D'Aguilar National Park and Rejuvenation

Off to a good start to 2021 with a couple of days of resting and loafing around home, followed by a day trip to D'Aguilar National Park with my husband yesterday. 

We were aiming for the Greenes Falls track, beginning from another track circuit out of the Maiala picnic and day-use area. I had heard a lot about Mt. Glorious from friends who enjoy motorcycling in the area, and knew it wasn't that far to travel for some picturesque hiking as well.
From our place on the southside of Brisbane, it was only an hour's drive to Maiala, in Brisbane's north west. It was clearly signed and easy to access the carpark and facilities. It was also very busy! We arrived just after noon and there was a mixture of people finishing their walking and just getting started. We had packed some snacks in the car so had a bite to eat before heading off.

Greenes Falls track is a 4.3 km return track that begins from the Rainforest Circuit track, which is a 2 km loop. The four kilometre distance includes the part of the circuit track where you begin. We planned to see how we felt once we reached the Greenes Falls lookout at the end of the track, before deciding if we should add on the extra small circuit, Cypress Grove at 350m, plus come back on the Rainforest Circuit the slightly longer way to complete the loop. Spoiler - we walked all three tracks so ended up with about a 4.7 - 4.8 km hike. Perfect for post holiday season exercise! 

Despite the number of people out and about, we spotted lots of wildlife on this walk. Three pademelons (they are gorgeous) and three skinks sunning themselves near the track. One was a big, fat black skink, similar in size to a blue-tongued lizard but we have no idea what it was. The two smaller skinks we figured out were Murray's skinks, native to the rainforest regions of south east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The Greenes Falls track was a Grade 3, meaning stair sections with some hills but well signposted, which we found to be true. The grades are based on the most difficult section of the track, although not the whole track has to be the same grade. Other than a few stair sections, Greenes Falls was a relatively easy up and down track, with some lovely boardwalk sections to help preserve the surrounding environment. Boardwalks are great because they protect the landscape and they also give hikers a break from the uneven terrain. I don't mind short sections of boardwalk but do prefer to walk on tracks.

All in all, a great day out visiting a couple of tracks in one of Brisbane's largest and closest national parks. There's lots of other day-use areas and tracks that we can check out in the future. D'Aguilar also has a few reserves on its boundaries, like Mt. Coot-tha (the extreme south end) and Enoggera Reservoir. 
Driving to Maiala took us through Samford, which also has a conservation park and what looked to be small walking areas at a few spots alongside Mt. Glorious Road. We didn't drive along Mt. Nebo Road, but as that goes through the national park I bet there are plenty of walks in that section to discover too. 

Now to the second part of my blog post, rejuvenation.

I'm a fan of choosing a 'word of the year' to help anchor you to any goals you may have or any focus areas you'd like to spend time working on. I had a lot of good things happen in 2020, but like everyone else, plenty of bad things too. I certainly did not stay on track for my goals and preferred lifestyle and habits.

So for 2021, my word of the year is 'rejuvenate'. I want to spend the year focusing back on healthy routines and habits, rejuvenating my connection to myself and to my loved ones. Spending time in nature yesterday really helped me settle on this word as the feeling I get when hiking is just the feeling that I'd like to get back to this year.

For hiking, this means making more of an effort to get out monthly, whether to a new track or revisiting places I already know and love. For my craft, this means spending more time creating from resources I have to hand and enjoying the learning process. I'd like to spend this year consuming less, and more mindfully, which will help reconnect me to the sustainable practices that I have let slip over the last few months.

I'm looking forward to continuing to post about my hikes, and this year I aim to also add a few craft project posts as well as I haven't done any of those yet. Let's see what else the year will bring.