Day 99 - Sunday 29th August 2021 – Yeppoon to Isla Gorge NP
It was time to say goodbye to the Queensland coast, after 66 days on (or very close to) the coast. The weather has not been up to the standard we have experienced in earlier trips - but we are wearing shorts and not in COVID lockdown.
We drove out of the camp just after 8am. Our first stop was Mount Morgan, 80 km south west of Yeppoon. It was amazing how the lush coastal country changed into a drought stricken area over such a short distance. The Mount Morgan water catchment is at 8%, and they ship in 20 road tankers of water every day.
Mount Morgan Water Catchment
Mount Morgan has the distinction of opening the first 'High School' in Queensland - by one day.
Street art beside the oldest High school in Queensland
We had a look around, bought a coffee and a muffin, and checked out the "Running the Cutter" statue and the view of the mine from the lookout.
In memory of "Running the Cutter". It is said that when a miner finished
his shift, he would have a young lad run to a nearby hotel with his billycan,
have it filled with beer and brought back to him as he came off shift.
Above: Mount Morgan Mine SiteBelow: More Mount Morgan Street Art
Then we headed south to Banana, which incidentally does not have - or ever has had - any banana plants. A light-coloured bullock is responsible for the name. I took a photo of a memorial statue to Banana - a 'leader' before his time.
Banana - The Bull
Banana is a central town in the region called "Sandstone Wonders".
Although not on our direct path we deviated to Moura to see the street art and water tower art. It was worth the diversion. We had lunch in a park. Moura is quiet a nice town.
Above: Multiple views of the water towerBelow: Sstreet art in Moura
Moura sits on the 150 degree meridian (the imaginary lines that go from pole to pole). They have placed two sandstone rocks that each have a hole. The view through the two holes defined the 150 degree meridian.
Above: Shirley with her head on the meridian lineBelow: The two 'meridian' rocks
After lunch we continued on through Theodore to Isla Gorge National park, our camp site for the night. Theodore has one pub that is owned by the entire town - and has been since 1949.
Theodore Pub
We drove the 1.3 km off the highway into the Isla Gorge camping area and admired the view. I cooked a stew and we relaxed in the quiet - no close roads, no railway, no airport, no generators. Lots of Kookaborras. The sunset was impressive.
Sunset at Isla Gorge
It had been a beautiful day that had turned into a balmy evening.
his shift, he would have a young lad run to a nearby hotel with his billycan,
have it filled with beer and brought back to him as he came off shift.
Day 100 - Monday 30th August 2021 – Isla Gorge to Roma
Day 100 - Monday 30th August 2021 – Isla Gorge to Roma
I was up before dawn to see the sunrise. It was a lovely time of day but the photos do not do it justice.
We were on the road by 8:30 am and stopped at Lake Murphy Conservation Park. We walked across a lot of the dry baked lake bed - so the water was definitely very low. There were not any fish-loving birds so I guess all the fish were gone. However it was a lovely place for a walk, and a picnic, and to camp.
Lake Murphy
Some residents of Lake Murphy
Flowers Abundant at Lake Murphy
By the time we got to Taroom it was time for coffee and muffin and a chat to the locals. I took a photo of a couple of important landmarks in Taroom.
Left: Leichhardt Tree, in which the explorer carved his initials in 1844
Right: The Steel Wings Windmill - One of only two in existence
We pressed on to Roma - 170 km away. Along that road we saw one snake, two echidna, one blue tongue lizard, a mob of kangaroos and a flock of emus.
Left: Two of the emus who crossed our pathRight: A well camouflaged echidna
We had a look around Roma and refuelled the car, then pressed on - but only 10 km. We stopped at an excellent free camp beside a river. Later we chatted to a cattle farmer who has 30,000 acres about 90 minutes drive from where we stood.
Day 101 - Tuesday 31st August 2021 – Roma to Charleville
We were in bed early
so we were up early – for the last day of winter. Shirley decided that Roma
would be a good place to stock up on meat as home is in lockdown – and meat is
hard to select/buy online. So we retraced our steps 10 km to Woolworths – and
stocked up on some good Queensland meat. If we get put in quarantine we will
eat like Kings and Queens. Unfortunately, the beer, coke, ginger beer and tonic
water got the ‘chop’ – as the car fridge (Engel) will be on freeze for the trip
home.
