Cloudy but fine in Emerald again

Woke to a cloudy day but should be fine.  Packed up the two vans and left Sapphire at 9am.  Arrived in Emerald Showground, selected a site and all set up in time for morning tea.  Now for a nice quiet day doing nothing in particular.

Chris holding forth at morning tea , John and Marg listening. Ruby's more interested in the photographer, or perhaps in showing her best side.

There's no doubt that owning a caravan means you have a permanent hole in your wallet, there's always some other little or not so little thing to buy.  We seem to visit camping stores in every large town, and buy some necessity.  The latest purchase is a set of traps to catch red-claw yabbies, and some de-flappers to stop the awning flapping should a big wind come up.  Not that we've had a big wind, mind.

I think I previously mentioned the lovely railway station in Emerald, I finally got a chance to take a photo of it as the camping store's across the road from it.  I even managed to score a pause in the traffic!

 Emerald Railway Station, built 1902. The line is electrified from Brisbane to here. but we haven't seen any passenger trains so not sure if any operate. Scores of 2 kilometre coal trains running though.

Now that we're all set with traps and bait (sweet potato), we'll be off shortly to Lake Maraboon, the water retained by the Fairbairn Dam to put the traps in and hopefully catch something other than a cold.

No willows at Willows

Willows was a big disappointment.  A bigger town as tiny towns go than Sapphire, and a bit neater with grid streets, but that's about all you can say for it.  2 caravan parks, one of which has a sort of shop with limited supplies- 70 kms from Emerald so a long way to the grocer's.

One of our neighbours here has a broken ankle and is stuck here for another 5 and a half weeks.  His wife was saying thank goodness they got stuck in a nice place and not at Willows, and now we can see what she meant! This poor guy was all hitched up ready to drive off when he fell and broke his ankle.  They had to go to the hospital in Emerald, and wait there for most of the day as you do, so she was worried about coming back in the dark and having to set up the caravan by herself, but when they arrived it was all done courtesy of a couple of the guys here.  Later they moved the caravan to a more convenient spot for her plaster-clad husband, again these men did the whole lot for her so she didn't have to do a thing.  Nice people.

But imagine having your leg in plaster in a caravan!

The biggest disappointment was our inability to find anywhere to fossick, no creek, bumpy tracks, not very promising looking at all so we didn't even try, simply drove back to Sapphire.  Just as well we didn't find a pleasant spot for morning tea, because I'd forgotten to include the tea or coffee- just thermos of hot water, milk, spoons, sugar, biscuits and cups.

John has decided to move on to Emerald with us, staying at the showground so we've booked in the two vans for a couple of days.  John and Marg have only had a quick look at Emerald on the way through and they want to see Fairbairn Dam and the lake.  We'll probably have a picnic in the very attractive picnic area there (I'll try not to forget the tea this time).

Willy wash wins again

Yesterday went back to Willy Wash in the sun, such a difference, the gemstones show up much more easily and we found plenty.  Most of them are too small to use- Glenn the owner says "put them in your fish tank"- when they are wet, they shine beautifully.  Each couple also found at least one stone good enough to cut so we were very happy.

                                                     Glenn of Willy Wash chatting to Val.

Most of these are "fish tank material" but there's a larger parti-coloured stone, top right, which Glenn said would be worth polishing, also a larger green one, bottom left, worth cutting.  All these are sapphires which can come in various colours- did I mention that rubies are red sapphires?

Last night a tiny cane toad hopped across our concrete slab while we were all sitting around after dinner.  It was no bigger than my little toe, but fast!  No chance of a photo.

Sunny day again today and we're going for a drive to Willows for a bit more fossicking.  Tomorrow we'll leave Sapphire, Chris and I heading back to Emerald so we can get the car serviced.  We've done more than 4,400 kilometres already this trip.  John and Marg are thinking of staying at Willows and will meet up with us in a few days.

Fossicking in Rubyvale

Yesterday the rain stopped overnight but it was very muddy underfoot and very overcast.  After breakfast we watched lorikeets for a while, and apostle birds (which cuddle up to each other whenever two or more are sitting on a branch) The temperature was much more comfortable after the chilliness of the previous day, which had been 13 degrees.

