Ida Falls
We were blessed with a warm autumn day for the walk. I was joined by Karin, Eve, Roger, Rogo, and new members Nicole and Bernard on their first walk with the Club.
We started by visiting the gradually degrading Aboriginal art site, which consists of two caves facing each other with a now-disused mine access road between them. There was a great deal of effort put into locating all the art. Some are still very clear, while others required a little imagination.
From there we walked past the Mount Sinai Halt (part of the currently closed Zig Zag Railway) to the abandoned picnic ground via fire trails, a much better walk than following Bells Line of Road. We discovered a couple of fireplaces, several sets of tables and seats, and two toilet blocks sadly falling apart. It must have been very popular once, as a great deal of work went into building them. It brought back memories of picnics from years ago.
There is a short walk through open bush before descending into Ida Creek Valley. We stopped for morning tea in a clearing before the descent. The first hand stencil was very clear, then two more fairly indistinct stencils were found below it. Along the eastern side of the cliffs there is a lot of graffiti, some dating back to the early 1900s and some much more recent. There was also a stencil discovered closer to the falls, although sadly it has been "added" to.
Ida Falls is sometimes dry because it has only a small catchment above it. Today it was flowing well. There was a shallow bathing pool near its base which, on a warmer day, may have been tempting. We spent some time enjoying the relaxing atmosphere and the sound of the water rushing past.
After recrossing the creek without getting our feet wet, we climbed back beneath the eastern cliff line and headed north. Although we found no further art, we did discover a source of ochre. Around one o'clock we stopped in a shallow cave perched high above the valley for lunch. During lunch a mysterious cairn of rocks appeared, complete with an arrow pointing in the direction we were to follow. Suspiciously, Nicole was sitting nearby at the time.
Further along we scrambled up to the Zig Zag Top Points Station and explored the station and an old Queensland Railmotor parked there. Roger found the way through to the signal box, complete with a concrete picnic shelter. From there we descended back to the cars.
On the way back we stopped at the World War II gun emplacements, or perhaps more accurately, a garbage tip and blackberry farm. It was still interesting to see, although in need of some care.
It was a bushwalk with a scenic tour thrown in.