On the way west I took
a photo of something that is common on Queensland – big red patches to show a
change in speed limit at the edge of a town. It is a great idea.
Above: Speed change indicatorBelow: Road west of Roma
We were passing lots
of crops that looked like barley, but eventually came to red dirt country. We had
passed through Muckadilla - which has a great looking pub – then Mitchell, and
on to Morven.
Shirley had found a
reference to Tregole National Park, which is the home of the Ooline
tree and their black orchids. We turned south (or left) at Morven and drove the
13 km to Tregole NP – a dryer and dustier site you could not imagine. As we
were there we decided to do the 2.5 km walk (which became 3 km) through stony
and wooded park – much of which is endangered - not the rocks, just the plants. Most of the trees looked stressed.
The walk became one of
the highlights of our trip. We saw many Ooline trees, Cork trees, Bitterbark
trees, Poplar box trees, Prickly Pine
trees, Sticky Hopbushes, Queensland Peppermint, Soap trees, Denhamia trees,
Soft Acalypha, Narrow-leafed bottle trees, Bottle trees, Fuchsia bushes, Silver-leaved
Ironbark (that glistened in the sun), Mulga trees, Wilga trees, a Peach Bush,
Belah tree, Yellowberry bush, False Sandalwood, Brigalow trees, Narrow-leaved
grey box tree, Gargaloo tree, Broom bush (appropriate name), Boonaree tree,
Vine tree AND many many black orchids (Cymbidium Canaliculatum) –
maybe 100+. Some were big, some were small, some in flower, some not.
We saw one Ooline tree
with 13 orchid plants – there might have been more. When you look at the
photos below please note that each individual orchid flower is probably smaller
than the nail on your little finger. We could not see them from the ground –
they were picked up by my camera.
The flower of the 'black orchid' - (Cymbidium Canaliculatum)
Shirley admiring multiple orchids on an Ooline tree.Note the flower stem hanging near the bottom of the plant.
Left: Sticky HopscotchRight: Flower on the Wilga Bush
Left: Clump of Ooline treesRight: Bottle tree
Left: Sun reflecting on the leaf of the Silver-leaved Ironbark treeRight: Broom BushVirtually all of the trees/bushes had small/narrow leaves - a feature of plants that survive in arid conditions. The photos do not do justice to the pleasure we had at Tregole National Park. We celebrated with an egg and salad roll for lunch.
As we passed back through Morven I took a photo of the house that had been built from flattened old kerosene tins.
Kerosene house
Just outside
Charleville we stopped at a great free camp site and took a photo of a
‘natural’ rock pool. In the middle of an arid area, was a rock pool. Weird?
We stopped for a while
in Charleville and booked a tour – details tomorrow – for tomorrow. We camped just south of Charleville at a great bush camp.
Our cooked-chook from
Roma hit the plate with some baked vegies for dinner. Under the stars it was 26
degrees at 6:30 pm – on the last day of winter.
Right: The Steel Wings Windmill - One of only two in existence
Day 101 - Tuesday 31st August 2021 – Roma to Charleville
We were in bed early
so we were up early – for the last day of winter. Shirley decided that Roma
would be a good place to stock up on meat as home is in lockdown – and meat is
hard to select/buy online. So we retraced our steps 10 km to Woolworths – and
stocked up on some good Queensland meat. If we get put in quarantine we will
eat like Kings and Queens. Unfortunately, the beer, coke, ginger beer and tonic
water got the ‘chop’ – as the car fridge (Engel) will be on freeze for the trip
home.
On the way west I took
a photo of something that is common on Queensland – big red patches to show a
change in speed limit at the edge of a town. It is a great idea.
We were passing lots of crops that looked like barley, but eventually came to red dirt country. We had passed through Muckadilla - which has a great looking pub – then Mitchell, and on to Morven.
Shirley had found a
reference to Tregole National Park, which is the home of the Ooline
tree and their black orchids. We turned south (or left) at Morven and drove the
13 km to Tregole NP – a dryer and dustier site you could not imagine. As we
were there we decided to do the 2.5 km walk (which became 3 km) through stony
and wooded park – much of which is endangered - not the rocks, just the plants. Most of the trees looked stressed.