We drove into Rubyvale, only a few kilometres away, and tried fossicking at the Willy Wash setup, which was a different experience.  Glenn, the owner, with skin tanned like leather and a fag constantly hanging out of his mouth, likes music.  Very loud music.  Although we did quite like some of his compilation, a few decibels less would have made it more enjoyable.

     Chris tipping the bucket of gravel onto the sieve, which then gets washed in the water in the blue tub,        using the Willoughby gadget which makes the washing process easier. The sieve sits on the ring, and you push the handle to immerse the gravel then jiggle it to make the sapphires, which are heavier than the gravel, sink to the bottom.  Then when the sieve is inverted on the sorting table, the gemstones are on the top.  That's the theory, anyway.

We were the only customers and he set us up with a bucket per couple- cheaper than the other place we went to but much more rewarding.  Both couples found some very pretty stones, each of us with at least one stone worth cutting, so we were very pleased.  The time went quickly, three hours passing before we'd finished our buckets and we were all astounded that it was past lunchtime but we hadn't noticed.

John and Chris sorting and searching.  Note Ruby the dog sitting on the sorting table. She did actually get on the ground at one stage.

After lunch Chris and I drove in to Emerald to replenish stocks- there are a couple of little shops here but not much variety and we'd run out of a few things.  We enjoyed the drive back in different weather conditions and luckily Chris noticed a caravan at the showground, so we drove in there to find quite a number of vans, enquired about the price and the amenities and determined to go there in a few days (Chris has booked the Prado in for a service very early on Wednesday).  The showground's so much nicer than the agricultural ground at the other end of town, where we stayed last week, that was a big ripoff.  Ten dollars cheaper per night, too.

Today, Sunday (Ashas' 8th birthday) is quite sunny and warm.  We spent the morning looking into John's memory card to find videos of San Francisco (enjoyable for us because we were with him at the time) and other things he's forgotten he had.  John is not technologically up to date and had not been able to view the pictures except on the little screen on his camera so he was thrilled to see them on our TV.

Now, after lunch, we're heading for the Willy Wash again.  This time, with the sun shining, it should be easier to see the gemstones.

Rain, rain, rain- so much for sunny Qld!

The rain, gentle at first, has been coming down harder and harder all day.  We're very glad we're at the caravan park on the hill, not the creekside one which has flooded three times in three years.  I'd love to know how much water's in that creek we were beside yesterday.

Retreat Creek yesterday, before the rain.



Another good point about this caravan park is that it's covered in gravel.  It seemed a bit unusual at first, till we realised there's no grass being tracked into the van, which has been a bit of a pain elsewhere.  No matter how well you wipe your feet, or even if you take your shoes off, you still end up with grass on the floor, but not here.  Another advantage of the gravel is that it doesn't become boggy, ever- according to Norm, the owner, even after 7 and a half inches overnight. No barefoot walking on the gravel, but most of the places we've had grass also had burrs, so not very pleasant underfoot anyway (and let's not talk about the burrs you walk inside!)

John and Margaret's rig on the right, ours on the left at Sapphire Caravan Park (when the sun was shining).

We got out for a while after lunch, driving into Rubyvale for a look-see.  It's a surprising town, more organised than Sapphire, which is a collection of buildings scattered at a distance from each other on winding roads.  Rubyvale has a pub, a PO, a shop/servo, and even a gallery/cafe.  The stones, mostly set in rings, in the gallery were beautiful, and I understand the scones are great in the cafe, but we had the dog with us (of course) and Ruby is the lapdog par excellence- so spoilt she can't be left alone for a minute, and either John or Margaret has to stay with her.  I wonder why her legs just don't fall off, she has little use for them, she gets carried everywhere. John was willing to stay with her while we had a coffee, but we didn't like to keep him there too long so we went back "home" to the van.

Back at the van (it's times like these you're SO glad you're not in a tent) we had our own coffee and watched a movie- we have lots of choices, thanks R&H.  We watched Age of Heroes, which was very good.  The outside temp's 13 degrees at 4pm, inside it's 26 degrees so nice and cosy.

Ah well, the rain's doing someone some good, somewhere.

Rain falls on Sapphire

We woke up this morning to gentle rain on the roof.  As it's the first real rain since we left home 4 weeks ago, and they really need the rain here, we don't mind having a day "at home" in the van.  John and Marg came over this morning and we had a bit of a slide show of our journey so far.  As they came up here quickly, without side trips, they haven't seen all the natural wonders that we have, so they were quite interested in the places we've seen.

