Dularcha is an aboriginal word for a Blackbutt tree. I had never hear of this little National Park between Landsborough and Mooloolah Valley before which is at the base of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland an hour north of Brisbane. We were doing a house sit and looking for a short walk, this place sounded perfect. There were a few hiking options but we just chose a flat four kilometre out and back to see the old railway tunnel. The trail was actually on the old train line north and the National Park was declared back in 1890s so passengers on the train could see some of the Queensland forest.The new train line is right next to the old one for the first section.There was a bypass for the tunnel which also linked up to another track.There was a bat colony inside the tunnel but it was hard to get a photo of them.The tunnel was built in 1891 and disused in the 1930s It just does not look that old I suppose it all the graffiti that makes it look almost modern. It must of taken a long time to build by hand. Seems a shame that it was not used for very long, I think in the old days Queensland was such a big place with such a small population that all the train lines were all independent and different and it was not long before they needed a uniformed state wide system.Just under 100 metres long there would not have been much spare room with a train in here.A very nice bit of Australian bush but there was a fair bit of weed closer to town.An old piece of rail just rusting away slowly.The only real wild life we saw but I bet there was plenty more about earlier and later in the day.