The walk became one of
the highlights of our trip. We saw many Ooline trees, Cork trees, Bitterbark
trees, Poplar box trees, Prickly Pine
trees, Sticky Hopbushes, Queensland Peppermint, Soap trees, Denhamia trees,
Soft Acalypha, Narrow-leafed bottle trees, Bottle trees, Fuchsia bushes, Silver-leaved
Ironbark (that glistened in the sun), Mulga trees, Wilga trees, a Peach Bush,
Belah tree, Yellowberry bush, False Sandalwood, Brigalow trees, Narrow-leaved
grey box tree, Gargaloo tree, Broom bush (appropriate name), Boonaree tree,
Vine tree AND many many black orchids (Cymbidium Canaliculatum) –
maybe 100+. Some were big, some were small, some in flower, some not.
We saw one Ooline tree with 13 orchid plants – there might have been more. When you look at the photos below please note that each individual orchid flower is probably smaller than the nail on your little finger. We could not see them from the ground – they were picked up by my camera.
Virtually all of the trees/bushes had small/narrow leaves - a feature of plants that survive in arid conditions. The photos do not do justice to the pleasure we had at Tregole National Park. We celebrated with an egg and salad roll for lunch.
As we passed back through Morven I took a photo of the house that had been built from flattened old kerosene tins.
Just outside Charleville we stopped at a great free camp site and took a photo of a ‘natural’ rock pool. In the middle of an arid area, was a rock pool. Weird?
We stopped for a while in Charleville and booked a tour – details tomorrow – for tomorrow. We camped just south of Charleville at a great bush camp.
Our cooked-chook from
Roma hit the plate with some baked vegies for dinner. Under the stars it was 26
degrees at 6:30 pm – on the last day of winter.
Day 102 - Wednesday 1st September 2021 – Charleville to Cunnamulla
We had to be up and out at a reasonable time as we were scheduled for a tour of a date farm at 9 am. We had a fascinating 90 minutes of stories and date information. There are over 3000 types of dates. Places like Charleville are good for dates, particularly when your water supply is the never ending end product of the Charleville waste water processing plant.
We started with the stump of a tree that was apparently planted about the time that Charleville was founded - in the 1840's.
Experts can look at the rings on the tree and tell roughly when it suffered from fire or drought.
Rows of Date PalmsThe majority of the pollination is done manually by brushing the male flower, then transferring the pollen to the female flower with that brush. Bees also have a role to play, but they seem to be on 'work to conditions' rules and don't pull their weight.
Left: Male flower that provides the pollen (note the bees)Middle: Female flower still in its podRight: Female flower that is ready for pollination
(each stem in that bunch could have 10 dates)
The business in quite new and yet to be self-sustaining. The use of pre-loved waste water causes issue with its high salinity and other bacteria that cause algae. The farm owners are developing wet-lands with a mix of flora to try and 'cleanse' the water before it is used. Ducks and frogs could be seen and heard.
Man-made wetlands with man-planted reeds etc, to improve the water quality
We departed Charleville and headed south to Cunnamulla. after a lunch on the banks of the Warrego River we moved further south. Emus were common and a particular flock chose to make it hard for me. The following photo is from my dash cam. Normally emus head bush when you approach but this mob were keen on causing me grief.
If the guy on the left had moved right, or the guy in the middle had moved left, we would not have had sausages for dinner tonight. We passed both of them about one metre from both sides of the car.
We safely arrived in Cunnamulla and took a photo of the painted water tower.
Water tower from four directions
We arrived at our camp site for the night - again on the banks of the Warrego River - and relaxed.
We had to be up and out at a reasonable time as we were scheduled for a tour of a date farm at 9 am. We had a fascinating 90 minutes of stories and date information. There are over 3000 types of dates. Places like Charleville are good for dates, particularly when your water supply is the never ending end product of the Charleville waste water processing plant.
We started with the stump of a tree that was apparently planted about the time that Charleville was founded - in the 1840's.
Experts can look at the rings on the tree and tell roughly when it suffered from fire or drought.
The majority of the pollination is done manually by brushing the male flower, then transferring the pollen to the female flower with that brush. Bees also have a role to play, but they seem to be on 'work to conditions' rules and don't pull their weight.
(each stem in that bunch could have 10 dates)
The business in quite new and yet to be self-sustaining. The use of pre-loved waste water causes issue with its high salinity and other bacteria that cause algae. The farm owners are developing wet-lands with a mix of flora to try and 'cleanse' the water before it is used. Ducks and frogs could be seen and heard.