Yesterday we met up with John 2 down at the creek, where he let us use all his labour-saving equipment and gave us the benefit of his wide experience in fossicking.  His wife Lyn wears a number of rings made up of lovely stones John's found over the past few years. We had a lot of fun not finding any gems, but when we went down to the other caravan park for happy hour, a woman there had found a pretty stone today, quite close to where we were.

Two Johns separating the rocks from the stones on John 2's lean-to screen, Retreat Creek, Sapphire.

           John and Marg sorting through the pebbles- no luck today. Note Ruby the lapdog.

John 2, Lyn, and Marg watching John Dale digging more stones.  You can see John 2's set up of lean-to double screen, and "Willoughby" wash setup (green bucket) where the stones get washed using a double sieve which separates the smaller stones before sorting at the small table in front of Marg.

A flock of lorikeets welcomed us back to the caravan, obviously hoping for a feed (but we don't believe it's a good thing to feed wild birds).  Then two of them settled on our table, trying to peck holes in our passionfruit- one jumped on a passionfruit but it rolled, so he had to do a little circus act to keep his footing.

Sapphires at Sapphire

                                             John and Marg arrive at Sapphire Caravan Park.
We went fossicking this morning, and it turned out to be fun, much to my surprise.  We visited a place called Armfest, where they have done all the hard work for you.  You buy a bucket of stones and wash them with the supplied sieves, in a big tub of water at a convenient height, then sort through them on a table, also at convenient height.  Everyone present came up with a few decent stones, and one girl found one worth $30,000! We weren't so fortunate, but found a few nice stones which are good enough to have polished.

   

Chris and John look on as Carole demonstrates how to do it.(You have to flip the dish over like turning out a cake)

Joey fossicking in our bucket.  Note the tubs of water, and the suspended sieve- this takes the back-breaking work out of it.

Mum has scared Joey away, now she's eating dirt

John, Chris and owner Carole looking for the special stones.

Sapphire- and hopefully, sapphires

We're here in Sapphire Caravan Park, a really lovely spot (thanks R and H, and other people who recommended it).  There are two vans here which arrived for a week (separately) two years ago and still haven't left.  Last night there were 25 bikers in residence but thankfully they were quiet (having been up till 2am the previous night, we were told).  They've left in a procession this morning after many calls of "Get on your bike, Eric!"  "Hurry up, Eric!"  Apparently they come from Maitland, only 30 odd kilometres from us.  They're in a club and have lots of get-togethers like this, some with families, some without.They're not young guys- some are Vietnam vets and were going to an Anzac service.

For some reason Gloria, our GPS, didn't recognise Sapphire or nearby Rubyvale or even Anakie, where you turn off the highway.  (I suspect that a hundred years ago, some prospector bloke said "We're living in anarchy, mate", and Mate, being a bad speller, told the folks back home in a letter where they were.

This is a lovely caravan park, quite unusually based on a hillside but the individual sites are level with concrete slabs.  There's an excellent camp kitchen and several amenities blocks, and the people are very friendly. It's very quiet and there are dozens of birds, also wallabies and a frog was blocking the drainage hole I tried to put our outlet hose into.  He was so tiny, and the colour of the surrounding pebbles- if he hadn't been wet we wouldn't have been able to see him at all.  There are also cane toads, of course.

This morning a group of us were gathered around 6 or 8 lorikeets which were sitting on the luggage of our neighbours, who were in the process of departure, kids already in the car. She grabbed her camera and tried for a close-up- one bird kept hopping closer and closer, and finally hopped ONTO her camera, so hubby had to grab the other camera to take the shot.  

John and Margaret (and Ruby the dog) arrived after taking the long way round, so we're all together today planning what to do.  This is a fossicking place (for sapphires, of course) and we are also planning on putting some traps in the dam for red-claw yabbies.  It's a small village which we have yet to explore, and of course it;s a public holiday so nothing will be open.  

On the way back to Emerald the other day, we saw a derailed coal train.  Apparently it's been there since last October.  We'd previously seen a derailed train in Canada, which was lying on its side- this one has had several trucks completely overturned.  

