Brian & Jeans 2008 Australian Mainland Trip 31/5/08

We departed Tasmania, the Island State of Australia, on the Ferry "Spirit of Tasmania" had a nice smooth crossing and embarked off the ship fairly quickly.
First stop was the Victoria Markets for some supplies then to Bendigo to visit a friend for lunch.
We drove on through Echuca, over the bridge to Moama and found a camping spot on the banks of the Murray with a houseboat for company. Travelled through Deniliquin and found a nice camping site beside the creek at Jerilderie.
The next day we drove to Narrandera then Junee to the Liquorice Factory where they make the most delicious liquorice and chocolate covered nuts. We also visited the Railway Roundhouse for an interesting tour. They also had a large model train layout.
There is a nice camping area at Forbes beside a lake in Rotary Park, pleasant spot but the lawn sprinklers came on at 4 a.m.!
Went on to Dubbo then found another nice camp at Ponto Falls beside the Macqaurie River, couldn’t find the falls though. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed the plentiful bird life.
It was Henry Lawson Festival time at Gulgong and the Golden West Wanderers were holding a rally there, so we attended. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day that brought out the crowds to watch the big parade of horse-drawn sulkies etc. On the Sunday we went to a recital of Henry Lawson’s work in the second oldest theatre in Australia, the Prince of Wales, the oldest being in Hobart, the capitol city of Tasmania. After leaving Gulgong we went to Bingara where the next big rally is to be held, it is a nice little town, very geared up for tourism. We had a bit of a fossick for Jasper in a dry creek bed but we didn't know what we were looking for.
We then moved on to Inverell and Glen Innes and bought a couple of buckets of gravel from gem centres to sift through, found some small sapphires the largest one was 2.25 carat.
Visited friends and relations in Stanthorpe, Crow’s Nest and Brisbane. Stopped one night at Lake Dyer near Laidley, a lovely area.
Moving further north, we joined the South Burnett Travellers at a bush camp at Kilkivan where we were warmly welcomed by members and enjoyed a game of disc bowls and trivia. Lots of Lorikeets and King Parrots were in the area.
After leaving Kilkivan we spent a night at Petrie Park just north of Tiaro, a pleasant little stopover with only a few level sites. Bundaberg was our next stop where we spent a week with friends, great weather, average 10 to 23 degrees.
Revisited the 48 hour campsite at Calliope, an old favourite next to the river.
Travelled on to Biloela and found a nice camp beside Lake Callide at Pelican Point. There is a big coal fired power station there that uses the water out of the lake but it is almost dried up, they pump water from Gladstone to keep it going.
We drove south from Banana to Theodore and found a great camp site on the Dawson River ; there were a few Tasmanians there including an Island Wanderer from Derby.
Had a good time for three days playing disc bowls with the caravaners.
We discovered a good stopover at Wallumbilla Show ground, free showers and power! Went through Roma to Mitchell and stopped in our first caravan park, enjoyed the Artesian Spa, good for our aches and pains. Stopped there for three very cold nights then decided it was time to move on.
Travelled west to Morven and saw some miniature period buildings in the museum, they were very well made. After lunch we went to the Tregole National Park for a two kilometre walk, it was interesting because a lot of the trees were named. We heard many birds and were lucky enough to see some double-barred finches.
Drove to Charleville and saw the display at the Royal Flying Doctor Service, found several nice camp sites beside the Warrego River but it was too early so we went on to Wyandra where there is a free camping spot behind the school with hot showers. Went on to Cunnamulla, not much to see on the 100 kilometre trip. Visited the Information Centre, they have an interesting time machine display there about water drilling and opal mining at Yowah where we are heading. Spent the night near Cunnamulla then drove the 160 kilometers to Yowah through very barren country. Set up camp in the free camping area with hot mineral water showers, the red dust gets into everything!
The next morning we went fossicking in the public area but didn't’t find opals just some interesting coloured stones. Then we went to the Kaleidoscope mine and bought a bucket of gravel to go through but we still did’t find much, we found more colour in the camping area that people had discarded.
That night we played carpet bowls in the hall with the locals, we had never played before but did O.K. because of our disc bowls experience. We had a couple of our stones cut at a local cutter; they are not worth a fortune but look quite nice.
