Report on Outing to Muntapa Tunnel and Palms National Park - August 2019

On a mild, sunny winter’s day, 17 Field Nats members drove out towards Cooyar and met at the Muntapa Tunnel, just outside Cooyar. The tunnel is 287 metres long and is the longest straight railway tunnel in Queensland. The railway was developed for dairy farming, pig farming and the transport of coal and was completed in 1912 and officially opened in 1913. On this outing, we were ably led by Diane Pagel and Dougal Johnston.

South-western entrance

Dougal, who is a geologist, began by telling us that the location of the car park is, more or less, the highest part of the Great Dividing Range in this area, with one end sloping away to the east and the other towards the west. The actual area of the tunnel was chosen because the material was soft and therefore easier to tunnel through. He also pointed out the soil nearby, which was whitish, and had very little nutrient in it. The terrain is rocky and sparsely vegetated, comprising mostly of eucalyptus woodland. Having heard the story of the tunnel from Jan Veacock and having read two excellent information boards, we went along a track towards the south-western entrance of the tunnel. As we walked along a track at the bottom, which would once have been railway tracks, Dougal pointed out the variety of geological formations to be seen: volcanic agglomerate, and Marburg sandstone with volcanic rock on top. As Dougal mentioned, the rock in the tunnel cutting is mostly agglomerate of the Nutgrove Volcanic member. It is full of frag-ments like conglomerate, with many boulders of older meta-morphic rock caught up in it. As we approached the concreted tunnel through the semi-elliptical entrance (and the tunnel itself was of this shape), our voices disturbed the Bent-wing bats that were roosting inside, and we could see them flying around silhouetted by the light from the south-eastern entrance.

At morning tea break, Jan Veacock gave a brief history of the railway in the area - that it was 63 kilometres long from Oakey to Cooyar, that the Muntapa Tunnel was the only tunnel to pass underneath the Great Dividing Range. The height of the Range at Peranga is 459 metres, at the summit it is 646 metres and at Cooyar, 436 metres. The gradient was 1:55.

Rocks in the tunnel cutting (photo: Dougal Johnstone)

After morning tea, the Field Nats walked to the south-eastern entrance, down a specially constructed staircase. On the way, we stopped at the “once-was-Bake House”, and the School; only the perimeter logs seemed to have survived. Once again, on the way to the entrance, Dougal was able to give us a little talk on the geology of the area leading to the entrance. There was evidence of tuff in the cutting, as well as rocks which looked pitted but were the result of the softer material weathering over time. Either we had approached the entrance more quietly or the Bent-wing bats had got used to us, we did not see them flying around from the end of the tunnel. But at this entrance there was a stronger smell of bat droppings.

By the time we climbed back to the carpark, we were ready for some lunch that the Cooyar Pub was going to provide for us. At the Pub we were joined by Neil and Helen McKilligan, and the level of noise in our section of the dining room was ample evidence that members had a lot to talk about.

Piccabeen palms (photo: D. Johnstone)

After lunch we drove out of Cooyar to the Palms National Park, which is a tiny patch of remnant rainforest, full of tall piccabeen palms. Before the walk, Glenda Walter showed us photographs of the many fungi she had seen in the Park during a wet period. She warned us not to expect the same during this very dry period.

Small groups of members did the 650-metre circuit walk which led us past a waterlogged depression where the palms ruled. Along the track there was a magnificent 300-year old Grey Gum and some Bunya pines towering above all others. A noticeable feature that afternoon was the lack of bird sounds or any other form of wildlife. It seemed that ‘the dry’ might have affected the birds (or perhaps we were there at the wrong hour). On our return, Jan Veacock informed us that in November 1955, the Field Nats had reported sighting 52 birds, but on another trip in June 2004, only nine were sighted. Our trip was in early August and we saw very few birds also – six (see the list below): perhaps that should remain as our explanation!

After the walk people began to disperse, some making their way home immediately, others sat around at the Park for another cup of tea before departing for home. A very full and varied day it was, all thanks to Diane Pagel, Dougal Johnston, Jan Veacock and Glenda Walter.

(Report by Francis Mangubhai, with assistance from Dougal Johnston) 

Bird Lists compiled by Francis Mangubhai

Muntapa Tunnel: Fantail Cuckoo (heard), Noisy Miner, Rufous Whistler (heard), Striated Pardalote (heard), Magpie

The Palms National Park: Bar-shouldered Dove (heard), Lewin’s Honeyeater, Kookaburra, Yellow Robin, Pied Butcherbird, Thornbill.