South to Gladstone

On Sunday, our last day in Rockhampton, after seeing off Kim and Debbie who were returning to their motel in Bowen, we drove south to Gladstone to have a look.  On our personal map of Australia, we were missing the bit between Bundaberg, which we've previously visited, and Rocky, so at least we're filling in some of that gap.

The drive down on the Bruce Ha ha Highway was a bit tedious.  Single lane, much of it under road work, and the scenery's a bit same-same.  At one stage we sat for at least ten minutes held up by a stop-go sign, with no traffic in either direction.  It was amusing listening to the truck drivers on the CB radio, one of them was really irate (and swearing profusely) about the delay, thinking the workers were having a long smoko and forgetting to let the traffic go, but it turned out they really were working around the corner, out of sight from where we were.  Finally vehicles started coming through, from the other direction first, naturally- 50 of them, I counted!  There would have been the same number on our side, too.

We headed for Calliope (pron. cal-eye-o-pee) which turned out to be a dormitory town for Gladstone, lots of houses and not much else.  Most of the houses looked new, I suspect Calliope was a sleepy country village till recently.  Moving on to Tannum Sands, which is an island south of Gladstone, we found a lovely sandy beach with shady foreshore and lucked on the surf lifesaving club open for lunch on the only day of the week it is open, Sunday- lovely fresh fish served with a smile and a delightful view to boot.

On to Gladstone itself, knowing it was just an industrial town.  And boy, is it industrial!  Aluminium refinery and separate smelter, coal port, also ships cement, and other things.  All in what was a beautiful deep water port reminiscent of Port Stephens, with blue water and many inlets.  It's protected by many islands so a very safe port as well.

Monday morning we left Rocky and initially headed for Mt Morgan, but we were scared off by the sign which said "No long wide vehicles, caravans take care".  We interpreted this as meaning there were sharp bends ahead, and since it was a diversion for us anyway, we decided to return to the highway and head straight for Emerald.  We stopped at Duaringa for morning tea, and Comet for lunch (I was allowed to drive that section, the first time I've driven with the caravan in tow).

We were in for a bit of a shock when we reached Emerald.  Last week it was "Just rock up, no need to book in" whenever we rang ahead- this time they couldn't fit us in at 2pm!  "The season" has begun in the week we've been at the coast. We didn't want to stay at the free camp place in Emerald because it's right next to the road, and just as well because when we went past there, it was overflowing.

We ended up having to pay $30 to camp at the Agricultural grounds, which is a blatant rip-off.  We were hard pressed to find a vacant site with water AND power, though eventually did find one left.  The ground is rough, with tufts of grass cut by a slasher, and amenities few and far between.  Close to the highway and railway as well, and those long coal trains run all night.  Not to mention the road trains, which are quite loud.

Our neighbour here, a mature woman, said she's here permanently since she has a job with the road crew.  She said she's already retired but is saving up for a trip to the US. She has a tiny almost antique van and is living in it since there is no accommodation available in town- a room is $300 a night.  This is due to the mining boom.

Today we head for Sapphire (yes, we have booked), where John and Marg will meet up with us.  They stayed at Springsure last night so they don't have far to go, and neither do we.  We'll probably stay there about a week, and may not have internet access.

Botanic Gardens and zoo

Today we know we're in the tropics, although it's past mid-April it's 36  degrees and humid.  We visited the Botanic Gardens with Kim and Debbie- luckily it's a very old park with huge trees, so lots of shade.  There's a little zoo which has a few examples of cassowary, emu, roos, carpet python, koala, macaque, chimp and monitor lizard.  Debbie was pleased about the cassowary because although she's lived in Australia for about 30 years (she was born in Bermuda) she's never seen one before.

The koala was alert and on the move as soon as she smelt the fresh lemon-scented gum being brought it.  By the time the keeper had it in place, she was already into it.  Her companion, still a bit snoozy, took longer to get there.

In the Botanic Gardens there are superb examples of various tropical trees, including a giant banyan which has spread for quite a long way to make a shady picnic spot.

                                         Banyan tree- this is part of just one tree!

                                       

  Chris on the left, Debbie, and Kim bringing up the rear.  Don't know who the other bloke is.

After the Gardens we went shopping.  The Dales don't have much chance because there are no big stores in Bowen, so they needed to go to Spotlight and Harvey Norman to buy necessary items.