Attended a fund raising dinner for a trip to Japan for a student of the School of the Air,
where we met other travellers, most of them gemstone fanatics. It was the Opal Festival over the weekend, which is an annual event; they have a very good community spirit in this little town.
We went to a concert and the market on Saturday was a nice day but unfortunately the wind came up on Sunday and made it unpleasant. Packed up and left after a very enjoyablele week, thanks to Patrick and Julie for telling us about it.
Drove to Cunnamulla for supplies and then to Bollon for the night, saw lots of emu's on the way, some with chicks. We heard that our friends Michael and Michele were in Mitchell and as we were planning to meet other friends at Carnarvon Gorge we decided to go and visit them. That night it started to rain, it was very heavy further north so we had to cancel our trip to the gorge.
We stopped at Roma for a while then drove to Wallumbilla to sit out the rain, we were pleasantly surprised to meet fellow Island Wanderers Geoff & Margaret and Bob & Evelyn. We stopped there for three days waiting for the rain to clear, during that time our friends Ken and Lorraine caught up with us, we will be together for the rest of the trip.
When the weather cleared we headed for the Bunya Mountains. for two nights, there is a nice campground in the National Park. It is quite a climb getting there but the bus managed it with ease. There are several walks to do amongst the huge Bunya trees, they look quite impressive, we did a two hour and an hour and a half one. Tame wallabies live in the grounds and numerous birds, it was a pleasant stay apart from the cold weather.
After leaving Bunya Mountains. we called into Kumbia and decided to stay the night to charge our batteries before going to Kingaroy, the peanut capital of Australia. They have an excellent information centre and museum there. Spent some time there, bought our peanuts then headed for Nanango to stop with some C.M.C.A. people we met at Kilkivan.
The next morning we had a look around Nanango at the murals and an old homestead called Ringsfield, an interesting place to visit. We then went to Maidenwell to visit the observatory that night; it is owned and operated by a C.M.C.A. member, James. First he took us outside to show us some features in the sky, then into the theatre to see more details of space and then into the observatory proper. There were three G.P.S. guided telescopes in the room for us to use, the entire roof slid open with dramatic music playing then we were able to take turns seeing various stars culminating with Jupiter. We could see several moons orbiting the planet because it was close to Earth, James was very passionate about space, it was very cold but worth the discomfort.
After leaving Maidenwell we stopped at Laidley again for a night then headed for
O’Reilly’s in the Lamington National Park. We noticed in the Wanderer that the Logan and Moreton Ramblers were holding a weekend at Spring Gully, which was on the way so we spent the night there. After a pleasant stay we did the challenging but picturesque drive up to O’Reilly’s and camped in the N.P. campground for two nights.
There are plenty of good walks to do and lots of bird life including the Regent and Satin Bowerbirds. We did the walks to Moran’s Falls on the first day, then to Elabana and Box Log Falls with lunch at Picnic Rock the next day. The weather and scenery was beautiful, making the trip worthwhile. We then had a few days with relations in Crows Nest before flying to Lord Howe Island for a week.
We left our motorhomes at Alan and Annette’s house in Brisbane, we met them at one of the Island Wanderer weekends in Tassie, Alan kindly drove us to the airport, then we took the one and a half hour flight to Lord Howe Island. It is situated in the Pacific Ocean about six hundred kilometres out from Port Macqaurie, it is very small, about eleven kilometres by two at its widest point. The main mode of transport is bikes as there is only about six kilometres of road! What it lacks in size it makes up for in beauty. Gower and Lidgbird Mountains dominate the skyline and are in almost every photo we took.
The weather was good on the day we arrived so we made the most of it and walked to Kim’s Lookout and Malabar Hill. The next day was a bit windy and showery so we spent some time in the excellent museum and explored the township.
Mt. Gower is the highest mountain at 875 metres, although it looks impossible to climb it can be done but you have to go with a guide. Ken and I couldn’t resist it so we tackled it one day. It was a tough climb, using ropes in many places, but it was well worth it for the magnificent views. On the top there is a cloud forest, low growing trees and beautiful mosses and palms.
Lorraine and Jean did an informative bus tour while we were mountaineering, they were very impressed by it. The economy of the island, which is part of N.S.W., relies mainly on tourism and Kentia Palms, they are grown from seed and exported all around the world.