Westray's Grave and Christmas Creek Track

Post

Subscribe

Posted 2014-09-15 by Roy Chambers ⇒ follow

Lamington National park is not just a place of great beauty and lookouts, it is also the location of a legendary plane crash and rescue in 1937. While hiking to the crash site itself is a grueling 12 hour hike an easier option is to hike to Westray's Grave, the place where one of the initial survivors who later died before rescue is buried.

The Stinson Crash

The stuff of Queensland legend, in 1937 a Stinson Airliner had crashed on a flight from Brisbane. With many people believing the plane had crashed somewhere over New South Wales no search had been conducted in the Lamington Area until Bernard O'Reilly heard the news one week after the crash and set off in search of the crash site based on a hunch.

He found two survivors at the crash site and was told another man, Jim Westray, had also survived and set off down the nearly sheer bluffs to Christmas Creek where his body was found. Jim Westray is buried by Christmas Creek. Visiting his grave lets you witness this incredibly rugged country where O'Reilly walked without tracks to rescue the plane crash survivors.

This hike takes you along the beautiful Christmas Creek on one of the few tougher hikes in Lamington National Park. It is also the start of much harder hikes such as Larapinta Falls, Stinson Crash Site and Point Lookout Peak.

The start of the hiking is easy to find, simply drive to the end of Christmas Creek Road where there is a small car park. You will walk through private property to the actual start of the track. Please make sure you shut the gate to the property behind you.

The first challenge is a creek crossing that is little difficult when the weather is dry but more difficult after there has been rain. There is also an option to cross a little further upstream using a fallen tree trunk.

After the creek crossing the path stays on that same side of the creek. This is a lovely creek walk with small waterfalls, pools suitable for swimming and rain forest.

Beyond Westray's Grave the path becomes much more difficult and harder to follow with many creek crossing and rock hopping, with little defined path. You should only consider continuing if you are well prepared for the tougher hiking.

Note: This is a Australian Hiking Standard AS5 hike. It is not particular difficult and much of the hike is flat on a well defined path but rugged path, however there is one difficult creek crossing, some scrambling and places where the path is hard to follow with no sign posts. However it is difficult to become lost because you are hiking along the bottom of a steep valley so it is impossible to actually take the wrong route without climbing up near vertical bluffs. Make sure though you are well prepared and have topographic maps. You can get topographic maps online for free from QTopo .