Heritage park

Kim and Debbie arrived yesterday afternoon looking exhausted after driving all the way from Bowen, over 500 kms.  We chatted for a while before dinner, over the noise of crows and corellas fighting over the same tree- the corellas won.  They are making a racket again as I type, but there are no crows involved this evening.

We cooked for the two travellers last night and tonight they will return the favour.  Today we all visited the Heritage Park a few kilometres out of Rocky, 128 acres with genuine old houses, churches, school, farmhouse buildings, many old trucks and tractors, army vehicles, fire engines, etc.  All set in garden surroundings, a very interesting place.  One house was built in 1908 and lived in till 2009, you wouldn't believe how primitive it was, with no mod cons at all, even electricity.  Others are even older, one which I thought was a modern idea of an old shack, with very draughty cracks in the walls, turned out to be the genuine thing.

Once again we've been blessed with a lovely day and if only those birds would stop their squawking I'd believe this was Paradise.

Cane toads and heritage buildings

Chris saw his first cane toad last night, it jumped across the path in front of him.  I still have that pleasure in front of me- ugh.

Yesterday we walked into the city, just across the bridge from the caravan park. Following the Heritage Walk, we went down Quay Street fronting the river on the city side, this is where all the important buildings were erected in the boom times, pre Federation.  Some very nice buildings among them, and this was a wealthy town, with gold discovered at Mt Morgan, not far away.  Rocky was the river port. The riverside has lovely shade trees and it's a very pleasant walk.

                                        Two of the lovely old buildings in Quay St facing the river.

We returned via East Street, parallel to the river, and the main shopping street- again, lots of shade.  Shade trees are so important in Queensland.  There were many cafes in amongst the dress shops and others but as in  many towns, the main focus has shifted to regional shopping centres, of which there seem to be many in Rocky. East St was very quiet at 10am. I suppose it gets busier at lunchtime when the office workers are there.

We went to another shopping precinct in the city, looking for a few items, and as we left there, Chris spotted something in a tree.  It was a pair of red-tailed black cockatoos eating seeds.  They are different from the ones we see at home, the female has yellow spots on her shoulders and yellow undertail with black stripes, the male has red under the tail. Unfortunately they were both sheltering in thick leaves so Chris wasn't able to get a decent photo.

We've been so lucky with the weather, although showers have been predicted for the last 3 days, they haven't happened, and we've been enjoying temperatures of around 26 every day.  There's usually a nice breeze as well, so altogether very comfortable.

Today Kim and Debbie arrive, they have had problems with their tow vehicle so will come sans caravan, and stay in a cabin in this complex.  They will stay till Sunday, and we will leave here on Monday, returning inland (where it's been raining since we left).  John and Marg hope to arrive about then.

Mt Archer, Yeppoon, Emu Park

Yesterday we drove up Mt Archer (604 metres) to a couple of lookouts, one looking over the city of Rockhampton, another (reached by a short walk we thought would never end!) towards the sea, about 40km away.  It was very hazy so the views weren't so great, but we could make out some of the islands in the big bay. One of them is Great Keppel, which has a resort on it. The view over the city was enlightening and helped us get our bearings.  It was easy to see the wide Fitzroy River and the bridge near the caravan park.

Rockhampton is a pleasant city of about 80,0000 population. It has many lovely parks with huge shade trees, wide streets, bike paths, and a number of regional shopping centres, one of which is enormous.  The climate is   warm, but at the moment quite a pleasant 28 degrees without high humidity.  I suppose it might not be so pleasant in the summer.  It's 40 kilometres inland but we've had cool breezes.

Today we drove to Yeppoon, a coastal resort area with many apartments and posh homes-with-a-view. The foreshore area is nicely done, with walks and shady bits, but the beach itself is a let-down.  The tide goes out forever, so that if you wanted a swim, you would die of exhaustion from walking across the mudflats before you reached the pitiful waves.  It looks as if you'd have to keep on walking for quite a time before the water reached your knees.  No doubt it's prettier at high tide, but even then the beach is  not what I call sand, more like a cross between sand and mud.

