5TH AUGUST 2013 – CENTRAL HIGHLANDS, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

Drove out from Carnarvon in brilliant sunshine at 8am surrounded by sheer white cliffs & tree covered ranges – makes one realise what a wonderful world it is & how lucky we are to be a part of it, not just here but in our own lovely country as well. I missed a photo opportunity of what I thought was a metal sculpture, but then realised it was a very mangled small passenger plane which went down in this area many years ago & has only been found in recent times.
 

Countryside leaving Carnarvon Gorge

There are cattle grazing contentedly on the hay-like paddocks & little wallabies with their heads just visible above the grasses. These are all unfenced cattle properties along here so it is essential to travel at a speed possible to stop quickly & safely. We did have a close call with some cattle coming out of the shadows of some roadside trees & though the adults stayed put, a young calf leapt out & became confused whether to go on or go back. Stu cleverly missed it by a smidgeon & was a bit shaken. Of course this is the time of day for kangaroos to be bouncing across unexpectantly  too, & even a large flock of white cockatoos having a breakfast of insects on the road just missed our windscreen & later a flock of pink & grey galahs. The paddocks turn to green with crops & newly ploughed fields with emus enjoying the bounty. I’m sure the farmers aren’t impressed by that.

 

Rural School at Rollerston

 

Mural completed a Week later

  We are backtracking to Rolleston where I saw the schoolchildren painting their mural on Friday, so am interested to see the progress. Am surprised & delighted to see that it is completed & really lovely so took another photo. Mid morning we travel through the hilly Expedition Range, really lovely country & again aglow with golden wattle roadside together with lime green grasses. It is very spring-like & a bonus is that there is little traffic on this stretch. We are puzzled at the sight of 100’s of acres of twiggy bushes with no leaves planted in rows. Made all sorts of guesses what they would be, but we did see that it was an organic cattle farm so I wondered if it was something they grew to feed them on. I felt very clever when we found out later that it was exactly for that purpose but I still don’t know what it was. Finished the day at the Dawson River freebie, just a few kms from the town of Moura where we remained for two nights. Again it was a nice spot, maintained by volunteers from the town. We repaid them by doing a little shopping there.

 

Flood levels at Dawson River

 Wed 7th – A terrible start to the day as we witnessed a truck in front of us run into a young kangaroo. It’s the first time we’ve seen it & it left me feeling sick & sad for quite some time afterwards. The driver can’t be blamed – there is absolutely nothing you can do without endangering yourself & others on the road, especially in a vehicle that size. Shortly after we passed through a little place called ‘Banana’ in the Shire of Banana. Apparently there was a bullock called Banana & for some reason the place was called after it. They have even erected statue of it – must have been some Bull! Next we arrive at Biloela (pronounced Bil o ee la), a large, busy town we wandered around looking for a couple of handyman bits for Stu. It all made us a bit later than usual, so when we got to our next freebie after driving for an hour over a rather narrow, uneven sealed road & three lots of massive roadworks, it looked pretty full. It was beside a weir & there was hardly a flat site to be seen, was windy in most parts & altogether became a hassle. So for the first time we had to drive away again & head somewhere else. Funnily enough neither of us felt comfortable there at all. Finally by two o’clock were had found another with one with nice flat sites & were able to have some lunch & relax for the rest of the afternoon. Beside the campsite was a huge area of trees which had obviously been flooded not too long ago, & many of them had died & fallen over or been pushed over by the floods. Again we were puzzled as to what they would be, so many acres of them planted in rows. We later found out they were Paulownia trees, which in NZ are a decorative tree with large heartshaped leaves & pink wisteria like flowers. I believe they may be grown for their timber? The following morning we were besieged by the sounds of blue winged kookaburras again before we left.

Thurs 8th – This morning we travel along the same highway through Abercorn & Eisvold, the latter a dear little town which reminded us of Paparoa. Their sign said ‘Black Stump’ – Gateway to Mundaburra – I always wondered where the Black Stump was. Citrus are a big crop in this area so we passed through the ‘Big Mandarin’ & the ‘Big Orange’ before finding our next campsite beside a weir, making sure we were good & early this time. That is where I am catching up with my rather late blog installments, mostly due to lack of internet of late. Only a few more days & we will back on the so called Sunshine Coast so hope it lives up to its name for a change.

Fri 9th - Gayndah is the next town we reach, Queensland's oldest town on the very large Burnett River.  A nice town with lots of character, which was flooded early this year, a surprise considering the small amount of water in the river at present.  The countryside is lovely too.   Our plan was to have stopped in the showgrounds here, but unfortunately on arrival there was a big horse event on for the weekend, so it wasn't possible.  We stopped at Ban Ban Springs for a morning cuppa in the sunshine, then continued into South Burnett.   The Jacaranda trees are really gorgeous here at present with their leaves a beautiful gold prior to dropping to make room for the wonderful lilac flowers.  There are so many &  it must be quite a stunning  when that eventuates.  Moving on we found a lovely little spot at Wooroolin in the town park between the highway & a very large wetland area.  There were only about 8 vans at the end of the day but room for lots more.  Once again it had good ablutions & a $2 coin in slot shower.  We stayed 2 nights.

Well here we are , our last day on the road en route to Landsborough via Kingaroy, the peanut & navy bean capital of Australia, as well as growing citrus & mining coal.     It is very like the Pukekohe area in NZ with it's market gardens of red soil & rolling hills in the background.  There follows on a few  small towns & we say farewell to the South Burnett region, climbing the Blackbutt Range to Yarramum with lots of Hoop Pine plantations,  then on through Kilcoy, which appears to be a dairying area with a large dairy company.  This appears to be a popular 'Sunday driver' area especially with motor bikes - lovely steepish bendy roads &  bushclad hills .    Finally it's on to Beerwah & Landsborough  where we will stay with my son & attempt to sell our little home on wheels  & vehicle.   So this is my last blog & a bit boring no doubt, but I hope you have enjoyed travelling along with us - it's been nice seeing how many of you have been doing so & that we haven't been entirely forgotten, even though I don't know who you all are.  So until we meet again - we will be back in NZ 23rd August. 

Jan's Summary:

We are both still sane & on speaking terms, feeling fit & refreshed by the day to day freedom from day to day chores & 'niggles' of so called 'real life'.  We have learnt much & made a few new friends & it is a wonderful life for those who live it permanently, but not for us who like a bit of dirt under our fingernails & the company of regular friends & family.  Thanks to modern technology it is so easy to keep touch but it doesn't compare with a face to face chat  sharing problems & highlights  a lovely warm hug.  So I'll just finish with a bit of poetic licence which I hope expresses my feelings at this time.

At The End of The Journey.

I shall miss the red dust earth and the rocky hills nearby,

I shall miss the roads to nowhere and those huge wide clear blue skies,

I shall miss the errant wildlife and yes, the gum trees too,

These many things I memorise,

Australia I love you.

But Kiwiland, my Kiwiland, my home, my Eden true

I'll live my life in your gentler land

Till my final sad adieu.