Panorama Point

23 July 2005

Nine members met at Aratula early on a Sunday morning. After a car shuffle and me spending ten minutes trying to arrange 5 people plus seatbelts in my new car, we headed over Cunningham's Gap to Swan Creek.

We parked our cars on the side of a dirt road and began walking up a side track. We crossed over a step gully with a small creek to get to a better ridge and began our walk up to Davies Ridge. The walk took us along a narrow ridge with gentle sloping open forest on one side and a steep drop with rainforest on the other. Spectacular!

On top of Davies Ridge we had a morning tea stop but after a few minutes when we noticed one of our members was missing. After a few loud shouts, our errant walking member returned to the fold. He had lost sight of us and had begun walking in the opposite direction!

We could see Panorama Point in the distance and a fair way up. However the trudge uphill was alleviated by the spectacular views along the way. We took our time admiring the view and eventually reached the cliff line at the base of Panorama Point. Here we found various different methods of scrambling up this steep section and made it to the top.

At the top we were enthralled by three wedgetail eagles using the thermals and gliding in ever increasing circles above us. From our vantage spot we had views to Lizard Point, Mt Barney and way in the distance, sometimes obscured by cloud, Mt Warning.

The way back was enjoyable as it was mostly downhill, and all too soon we were aback at the cars. An afternoon coffee break at Aratula ended a perfect day for walking.

Many thanks to Dave for putting on this walk. Richard