It’s that time of year again, and just about everyone is gearing up for the Easter long weekend and break. With Ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie having just knocked the socks off Queensland and Northern New South Wales there have been many park closures. This no doubt will be until the weather and flood waters subside, and any storm damage to tracks and amenities can be repaired.
Closures have at this stage affected national parks across both states, and also State Forests in New South Wales, and HQ Plantations in Queensland.
Noted from the HQ Plantations website, “All pine plantations in south-east and central Queensland state forests and on HQ Plantations freehold land have closed due to extremely heavy rainfall events. Affected plantation areas include the Fraser Coast, Elliott River, Beerburrum (including the Glasshouse Mountains), Mary Valley, Jimna, Yarraman, Pechey-Esk, Passchendaele, Byfield and Kalpowar areas.”
It is expected that these closures will be revisited this week for the coming easter break.
Regardless of the recent weather, all users of the parks should respect the parks and tracks within. As four wheel drivers, we are looked up to and unfortunately sometimes down at, based on our behaviour in the parks, especially so when it becomes more muddy than usual.
So before setting off on your Easter getaway this year, jump online and check to see whether the park you’re planning on visiting is indeed open, and the conditions of any roads you’re looking at travelling!
More info can be found at the below links and on their respective Facebook Pages.
NSW NPWS: http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/alerts/alerts-list
QLD Parks: https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/park-alerts/
Oh, and if you are going to be that guy that goes driving through flood waters, keep an eye out for the bull sharks. Yep. Really.