We enjoyed a coffee in a foreshore development (but don't you sometimes wish you could deduct the tip when the service is bad?) We then drove along the waterfront as much as possible, stopping at a shady table to eat our packed lunch (we are grey nomads, you know- don't buy it if you can make it).  There were some strange unfinished buildings there, as if someone was trying to build a Polynesian resort complete with palm-thatched roofs, but ran out of money)- oddly, the sign on the gate said it belonged to a man with the same name as one of his former pupils-NOT one he remembers fondly.  An unusual name, so one wonders).

Finally we reached Emu Park, where Chris and Barb stayed with their parents 58 years ago.  Barbara gained a badly split lip from a fall on Yeppoon breakwater, which Chris photographed to show her that she must have actually broken it and they had to build a new one.

Chris says the old breakwater was much longer so Wow! Barbara, you must have come down like a ton of bricks to demolish it!

There are still signs warning of emus near Emu Park but we didn't see any today, just a fairly sleepy little coastal town.  The family stayed in a hotel which is no longer here, and which featured a huge crocodile, also no longer here, though two of the Tourist Info people at Rocky said they remembered it.  And yes, there are crocs in the area, which surprised me, I thought they were much further north.  (Note to self: no strolling on nearby riverbank in the evening.) Not that that's likely, I take myself into the van fairly early every afternoon because those blessed midges I think I may have mentioned back in Narrabri or thereabouts are still plaguing me.  Not wanting to bathe in Aerogard every day, it's easier to stay inside.  Chris puts up with them but quite frankly they don't love him as much as they love me.

We're in the Tropics!

Currently in Rockhampton, where the Tropic of Capricorn passes through the town.  From what we've seen so far, it's a sizeable town with very helpful tourist info staff, nice parks including Botanic Gardens and a zoo.  We're staying at Riverside caravan park, quite nice, handy to town etc.  Might be a bit noisy as there's a busy bridge nearby but we'll manage.  Last night we had a constant stream of roadtrains but that didn't worry us too much.

That free camp at Duarangi turned out to be very popular, at least 12 vans/motorhomes there last night.  The area's quite roomy so there could have been quite a few more without any problems. Chris chatted to a guy, John, who's heading for Sapphire for 3 months, he's promised to lend us some gear and show us the ropes of fossicking when we get there later.

We were up early and got away just after 7, as we were still hooked up so had less to do.  There was a constant stream of traffic, mostly trucks, heading in the opposite direction all the way to Rocky.  Did I mention that the railway line from Emerald (at least) to Rocky is electrified?  Apparently the coal mines paid for the electrification.  What a good idea, since they are the ones to use it- a steady stream of long, long trains passes in both directions.  We measured one, which was about 2 kilometres long- when laden, they have 3 engines in front and 2 in the middle- they have some big hills to cross as well as the weight.  Going back empty, they use only 2 in front and 1 in the middle.

Mining is HUGE here.  It's part of the Bowen Basin, a rich coal area. We've passed a number of wide loads, most of them mining equipment but some farming machinery too.

The land became more hilly as we approached the coast, and we had a few drops of rain, not enough to put the wipers on though.  Rocky itself is not quite on the coast, it's about 30 kilometres to Yeppoon and Emu Park, but the river's salty as far as the weir and the info guy said they catch barramundi, whiting and other fish here, even from the banks right here at the caravan park.

We're having a quiet day at the moment, Chris is catching up on some sleep and we'll go for a drive later.  There's a good lookout nearby, which will help us get orientated.  At the moment I feel as if east should be here, when actually it's there.

PS We've now done in excess of 3,000 kms this trip.

Finally, internet connection!

We've been having a good time, with lovely weather if a bit warm at times (and a couple of chilly nights).  We're currently at Baradine, in the Pilliga Forest area, having stayed 3 nights at Tooraweenah, 56 kms south of Coonabarabran.  While there we explored the Warrumbungles, visited Siding Springs observatory, and had an exciting night time viewing of the stars from a private observatory.

We've seen roos, wallabies, foxes, emus and lots of other birds, which are very plentiful in the area.  Gulargumbone has galah sculptures made of corrugated iron- doesn't sound much but they're quite realistic. Coonamble doesn't have much to offer.  Coonabarabran is a reasonable town but not much of a shopping centre and we had to search for a place to eat on Saturday night. Its gimmick (they all have one) is Astronomy Capital, which is fair enough given the number of observatories in the area.

