Utopia Paradise

Over Easter I found myself between Paradise and Utopia. We put the camper in for a few nights at the Biggenden Caravan Park, appropriately called Mountain View. For those that don’t know, Mt. Walsh overlooks the small town of Biggenden. Only a modest mountain at 703 metres it appears to be a kind of magnet for bush walkers. While we were there around 30 others, who had either climbed or in the process of, appeared along the track. From what I could tell most weren’t local either. They weren’t there because it was an easy climb or to get their ‘I climbed Mt. Walsh’ t-shirts, it was for the challenge. A goat track made slippery with scud showers it is hardly what many think of when talking about tourist attractions. After completing the demanding climb, it was time to head further east to Utopia for a swim. As in life finding utopia is difficult; without studying the road map Utopia Rockpools was no different. No road signs indicated its existence yet when we finally found it we were lucky to get a parking space. How in the world I thought this many people knew of its existence and how to get here? Again, not just locals, foreign languages could be heard, along with the screams of kids jumping into the pools. Maybe not everyone’s utopia, but it is a beautiful spot. Now head west to find Paradise. There was a well marked all bitumen way to get there, but where is the challenge in that, the dirt back roads in my mind would make a more interesting way to get to Paradise. Feeling lucky on Mount Shamrock Road we easily came across Paradise Road that led us to Paradise Dam. Submerging much of the former gold mining town of Paradise, the dam kept the name. An interpretative loop at the lookout researched by grade 4 to 7 students from nearby Dallarnil school told much about the dam, the former town and its inhabitants. While based at Biggenden we also saw the Coalstoun Craters, Chowey Bridge, the upside-down bridge, went up Mt. Debatable for the view over Gayndah, checked out Mingo Crossing, went to Woowoonga National Park and dipped our toes in Ban Ban Springs. Despite the lack of highway signs, at nearly all these spots there were other tourists doing likewise. It got me thinking how important a GPS is, the internet and getting good content on it. Who needs street signs? Also got thinking could Mt. Morgan provide a similar adventure holiday base experience like Biggenden. To me Mt. Morgan is a gem just waiting to be rediscovered by tourists. The product is all there, arguably it needs help to develop more resources online and off-line to help promote it. Biggenden indicates there is a market of people who want to explore; travel the back roads, climb mountains, find remote rock pools, photograph old bridges. Mt. Morgan offers similar experiences. Their Golden Mount Festival is on May 4-7. A good time to not just do a day trip, but book into the caravan park and explore the area. We can tend to overlook the treasures in our own backyard. Help Mount Morgan get more good content on the internet by creating websites and/or posting on social media. A Mt. Morgan back roads web site with good relevant local content could prove very interesting to many potential adventure tourists.