Mt Barney Lodge has earned statewide recognition for its first ever adventure festival, winning the Outdoor Event Award at the 2021 Outdoor Queensland Awards.
The inaugural Scenic Rim Adventure Festival was in March 2021 and plans are under way for the 2022 event.
Due to Covid, the 2021 awards were presented via Zoom meeting on 29 October.
Mt Barney Lodge owners Innes and Tracey Larkin rose to the occasion, comically wearing black tie formal attire up top, for the Zoom meeting, and hiking pants below.
Anticipation was strong for the award, with Outdoor Queensland sending a sealed box in the post and leaving it a mystery as to whether the box contained the winner’s trophy.
Mt Barney Lodge kept the top-secret box in their office cupboard for a week before the virtual awards night and streamed the opening of the parcel on Facebook live.
The Larkins congratulated fellow locals, trail running and mountain biking event company, On the Edge Events, who were also finalists in the Outdoor Event Award category.
Mrs Larkin said it was a thrill to win.
“The dynamic Outdoor Leader adventure team at Mt Barney Lodge allow this event to be a possibility, as their excellent outdoor skills and interpretation are the backdrop to the wide array of guided mountain walks and activities that attracted visitors,” she said.
“Jess and Kate went above and beyond the call of duty, and did an amazing job of pivoting the entire adventure program on the very first night after heavy rain made hiking on the peaks impossible for the weekend.
“The adventure festival was also supported by the many guest speakers, trade stall holders, food vans, volunteers and numerous others who believed in the initial concept and who good-naturedly tolerated the weather conditions of the weekend.
“And most of all, thank you to the guests who booked with us or dropped in for a day and made the event concept come alive.”
The 2022 Scenic Rim Adventure Festival will be on 29 April to 1 May. For more information, visit www.mtbarneylodge.com.au/scenic-rim-adventure-festival.