We departed Charleville and headed south to Cunnamulla. after a lunch on the banks of the Warrego River we moved further south. Emus were common and a particular flock chose to make it hard for me. The following photo is from my dash cam. Normally emus head bush when you approach but this mob were keen on causing me grief.
If the guy on the left had moved right, or the guy in the middle had moved left, we would not have had sausages for dinner tonight. We passed both of them about one metre from both sides of the car.
We safely arrived in Cunnamulla and took a photo of the painted water tower.
We arrived at our camp site for the night - again on the banks of the Warrego River - and relaxed.
Day 103 - Thursday 2nd September 2021 – New South Wales
It was time to head
home. We left one day earlier
than planned as the weather was to be unpalatable if we waited one more day. So
we left the park and stocked up on diesel and fresh bread – and proof of where
we had spent the night. The rules for Victorians travelling home by road
are that you cannot spend more than 24 hours in NSW – and that is a drive of
870 km. So we broke the trip into two parts with an overnight stop
somewhere in the middle. We had our permits in place.
We departed Cunnamulla
with a strong tail wind and we had it for the entire 675 km – a one-day record
for us. Our fuel consumption was similar to what it would normally be without
the caravan.
We drove though all
towns without stopping. All breaks were at road side stops. The thermos was empty by the end of the day.
The road was straight and flat. We saw many emus
and goats and a couple of lizards, but very few domestic farm animals. The land
was very arid until near the end of the day when grain crops and canola
appeared.
We enjoyed seeing the
white flowers (although some were slightly mauve) that adorned a lot of the road
edges.
As we had a tail wind
we travelled maybe 100 km further than planned and stopped on the bank of the
Lachlan River at Hillston.
It was a lovely sunset a short time later.
Sunset over the Lachlan River (Hillston) beside our caravan
Shirley conjured up some spaghetti. I resisted the temptation to open a bottle of red.
It was time to head
home. We left one day earlier
than planned as the weather was to be unpalatable if we waited one more day. So
we left the park and stocked up on diesel and fresh bread – and proof of where
we had spent the night. The rules for Victorians travelling home by road
are that you cannot spend more than 24 hours in NSW – and that is a drive of
870 km. So we broke the trip into two parts with an overnight stop
somewhere in the middle. We had our permits in place.
We departed Cunnamulla
with a strong tail wind and we had it for the entire 675 km – a one-day record
for us. Our fuel consumption was similar to what it would normally be without
the caravan.
The road was straight and flat. We saw many emus and goats and a couple of lizards, but very few domestic farm animals. The land was very arid until near the end of the day when grain crops and canola appeared.
We enjoyed seeing the
white flowers (although some were slightly mauve) that adorned a lot of the road
edges.
As we had a tail wind we travelled maybe 100 km further than planned and stopped on the bank of the Lachlan River at Hillston.
It was a lovely sunset a short time later.
Shirley conjured up some spaghetti. I resisted the temptation to open a bottle of red.
Day 104 - Friday 3rd September 2021 – And that is That!
And so the trip ends with big two days...............
Shirley was up and dressed to see the 6:20 am sunrise and made the comment "is that all there is?". The following photo shows what she saw.
Hillston Sunrise
So I made sure that Shirley had a 'travel cup' of tea as she buckled her seat belt at 6:45 - and wondered when we would feel the impact of those dark clouds.
We drove into Hillston and found out that the fuel station was yet to open. Thanks to the tail wind yesterday we were able to head south (and get fuel at Griffith). We enjoyed (I think Shirley was awake) the change of countryside from the arid Bourke/Cobar region to the lush fruit, grain and canola crops around Hillston and Griffith. There were also plenty of grape vines and wineries.
We saw lots of cherry trees, some with blossom, some yet to get colour, whlle the clouds became more ominous.
The scene just north of Jerilderie
The rich nature of the country extended through to northern Victoria - as did the clouds.
We crossed the Victorian border roughly within the Victorian Government time constraints of 24 hours - a trip of 870 km - plus the 125 km before we crossed the QLD/NSW border.
This is not the right forum to indulge in politics, but our 'leaders' need to consider the wisdom of 'forcing' elderly people to drive around 1000 km in 24 hours.
