Colin Van Der Heide

Well Josh and I made it to Jimna at last, and it will not be the last time either. Love the place; would move there tomorrow if I could. A few houses, General Store, little Museum and that about sums up Jimna. The General store I loved, especially the sitting area with all the plants which gave it a forest/tropical feel. And the outside sitting area is peaceful.

Josh and I had a look at the museum area, met David there. He is a friendly, helpful fella. Bought a badge for my collection, and the Jimna & District book.

After Jimna township we headed to the Forestry Office but unfortunately that was closed. So we had a quick look around, yep, another area where I could stay. From the forestry office, we headed back towards Kilcoy, then turned off at Sunday Creek Road. Now the fun began, the bitumen was behind us and all I could see was dirt and dusty road – you little ripper. Made a few stops along the way, had a look around and couple of stops to add water to the ecology of the forest.

Stopped off at a lookout area (Booloumba View), was magnificent, we could see hoop pines for miles and miles. In the area where they cut the pines, we could see all the dirt roads leading through the forest. Also an area that had been cut down sort of gave it away as well. As we stopped at the lookout area, I spotted this fella on a mountain bike puffing and sweating his little heart out as he traversed a steep climb on the road. He stopped at the lookout; I was shaking my head wondering if he is a fitness freak or just plain stupid. After he caught his breath, I spoke with him and stated the same “are you a fitness freak or just …..... stupid” He spoke with a English accent; he was doing a round trip from camp site 4 (When I looked on the Forestry map, I then knew he was just plain stupid). He asked if there were any more hills along the way, I thought he was going to cry, man does he still have some hills to climb. Glad it was him and not me.

So we said goodbye and good luck to our English mountain bike traveller, away we went still heading along Sunday Creek Road. Well, a couple of other 4WD passed us heading the other way. We had to stop to let the dust settle as I could not see in front of me. Along the way we saw all these tracks and turn offs, but they were Forestry Restricted areas – enter by Authorized permit only (yes I have completed a Qld Govt Forestry Permit, ready to send off).

By this time we are now on the Booloumba Creek Road. Yes, still dirt road and little rough in places. This Road actually cuts through the Booloumba Creek camping and day use area. So we stopped naturally. Now this place will see us back again. What a wonderful camp area, very busy with campers being a long weekend. Set up one of the BBQ areas, got a fire going so Josh could toast his marshmallows. He thought this was great. Sat at one of the camping tables for a while (that is if you can find a spot to plonk yourself down, without sitting on bird ……) but me being me, I just plonked down anywhere.

Now the easiest way to describe this place, is this is the closest one can get to Heaven without actually dying. Absolutely perfect area, abundance of trees and scrub, Goannas roaming around and bell birds could be heard in the scrub. To put it in simple terms I was home at last.

Talking about those big lizards (Goannas), as Josh and I walked towards the creek area there were these two Goannas checking out some peoples BBQ. Not that I could blame them, it smelt all right. But the Goannas got a little close for them. They all jumped up on the table. Now that was a funny site to see, so I casually got out the Digital video camera, got as close as I could to the Goannas and starting filming them. The lady (still standing on the table) asked how I could get so close to these things. I explained they are harmless, unless you provoke, threaten or corner them. Then their claws will rip you to pieces, otherwise they are placid, calm and wonderful reptiles. One of the Goannas walked right up to my foot – I just wanted to take him home with me. (Sheesh, I would hate to see how these people would react if they saw a snake).

So Josh and I headed to the creek. I looked and there in front of us was a big swimming hole in the creek. Plenty of kids and adults in the water. At this point of time I wished I had packed another pair of shorts in the 4WD. Now Josh asked if we had a towel in the 4WD, yep certainly do, so to cut a long story short, he was in the water. He could not get over how cold the water was, but he had a ball swimming and splashing around. Afterwards I told him there are eels in the water. Then I told him about the day I was mucking around in a swimming hole, and a eel bit me on the backside. But that did not deter him; he was back in the swimming hole. It was fantastic to see – Josh now experiencing what nature can provide. The worst part was the time had come for us to depart this wonderful paradise. If we had enough food and stuff, then a good chance we would not have left until Sunday morning (but we will be back soon).

We headed back the way we came along Booloumba Creek Road. As we travelled along it was now starting to get dark. Josh saw a turn off and screamed out “we have to turn there Dad”! So I hit the anchors, pulled the 4WD up in a cloud of dust, found the reverse gear and backed up to the turn off. I looked at Josh and asked if he was sure this is where he wants to go, yep, so we headed down this track. I cannot remember the name of this track and was not marked on the forestry map we had. So we headed off. Along the way the track got bumpier, rougher and the track got more and more narrow. Remember it is pitch black in darkness now (normally Josh would be freaking out, but he was loving the adventure). And the hills we were climbing up, some of them were 1st gear jobs in the 4WD, at this point of time I was loving every minute of this drive. Where it went to, we did not now and did not care.

After about an hour or so travelling along this track, it turned into a reasonable dirt road. Then we could see lights glimmering in the distance, as we got closer to these lights we found they were camp grounds. We passed these camp grounds, then went down this hill to be greeted by water. This night was getting better and better, a water crossing. A vehicle was on the other side and I could see a couple of people walking through the water. I thought ‘great save me doing it, they must be gauging the depth and condition of ground’. I got out headed towards the water edge, and then one of them walked towards me. I asked the normal questions as a 4WD person does. What is the depth? Is it rocky bottom, slippery and width of travel area, any drop off areas? All he said was ‘oh you will have no worries crossing’, but he has a Magna and never went across water before. He showed me the approx depth, being a rocky bottom and not very slippery, the area was a wide track to cross. So I said go back to your car, I will come across then I can gauge the depth of water from the 4WD, see if to deep for your car or not. We crossed the water; I was in my element water crossing at night. Well made it to the other side; gauged the depth and told him ‘mate you can get across no problems’. But he had never crossed water before, also they were young ones around 18 – 19 yrs old (very polite) . The two males were not sure on this crossing, so one of the females jumped in the drivers seat and said ‘I will do this’.

Now we have one female in drivers seat, and three others out of the car, walking across the water. I stayed until they crossed in case they needed help with anything. As they started crossing the water, I ran back to the 4WD, got out the Video camera set it on night mode, and filmed them crossing the water. They made it safe and sound, and kept yelling out ‘thank you very much, you are a life saver’. They were heading to a camp site which was not far away.

Well Josh and I jumped back into the trusty 4WD and continued on, only to be greated by bitumen not much further along the way. Then we eventually saw lights, then street lights. Oh we were heading back into Civilization; we were both a little annoyed with this idea. We headed into Kenilworth, did not stop there – just passed through. (At this point of time we were only approximately 55 Klm from Gympie).

We had travelled all the way through the Jimna and Kenilworth forests – wow that was fantastic! That will not be the last they see of us, so much more to discover. Well we headed towards Emundi, and then there was the sign Bruce Highway – Brisbane. Turned off and we were racing along the Bruce Highway heading home. Josh was extremely tired at this point of time, and the night was getting along. We were nearing the end of a fantastic day and adventure.

Distance Travelled – 455K’s
Left home – 9.30am
Arrived home: 10.30pm