Trip Report: The coastal path, Kingaroy to Rail Trail Loop
​Route: Brisbane → Glasshouse mountains → Noosa → Gympie → Kilkivan → Kingaroy → BVRT → Brisbane
Distance: 619 km | Duration: 8 Days
Crew: 1 Human, 1 Whippet (Badger) in a trailer
Bike set up: Merida Silex 400, Aeroe pannier rack, Ortlieb 40L panniers, Ortlieb 6L framebag, Allen dog carrier trailer. About 50kg of weight.
Sleep System: Hammock
​Trip Overview
Whilst most of the route was not official or too well connected, it offered a mix of coastal scenery, rugged hinterland climbs, and Australia's longest rail trails. Traveling with a dog presented unique challenges, mostly ensuring Badger stayed cool, and climbing hills.
The Moreton Bay bikeway provided a great start north to Kippa-Ring, then over to the Caboolture to Wamuran rail trail. The Glasshouse mountains provided a tricky connection to the coast with lots of hills and wild terrain. The coastal route from Buderim to Noosa was amazing, very scenic and a great tailwind. Noosa to Gympie was mixed, with some busy roads and mountain bike routes. We were lucky enough to have a friend take us from Gympie to Kilkivan, it was the sketchiest section with only busy and unsafe roads connecting. Kilkivan was the start of the rail trails, which was the best for towing a heavy trailer as the slopes were often less than 3 degrees gradient. Kilkivan to Murgon was probably the worst section, rough tracks with lots of weeds and gates (a major pain with a trailer). Murgon to Kingaroy was a bitumen bliss, like riding on a road that you have to yourself. The Kingaroy to Yarraman link (the section that connects the two official rail trails) was the worst, busy roads and sections of rutted out, rough, steep tracks. At Yarraman the BVRT was unpaved but really well maintained. Cattle grids seperated paddocks and made it easy to pass through without gates.
It was my first time bikepacking so a few kinks needed to be worked out but overall a great trip! Not sure I'd be in a hurry to travel again with that much weight for so long, but the company was well worth it.
by andehboston
10 Comments
Thanks for sharing the photos, looks beautiful. And your dog looks very happy!
Heck yeah, I have done the BRVT from Brisbane and back again a couple of times and really enjoyed it. After camping the first time around I now just stay at the pubs along the way rather than camp as it’s surprisingly cheap and you can’t beat the convenience of cold beer on tap.
Thanks for the report, I would love to try this extended version of the BRVT. Also photo 10 is just absolutely adorable.
Nice one!
Brilliant! Tell me please how difficult is it to pull the trailer with the dog inside. I’m planning a 5000km tour this year and i want to take my Malamute with me, he would pull the bike, but when he gets tired, I would put him in the trailer so he can rest. So I’m wondering if that would work
Fuck yeah dude. Adventure! Well played.
I’m currently touring this area and can’t wait to head up to those rail trails! Looks beautiful!
PS: Little tip for phone pictures that you may not care about… In your camera app, choose the 4:3 aspect ratio when taking pictures. At the moment, your viewfinder fills your entire phone screen but it’s just cropping the sensor to achieve this. It looks like it extends the image when it fills the screen, but it doesn’t. You’re losing out on gorgeous scenery in your pictures by shooting like this! 🙂
Good On ya m8!
Love that Ortlieb even has its users half the world away. Went to straya for the oasis concert from germany in october, loved the country
That’s one happy dog!
That looks like a great ride. I’ve ridden some of those areas but never thought of connecting them like that. Whippet looks like they’re loving life too 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Is your bike a Merida Silex?