The abovementioned clouds seem to have come at us from two directions and the rain started as we agreed to head for home. Shirley took the wheel for a while, on the Hume, and gave me a good rest. She also worked the pedals.
We arrived home around 4:30 pm after about 1270 km in two days. If not for the strong tail wind for most of the trip home we would have struggled and arrived home one day later.
And so the trip ends with big two days...............
Shirley was up and dressed to see the 6:20 am sunrise and made the comment "is that all there is?". The following photo shows what she saw.
So I made sure that Shirley had a 'travel cup' of tea as she buckled her seat belt at 6:45 - and wondered when we would feel the impact of those dark clouds.
We drove into Hillston and found out that the fuel station was yet to open. Thanks to the tail wind yesterday we were able to head south (and get fuel at Griffith). We enjoyed (I think Shirley was awake) the change of countryside from the arid Bourke/Cobar region to the lush fruit, grain and canola crops around Hillston and Griffith. There were also plenty of grape vines and wineries.
We saw lots of cherry trees, some with blossom, some yet to get colour, whlle the clouds became more ominous.
The rich nature of the country extended through to northern Victoria - as did the clouds.
We crossed the Victorian border roughly within the Victorian Government time constraints of 24 hours - a trip of 870 km - plus the 125 km before we crossed the QLD/NSW border.
This is not the right forum to indulge in politics, but our 'leaders' need to consider the wisdom of 'forcing' elderly people to drive around 1000 km in 24 hours.
The abovementioned clouds seem to have come at us from two directions and the rain started as we agreed to head for home. Shirley took the wheel for a while, on the Hume, and gave me a good rest. She also worked the pedals.
We arrived home around 4:30 pm after about 1270 km in two days. If not for the strong tail wind for most of the trip home we would have struggled and arrived home one day later.
Trip Summary and Wrap-Up
- We were away for 104 days, just under 15 weeks.
- We travelled 11820 km, around 114 per day - not bad when you consider that our end destination is 3000 km from home (over half the distance travelled).
- We used around 1946 litres of diesel at an average cost of $1.42 (Two years ago the average was $1.59 although we went to more remote places).
- We stopped at 32 venues - that included caravan parks, station stay, bush camps and free camps - at an average cost of $36 per day.
- We cooked scones (plain, date, herb, pumpkin), damper, date cookies, choc chip cookies, apple muffins, birthday cake and banana bread.
- Had a hell of a lot of fun, while seeing some of the great parts of our great country.
- Our mishaps were minor and did not define our holiday.
Trip Highlights
- Chillagoe, its caves and its atmosphere
- Menindee Lakes, and its pelicans
- Lara Wetlands – again
- Isla Gorge
- Silo art, water tower art and street art
- Fish traps at Brewarrina
- Chicken races at
Tambo
- Sunsets & sunrises
(of course)
- Lake Dunn
Sculpture Trail
- Pinnarendi
Station Stay
- Walks on many beaches
- Time with good
friends
- Fresh Queensland
fruit, particularly rough skin pineapples
- Birthday dinner
at Nautilus in Port Douglas
- Daintree river
cruise (specially the baby crocodiles)
- Seeing more
platypus
- Mango smoothies
at Rosslyn Bay Marina
- Nob Creek Pottery
at Byfield
- Kookaburras &
Black Cockatoos
- Ooline tree and their black orchids at Tregole National Park
*** This BLOG is Now Complete - Last updated 5 pm 4 September ***
- Chillagoe, its caves and its atmosphere
- Menindee Lakes, and its pelicans
- Lara Wetlands – again
- Isla Gorge
- Silo art, water tower art and street art
- Fish traps at Brewarrina
- Chicken races at Tambo
- Sunsets & sunrises (of course)
- Lake Dunn Sculpture Trail
- Pinnarendi Station Stay
- Walks on many beaches
- Time with good friends
- Fresh Queensland fruit, particularly rough skin pineapples
- Birthday dinner at Nautilus in Port Douglas
- Daintree river cruise (specially the baby crocodiles)
- Seeing more platypus
- Mango smoothies at Rosslyn Bay Marina
- Nob Creek Pottery at Byfield
- Kookaburras & Black Cockatoos
- Ooline tree and their black orchids at Tregole National Park
*** This BLOG is Now Complete - Last updated 5 pm 4 September ***
