Spicers Retreat have a 4 day Hike along the Scenic Rim which is located in the south-eastern part of Queensland, Australia. A total of 60kms of hiking over 4 days with the trails being a mix of Grades 4 and 5.
This hike includes, 4 nights accommodation in their lodges / eco cabins, all meals prepared by Spicer’s in house chefs and all alcohol…
Day 1…. 12km hike!
Spicers Hidden Vale to Spicers Mt Mistake Farmhouse
12 km hike! Yep why not, lets just get straight into it… ekkkkk
I was up early, super exited yet a little nervous about the unknown. A long shower and a last minute hair wash and blow dry just in case I don’t get a chance over the next 4 nights lol. I repacked my bag and added another jacket in just in case…. and yes I did pack my hair dryer lol. We had 2 separate bags. Our day pack which we had to carry and another bag for our clothes which were being transported to our first nights accommodation.
We had to pre order our breakfast the night before to eat at 7am.
After breakfast we all gathered out the front of the reception area. There were 11 of us in our group with 2 tour guides. Within our group was, my husband and I, my brother & sister in law, another couple from Sydney and a group of 5 beautiful ladies…. I laugh a little when they said that just bought brand new boots… hmmm lets hope no blisters from new boots!
We completed our briefing and got to know each other. What a loud bunch we are lol.
We jumped in our 4wd mini bus for a 20 minute drive to our starting point. After a quick toilet stop, we cleaned our boots and our hiking poles to ensure we don’t carry any diseases or fungus into the National Park, then we were off.
The first third of the day hike was quite up hill… and that was putting it nicely. Let’s get real… it was uphill… zig zagging up the hill… some rock scrambling and a lot of sweating lol
We walked approx 3kms with 309 metre elevation having a couple of stops of the way to “admire the view” or secretly to have a breather lol we stopped on the path for morning tea, which gave our guides time to go and prepare “the ladder”.
Hmmmmmm the ladder… 16m high… straight up… don’t look down!
Ok so I didn’t feel scared at all… to start with… until I got almost to the top. I have no idea why all of a sudden I got concerned but hey I had to climb to the top… there was no other option!!!
At the top the view was stunning. You could see all the way to Brisbane. This is where we stopped for lunch. Spicers had packed all our snacks, lunch and drinks. A simple meat and salad wrap, trail mix, banana bread, Mandarine, protein balls plus tea, coffee, hot chocolates. Definitely not going hungry that’s for sure.
So our guide informed us that we had completed the hardest part of the day and the steepest…. Soooo off we went… hmmm he lied, it was steep and just as bad as earlier lol. Deep inside I’m glad he fibbed a little as I was excited to get moving again with a bit of bounce in my step thinking it was going to be easy 😂🤣
The first section was hard, but not too hard. Manageable but looking into the distance for the flat section type of hard lol.
We eventually made it to the top, 750 metres elevation, then we weaved around the top to arrive at our first night accommodation at 3:30pm, Mt Mistake Farmhouse.
Upon arrival we were greeted with hot towels and a drinks table! Now this is how a 12 km hike should end.
Ok so I didn’t feel scared at all… to start with… until I got almost to the top. I have no idea why all of a sudden I got concerned but hey I had to climb to the top… there was no other option!!!
At the top the view was stunning. You could see all the way to Brisbane. This is where we stopped for lunch. Spicers had packed all our snacks, lunch and drinks. A simple meat and salad wrap, trail mix, banana bread, Mandarine, protein balls plus tea, coffee, hot chocolates. Definitely not going hungry that’s for sure.
So our guide informed us that we had completed the hardest part of the day and the steepest…. Soooo off we went… hmmm he lied, it was steep and just as bad as earlier lol. Deep inside I’m glad he fibbed a little as I was excited to get moving again with a bit of bounce in my step thinking it was going to be easy 😂🤣
The first section was hard, but not too hard. Manageable but looking into the distance for the flat section type of hard lol.
We eventually made it to the top, 750 metres elevation, then we weaved around the top to arrive at our first night accommodation at 3:30pm, Mt Mistake Farmhouse.
Upon arrival we were greeted with hot towels and a drinks table! Now this is how a 12 km hike should end.
We went inside and got set up in our rooms. Each room had its own ensuite and after a long hike the hot shower was the ultimate climax to end of the day!
After a shower, we all gathered down stairs, a full fridge and we ate freshly made scones with jam and cream. That was about 4:30pm, then at 5pm we were given more food to eat… a delicious Charcuterie board.
One thing for sure with Spicers there is always more food coming lol.
Now let’s talk dinner… Overnight braised Lamb with fermented garlic honey and oregano. Twice cooked Potatoes Zhong yoghurt plus fresh herb. Capsicum, lentils, mixed with house made olive tapenade with buffalo feta. Radicchio with pink lady apples, oranges, walnuts dill mint and ginger pear dressing.
I thought I would have to get someone to carry me upstairs to my room as I ate so much.. hmmm Michael???? My eyes were totally closing as I was so tired… thinking ok it’s only 7pm so think of an excuse to go upstairs and go to bed…. Then BAM… they serviced us desert!
WTF… seriously more food!!!
Apple pie with salted butter caramel home made Ice Cream was my choice…
Ok so now at this point I’m thinking perhaps I may have to try and roll myself up a stair case… is that actually possible??? We move from the dining table back to the lounge area… where they had set up the table with chocolates and bottles of Baileys with ice!
Oh gosh… this is way too much for me… off to bed I go….
Check out Day 2 adventures here… Scenic Rim Trail 4 day Hike – Day 2
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