Bunya Mountains
Mountain area that is historically significant to Aborigines
Access
The Bunya Mountains can be reached by travelling from either Toowoomba through Jondaryan and Quinalow, or from Dalby, Kingaroy or Nanango. If you are towing a caravan you should take the Dalby route. Travel from Brisbane to Dalby and then the 25 kilometres to Kaimkillenbun. From Kaimkillenbun travel onto the Bunya Mountains via Yamson for a distance of 30 kilometres. There are some sections of gravel in this route. The Kingaroy route is via Kumbia and then onto the Bunya Mountains. This route is 56 kilometres in length. If setting off from Toowoomba, travel the 44 kilometres to Jondaryan where you will see a turnoff to Quinalow and Maclagan. The Bunya Mountains are 65 kilometres from this turnoff. There are some sections of gravel in this road.
Activities
There are over 32 kilometres of walking track in the park that will take you to the various features of interest here. The Mount Kiangarow track, for example, is part of this system and leads to the highest point on the Bunya Mountains — Mount Kiangarow (1135). From the summit you will be able to look over the park and further on over the surrounding countryside. Another track is the Bunya Bunya Circuit. A self-guiding nature walk has been developed on this circuit to introduce you to the mountain — its history, its residents and its wildlife. There is a brochure keyed to trail-side markers that is available from the Ranger Station. This is one of the many printed brochures that have been published by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. During Christmas and other holiday periods, ranger-led walks, campfire programs and special children’s activities are offered. Details of these are available at the park during these times.
History
There is a lot of myth and legend attached to the recorded history of the Aboriginal’s usage of the Bunya Mountains. Most of our present knowledge has been gained from the writings of early pioneers and these of course are often suspect due to the prejudices of that time. We do know however that the mountains were used by the surrounding Aboriginal tribes of the lowlands —the Kaiabara, Jarowai and Dalla. None of these tribes lived on the mountain as the bitterly cold winds and constant moisture would have made life quite unbearable. On an average of every three years the bunya pine (Araucaria bidwillii), which is the large tree with the dome-shaped crown, produces a crop of cones known as bunya nuts. According to historians the Bunya Mountains were the scene for the ‘bonye bonye’ feast, where Aborigines forgot their old tribal feuds and journeyed to eat these bunya nuts. Each local Aboriginal owned two or three of these bunya pines and this ownership was passed from father to son. Only the owner was permitted to climb his own trees and he did so by cutting notches into the tree.
The European history of the Bunya Mountains began in earnest in 1878 when the entire mountain was opened up for selection. Sawmillers arrived to log red cedar ( Toona australis), a valuable timber species which had virtually been cut out in other areas closer to settlements. Aborigines were still attending the bonye bonye feasts at this time, but soon stopped. Early logging operations were very hazardous because the bunya pine was regarded as being sacred. Many stories are told of unfortunate timber cutters who were beaten to death by Aborigines who were infuriated because in felling a tree a bunya pine had been damaged. Soon the Aborigines were gone and the way was open for the bunya pine to be logged. On 30 July 1908 however, the first section of Bunya Mountains National Parks was declared. This was the second national park declaration to be made in Queensland. Since that time further areas have been added to the park to bring it to its present size.
Features
The vegetation of Bunya Mountains is rather unusual. Large areas of the park are covered in rainforest of several types. Around the Dandabah camping area you will find an araucarian vine forest. This is a relatively open rainforest that is dominated by bunya pines. The rounded crowns of the bunya pine usually emerge above the canopy to give it a distinctive character. In the creeks below the camping area there are tree ferns. The two main types are the soft tree fern (Dicksonia antarctia) and the rough tree fern (Cyathea australis). The rough tree fern is by far the most common tree fern found on the mountain. Ferns reproduce by microscopic single-celled spores. These are housed on the underside of the ferns fronds in containers known as sori. Botanists use the structure and arrangement of these sori to identify ferns.
On the western and northern slopes of the mountain, the rainforest becomes drier and is dominated by bottletree (Brachychiion rupestre). If you continue further down from the bottletrec-dominated scrubs you will eventually encounter open forests that sometimes even have belah (Casuarina cristata) and brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) patches in them. These two plants are usually found in much drier areas to the west. Another species of pine found on the mountain is the hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii). Like bunya pine, the hoop pine crowns often emerge above the canopy. It differs from bunya pine though by having a less rounded crown and a darker, rougher bark.
Many of the animals found in the park arc nocturnal and so it is necessary to go out at night if you are to see them. Take a walk with the aid of a torchlight and you may encounter the Bunya Mountain ring-tailed possum (Pseudocheirus peregrinus rubidus). This is a reddish form of the common ring-tailed possum, only found on the Bunya Mountains. Another marsupial you may encounter is the short-eared brush-tailed possum ( Trichosaurus caninus) which seems to have lost much of its shyness of man. During the summer months the great barred frog (Myxophyes iteralus) can also be seen in the camping area. It has black bars on the insides of its back legs and emits a loud ‘wok’ or ‘quark’ call.