Brisbane Forest Park and 32km Hike

Right now... I'm freaking exhausted writing this post.. Reason's pretty obvious eh.. Well about a month plus ago, Bryan and I came up with this idea to go on food hunts. Basically we hunt for nice restaurants around Brisbane which serves great breakfasts, and instead of taking public transport, we walk there regardless the distance. Part exploring, part exercise, part food. Perfecto!!! Today's hike was truly the climax, first being the longest distance we ever walked, (hell... we probably hold the record of longest distance hiked by Singaporeans in Brisbane), and the objective was not food, but to get in touch with nature. Oh and did i mention we carried weights in our back packs?

This morning, I woke up at about 6.30am, packed my bag and got ready.. Set off at around 7.30am towards Coles supermarket to stock up on food and have some light breakfast. For some time now, we have been following the Primal Diet (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-primal-blueprint/). Basically we follow the eating habits of our primal ancestors. Meat, loads of vegetables and little or no grains. How effective is it? Just follow the link to the website and you can see a picture of the founder Mark Sisson. Oh and he's almost 60 btw. But i digress.... With our packs well stocked its off for the 32KM Hike!!!

Its amazing what you encounter along such hikes. One of which is the crazy as hell steep slopes ever so present in Brisbane.




The slopes above are just one of the many fiendishly steep slopes we had to conquer... But conquer we did... While we walk, Bryan and I chat about anything under the sun literally... Helps keep the fatigue away too. You talk about how c**k the streets here are, how nice the view is... Even the houses. Boy... there sure are a lot of variety of house along our journey.




Some are so clean and new looking, others look abandoned. But our favourites are those houses you see on a hilltop. Imagine overlooking all... Wat a sight!!! We also came across the Gap Tavern. Seems like it was famous for its food and ambiance, just that we were not fated to try it out today... ah well...



Oh and on the way, we saw this jogger running with his two dogs, so garang sia.. run across the street acting so tough. The moment he crossed, the leash got entangled and he tripped.... Lol not that i'm evil but its freakin hilarious!!! So much for looking so tough eh... Best of all the roads were all clear and no one would have seen it.... Just so happen we were there hahaha.. On and on we continued along waterworks road (aka f**king long road) we finally reached our destination. Distance travelled so far? 13km, which is the furthest we have hiked previously, and this was not even half way!!



After a short break its off to the trail!!! 5km long... T_T but the view was amazing.. The trail led us around the reservior and then on a loop.. It was pretty amazing and we got some pretty nice shots.. The river shadow one being the masterpiece XD....






Walking around the reservior, we cannot help but wonder... what if there are crocodiles... Lol.. the thought of being pulled into the water and having to fight for my life flashed through my mind... Not exactly something I intend to experience.... I'm no crocodile dundee.... Some way through the trail, we met up with a teacher and a group of kids.. As we walked passed them, we suddenly heard "Hey boys where are you going!!!" We turned around, and saw some of the boys following us... haha so cute.... human reflex i suppose... The trail was easy, considering the hills we had travelled thus far... Total distance travelled? 18km... Boy our legs screamed.. haha but the feeling was great... Had our lunch, and started our way back home...

Along the way towards the nature reserve, we spotted a ice cream parlour called IceMeister (too bad their site's not up yet or i would have placed the link) It was closed and will open at 2pm when we first passed it by. It then became a target we MUST visit on the return trip... Low and behold, when we arrived, it was opened and was beckoning us to enter... Enter we did... Seems its an award winning ice cream joint which serves European ice cream.. They even have ice cream spaghetti and steak ice cream (imagine that..)!!



The one on the right was mine... BLACK FOREST SUNDAE!!!! Pure heaven... Chocolate ice cream with REAL forest berries topped with whipped cream.. The bottom? Berry juice!!! Mmmm...mmmmm it was de..... wait for it... licious!!! Best ice cream i've ever tasted.... Now comes the funny part. The owner came over and had a chat with us. "So which suburb you guys from?", "Oh St Lucia"... "Wow!! That's very far.. You took the bus?" "Hahaha no we walked.... part of training.." lol.. "Whoa!!! what do you carry in your bag?" (pointing at my backpack) "Oh some weights.... part of training".. haha actually i said weights... but in actual fact? Its a freaking MAHJONG SET!!! Yes... and no im not crazy... its the only thing that was heavy enough and not bulky enough... and i was lugging it the entire journey... Imagine the surprise on the show owners face... Ice Meister makes ice cream cakes too... I'm so intending to get one for my mom when my parents come over to Brisbane for my graduation.. After devouring our sundaes, its on with the journey.. I'm not sure if it was the ice cream providing us with the energy, or was it a fact that the return journey had more down slopes, but it seemed like we walked way faster than in the morning... We even managed to reach home around 5+pm... Boy was it an achievement...



The moment we saw the stairs leading home... I ran towards it and splat!!! Lay flat on the floor... Hahah I felt like i won the amazing race!! Lol man were my feet sore.. Its been a while since i walked this distance... Gosh will i remember this for life!!! Total distance travelled?? 32km...