely get home in time for dinner!
We rode about 50 kilometres in 5 hours including breaks.
I burned 2,500 kcal as we climbed about 420 metres in vertical ascent.
I’ll rate this ride 6.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.
Thanks Clare, Anna, Eric, Darb, Paul and Simon for another memorable adventure.
Let’s not grow-up any time soon!
UPDATE: Here’s Darb’s video of our adventure
Harry’s Hut Neebs Wandi Waterhole 2014-09-27 from Darb Ryan on Vimeo.
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