The 'Stinson Walk' follows
the path taken by Bernard O'Reilly in 1937 when he set out
to investigate the possibility that a missing Stinson trimotor plane had crashed
on the
Lamington Plateau in the MacPherson ranges QLD, and not further south off the
coast
as everyone had thought. His hunch not only proved correct, but saved the
lives
of two survivors of the crash who had been in the inhospitable
rainforest for 10 days,
waiting for a rescue they doubted would ever come.(1)
There are a number of
walks in this area (2). The Stinson walk begins at
O'Reilly's
and follows the graded National Park tracks to just near Echo Point, where
the blazed trails
then take you through thick rainforest. It ends at Christmas Creek near Westray's
Grave.
There are several spots to camp along the way and this walk is comfortable
over three days.
It requires navigational skills and permission from Queensland National Parks.
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(1) For a gripping
account of the Stinson accident and the rescue of the survivors, see Macarthur
Job's excellent
"Air Crash: The Story of How Australia's Airways were Made Safe"
Vol.1, Aerospace Publications, Australia, 1991, pp.96-109
(2) For basic
information on the Stinson walks, see Rob Blanch and Vince Kean's book
"Bushwalking in the Mount Warning Region, North East New South Wales,
South East Queensland", Kingsclear Books, 1989, pp.75-92
©2000 C.A.L., David Hood, Cameron Mills and Anne-Marie Mills
