The BVRT or, as it is better known, The Brisbane Valley Rail Trail is a 161 kilometre recreation trail which runs from Wulkuraka to Yarraman in Queensland, Australia. The trail follows the old Brisbane Valley railway line and is open to walkers, cyclists and horse riders. It is the longest rail trail in Queensland. Best not to tackle it all in one go then.
We planned to take the train to the southern starting point at Wulkuraka, about 1 hour from Brisbane, from there to ride to the next major point on the trail at Fernvale. This involves a change of trains at Ipswich.
Although there was a connecting train to Wulkaraka 30 minutes later we made the, in retrospect, disastrous decision to try and ride the 5 kilometres. Paul Heymans who runs the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Association advises against this due to the confusion of negotiating the Ipswich one way system. If only we had heeded his advice.
Once you arrive at Wulkaraka the trail is well signposted and starts right outside the station. The first few kilometres are paved and take you through some pleasant bushland skirting a few new housing developments before arriving at the start of the true off-road experience.
The trail was still perfectly rideable on our Leitner electric bikes and doesn’t really require a mountain bike although I would not recommend it for anyone with a road bike. Some sections were a bit rocky but for the most part it’s either compacted earth (so don’t attempt it after rain unless you like mud) or light gravel. There are also a number of cattle grids to stop the cows from wandering too far which can be daunting the first time you cross them.
We adopted a slow pace giving us time to enjoy the surroundings which, apart from the beautiful countryside and wildlife included a number of quaint memories from bygone days.
After about 2 hours of leisurely effort, we arrived at Fernvale and made our way to the legendary Old Fernvale Bakery and Cafe where we’d arranged to have lunch and recharge our bike batteries. While we waited for our delicious Aussie Burgers (it has beetroot in it) Tracy chatted with Bill Rose the affable owner who revealed himself to be the font of all knowledge about the town and surrounding area. He was also an early advocate for the creation of the trail.
After lunch we headed back along the trail to Wulkuraka station and home. Strangely there seem to be direct trains from Wulkaraka to the city although there are none (at least we could not find them) in the other direction. To avoid waiting we boarded the Ipswich train and after changing platforms at Ipswich took the train back to town enjoying a well-earned snooze along the way.
Next time we plan to stay the night in Fernvale and ride on the next day to Esk which is about the halfway point of the 161 km trail. Maybe one day we’ll do the whole thing!