Sundown National Park 5th - 7th May

Capella_Ben · Post by **Capella_Ben** » April 12th, 2012, 8:36 pm

Well this will be take 2 for a Sundown trip for me. The first time the park was closed due to recent rain. So I have tried to schedule this for a dryer time of year (but not too cold).

Trip Leader: Ben (Capella_Ben)
Where: Sundown National Park (http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/sundown/index.html)
Campground: Burrows Waterhole (it has toilets)
Costs: Camping must be booked and paid for on the DERM website (see link above)
Standard: Blue Square
Meeting location: Aratula Shell at 9:00am (last one there has to write up the trip report)
UHF: Channel 13.

There should be some 4WDing getting in there and a little while we are there. I will be bringing the camper trailer and should get it in OK. The DERM website does say that caravans over 4m will have trouble, so no 5th wheelers please.

While we are there, we can go for a bushwalk it Giraween National Park as there is some excellent short bush walks there to the granite topped mountains. We can also go for a bit of a drive along the "Granite Country" trip from the Dirty Weekends book.

Hope you can come along!

Dave · Post by **Dave** » April 14th, 2012, 2:02 am

Howdy .... We'll come along, and be there for the camping too. We have been in the area a few times, but only camping the in summer time. The temperature can get really low there (and that's in summer too). I'll bring our trailer and half fill it with firewood, but are open fires allowed? They say "Fuel or gas stoves recommended", so does this mean open fires are allowed - but not recommended?

I can recommend the walk to the Pyramids (as Ben mentioned), though a rope to tie up the kids is best if walking up to the top. The whole walk from the car park is only 30 minutes in one direction, followed by another 30 minutes of sight-seeing at the top. A walk through Granite arch is also good. For the more adventurous, a walk along the granite creek beds is great too.

The walk up to Bare Rock is also good, but recommend the long way around up the back. The direct route is steep, and if you slip, you may rub off all your skin before you come to a stop.

Did the non-drivers say "wine tasting"? My kids know all the best wineries (you know - the ones that sell ice-creams too).

cuboid · Post by **cuboid** » April 21st, 2012, 6:37 pm

Arie and I are planning on coming. Probably just for the Saturday night, however I am still trying to convince Arie to stay till Monday.

Capella_Ben · Post by **Capella_Ben** » April 23rd, 2012, 3:51 pm

To all those that are coming on this trip; you need to book and pay for your own camp permit from the DERM website.

Use the following info on the form:

Location: Sundown National Park
Campground: Burrows Waterhole camping area
Arrival date: 5/5/2012
Number of nights: 2

There is room for 60 camp sites there, so there should be plenty of room, but book early to avoid dissapointment.

louisrankin · Post by **louisrankin** » April 25th, 2012, 9:33 am

I am coming with the family campsite booked.

Louis

maverick01 · Post by **maverick01** » April 25th, 2012, 1:47 pm

We are going too and i have another mate coming along too. We have also booked but we will be arriving friday night

Capella_Ben · Post by **Capella_Ben** » April 28th, 2012, 8:53 pm

Looks like we are going to have a good turnout.

Remember we are going to Sundown not Sundowner. Sundowner is in South Africa.

Capella_Ben · Post by **Capella_Ben** » April 29th, 2012, 7:02 pm

Dave wrote:I'll bring our trailer and half fill it with firewood, but are open fires allowed? They say "Fuel or gas stoves recommended", so does this mean open fires are allowed - but not recommended?

On their web site in "Essentials to bring" section it says to bring firewood. I read that as we can have fires!

For those on 4x4 Earth, here is some more info on the track in. It's a bit old but should be good.
http://www.4x4earth.com.au/tracks.html? ... onal-Park-

Dave · Post by **Dave** » April 30th, 2012, 12:58 am

For those with smart phones (lol - sorry, for those with Andriod phones), I have created a map of the area for the ORUX Maps application. It's a free application that allows you to record you route on off-line and on-line maps. It's now probably the best GPS app on the market, and it's free.

Anyway, if you install the app on your phone, I can share the off-line map. It covers the surrounding national parks.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » April 30th, 2012, 1:59 am

Wow - I just checked the availability of the campsite. Only 10 sites of 60 remain as of Monday morning. I can only assume some other 4x4 group is planning an outting at this site, since the other sites barely have a booking.