Bunya Mountains

The Bunya Mountains are a place that we have never had time to visit but had heard nothing but good comments so we decided to visit them while we were in the area.  I started researching with the Wikicamps app to find the best place to set up camp and I booked us initially into a site at the National Park that is right where all the walks are located.  However, after reading some of the comments we realised that we didn't have a hope in hell of getting our rig up the steep, windy narrow road.  I'm so glad I read those comments!  We then found a little place close too the Bunyas called Bell that had one caravan park that looked amazing. I feverently hoped that they would have an available site as they didn't have many on offer. I shouldn't have worried because we were the only van in the park for the first two nights.

We set off from Leyburn after an amazing couple of days with our friends and set off for Bell that was only a little over 200kms.  But once again I managed (with help from the car GPS) to find all the backroads into Bell.  Why do the car navigation systems do that?  We had a couple of turnarounds that are not an easy feat with our 12 metre set-up and managed to damage the van front hatch in one particularly bad U-turn, but nothing that insurance won't cover.

Arriving into the little town of Bell was a very pleasant surprise.  We quickly unhitched and set-up our camp before putting on the walking shoes to explore this lovely town.  We particularly enjoyed wandering around the Bell Catholic Church grounds where the Biblical Gardens celebrate the fourteen Stations of the Cross.  The gardeners only filled the garden beds with plants that were specifically named in the Bible. 

We had an early night as we wanted to have a full day of hiking the following day.  From my research most of the tracks would take several hours.

The following day we woke to a glorious day with just a few fluffy clouds in the sky.  We had a hearty breakfast before we started our 30km journey to the Bunya Mountains.  Once again the car navigation sent us on a few wild roads but without the caravan behind us we were not worried.  As it turned out we actually did the "Tourist Circuit" that was perfect.

The first thing we noticed at our first stop in the Bunyas is just how cool it was.  A stop at one of the lookouts showed us the reason why.  We were at a very high altitude.

After a small walk around the lookout we made our way to the Bunya Mountains summit where our 10km walk began.  Surprisingly there were a lot of people walking the tracks and as is usual we stopped and talked to them about what the track was like further ahead and what we should look out for.  The tracks are well marked and I think from memory that there are four different circuits of varying lengths.  We took the longest one that was a relatively easy walk.  There was some uphill/downhill but the paths were wide and well kept.  We passed through so many different picturesque areas.  From rainforest areas with all the ferns associated with these areas to open Eucalypt forest areas that were much drier.  We walked along little creeks that sadly were quite dry and walked paths to waterfalls that were not flowing at all.  That was a bit of disappointment. 

The walk, with photo stops, took us almost four hours but well worth the effort.  The last four kilometres were the least interesting as we were walking along an old forestry track.  I kept thinking that we would have an uphill walk in this section but it was remarkably flat.  I must say it was a relief to finally reach the end of the circuit and we headed straight to one of the restaurants for a well deserved cool beverage and lunch.  It was so delicious and more so because we had built up a real appetite!

After lunch we strolled around the very lovely village area and both agreed we would come back to visit another time.  We drove a different way home passing through the little town of Kumbia.  I had relatives who lived here at one stage so I was interested in seeing this pretty little town.  We were home mid-afternoon and thankfully made it home just before the sky opened up and the rain tumbled down.  

If you are ever in this area I highly recommend you put it on your bucket list of places to visit. You will not be disappointed.  If you don't have a van like us there are many accomodation options open to you in the Bunya Mountains village.  Just do it.