Sculptures in the Scrub is really worth a visit, and the sandstone caves just off the Newell Hwy have wonderful colours.  If you want more detail, read the daily diary below.

Roadtrains and Rolleston

Last night we saw the Night Show at the Big Rig, which gives the history of Roma's oil and gas exploration, much of the same detail as shown in the static displays, but presented in a more entertaining way.  Bundle up because it's outdoors, although they do have a few of those outdoor heaters.

One part of Roma's history I must share with you:  they were always short of water, so started boring holes to find some, without much success initially.  The first drill was powered by a poor horse walking in a circle for nine months (!) and reached only 500 metres without hitting water.  After that they switched to steam-driven drills, which were much quicker although they still had trouble finding water.  One drill struck gas, which whooshed up, blew towards the steam engine's fire, and bingo!  The resulting fire burned for months, was seen for 40 miles, and became a tourist attraction for a while until they worked out a way to cap it.  Another also struck gas, so it was deemed a failure (still no water).  The gas was left to whoosh out for 5 years before they thought of a way to use it- let's use it for street lighting!  Wow!  They had a big ceremony to turn on the lights and the ooohs! and aaaahs! could be heard for miles, and the streets were light as day- again tourists came to see and marvel.  Unfortunately, after letting it blow away for five years, the gas ran out after only 10 days!  Nowadays they have better methods and supply Brisbane with gas.  I don't know where they get their water.

It was good to get amongst hills again after so long on the seemingly endless plains.  Heading almost due north from Roma, we gradually climbed and soon had a view of distant mountains.  We climbed some more, saw some spectacular sandstone cliffs, then after a single straight steep decline we were in a lovely valley and more plains.  We stopped at the small town of Injune, which has a very nice Tourist Info place with free cuppa and biscuit.  The town is neat but we thought did not compare with Surat, which we saw a few days ago.  On past the turnoff to Carnarvon Gorge, which we will visit tomorrow, sans caravan, and on to Rolleston, an even smaller town which hasn't much to commend it but it's trying hard.  Boasting a population of 219 at the last census, it's on the intersection of 3 highways, from Roma, from Emerald, and from Moura.

The caravan park owner had warned Chris on the phone that "it's an old camp", and that's about it.  The owners are helpful and we have a concrete slab beside the van, which is always nice (not so far to step down, plus the floor doesn't get as dirty if you're not stepping off sand or mud or grass into the van.)  We'll go to the Gorge for the day tomorrow and check out the road- if it's not too bad we may move the van in there, but we've heard there are many creek crossings so probably not.  In any case we'll do a few short walks, possibly the next day as well.  It's a long drive, that's the only problem.

                                          Uptown Rolleston, Qld

                                           Comet River, Rolleston, looking west

Comet River looking east

We've just been for a walk to check out the town but we covered it so quickly it was not much exercise.  Surprisingly, there are a few concrete footpaths, which is more than Lake Macquarie council can manage.  There's a nice looking school with covered walkways, a library cum tourist information, an old fashioned store with everything, a hardware store, a pub that serves meals and also another eatery called "Corrugated Cuisine".  The lawns are mowed, there's a little park, and apart from a big yard full of deceased vehicles (and I mean a yard full, there's very little space left for the current, registered vehicle, and the old ones include trucks and caravans as well as cars), it seems like the residents are doing their best.

The Comet River was named by Ludwig Leichhardt who made observations of Comet Wilmot in 1844 (I'm so knowledgeable, am I not?  Thank you, Google and Wikidpedia). The town's streets have names like Meteor and the pub was originally named the Planet.  A town called Comet in the area is home to a "dig tree" where Leichhardt buried supplies. No, you absent-minded people who are wondering if it was THE dig tree, no, that was Burke and Wills, not Leichhardt.  L. did get lost, though- he successfully journeyed from Moreton Bay (Brisbane) to beyond Darwin, but on a subsequent expedition he was last heard of in Queensland, not so far from here- he was on his way to the Swan River in Perth, but never showed up- presumably dead by now.  I just now learned that a brass plate with his name was found in WA and in 2006 was proved to be authentic, so he did make it to WA, pretty amazing to cross the desert successfully.

So, we've all learned something today.

Change of plan-Rocky here we come!

Our original intention was to meet up with Chris' brother in law Kim Dale and wife Debbie at Sapphire, and do a bit of prospecting.  The original original plan was to travel with Chris' other brother in law John Dale and wife Margaret from Rathmines, but they have been delayed in Newcastle for another week.  Yesterday we learned that Kim and Debbie have been delayed in Bowen and won't be coming to Sapphire at all.

We still want to do some prospecting with John and Margaret, so we decided to put Sapphire on hold for the moment and use the intervening time to go to Rockhampton.  We may go further north to a place called Carmila, and meet up with Kim and Debbie there (if they can get away from their motel).  In any case. we'll stay on the coast for the time being and return to the Emerald/Sapphire area in time to meet up with John and Marg.  Since they won't be leaving Rathmines till Friday 20th, and will take at least 3 or 4 days to arrive up here, we will not head for the inland again before about Sunday or Monday next.

We've been very busy, and have seen many wonderful things in the last few days.  We passed some very odd looking mountains yesterday, and visited the lovely town of Springsure at the foot of them.  There's a really nice park stretching for some distance by the river.

Emerald is a big surprise.  It's a biggish town (pop 16,000 in 2008, probably quite a few more now).  There are jobs going begging, even saw a sign wanting apprentice hairdressers, but housing's in short supply.  There are two Centro malls, one for Woollies and one for Coles, but Woollies (and Big W) are also represented in a bigger shopping centre on the outskirts of town.  Pleasant info centre, nice wide streets with shady centre parkiing, lovely Botanic Gardens by the river.

                Botanic Gardens at Emerald.  Opened only in 1988, surprisingly advanced already.

We stayed at Higher Ground, a farm 16 kms out of town, near the Fairbairn Dam.  No facilities but only $5 per night, friendly owner and quiet, peaceful surroundings.  The dam is astounding, not for itself (dams are dams are dams) but for the multitude of birds, big and small, waiting at the bottom of the spillway for dinner to come to them.  I imagine that fish who've been hurtled down the spillway are a bit stunned and confused, and easy to catch.  There are literally hundreds of pelicans, shags, and other fish-eating birds swimming, flying, or sitting on concrete bollards and edges waiting for fast food.

This is a small portion of the hordes of birds awaiting fast food.  Can you see them lining the banks as well as swimming (and flying?)

After leaving Emerald this morning, we stopped briefly in the tiny village of Comet to see Leichhardt's dig tree.
The original tree, an old coolibah, has been removed to a shelter.  It's impossible to read the words in it now (it was carved in 1847, after all) but you can see where they used to be, and there's also a replica so you can see how it used to look.  Not much else to say about Comet except it's on the Comet River, naturally.

Replica of Leichhardt's "Dig Tree" with records in case he didn't return.  He did, that time, but the next time was lost forever.  Not sure if L was for Ludwig or for Leichhardt.

We stopped this morning at a rest stop in Blackwater, next to the Japanese gardens and a huge superseded dragline (mining) bucket which would hold about 50 people, maybe more- goodness knows how many tonnes of coal.  When I worked for Bradken I used to order from Canada and the US the "jewellery" (blades, points, scoops and other attachments that actually contact the earth when the digger's in use) for these enormous buckets.  Each bucket is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. (That's without the machine to drive it!) This is an excellent rest stop, with a Subway if you're hungry, good toilets and an open cut mining display which we found interesting- Bucyrus, Esco and Wear Resistant Products, all the products I used to import, were represented there, interesting to see how they were used.

  This is the big dragline bucket used in open cut mines. The bits pointing down at the front are the "jewellery" (isn't that sweet?)  They use different points and scoops etc for different types of terrain.

We've been out of mobile range for a few days so I'm behind in my blogging.  I haven't even finished telling you about Carnarvon Gorge but will try to do that now.  Photos will come later so be sure to re-read this and the Carnarvon section.

We've managed to identify the big raptors which are so plentiful in the area, we've been seeing them for days and today saw a flock of about 50.  They're called Black Kites, though they are actually brown.  Their forked tail seen from underneath is very distinctive.

Tonight we're free camping at Duaringa, about halfway to Rocky, a nice enough place with plenty of space (just as well, because at 4.45pm there are already 8 vans here). Luckily there is internet access, or rather mobile access, which makes our dongle work.  We went for a 5 minute ride which just about covered the town, it's got wide streets and lots of trees.  Not many shops but two servos.  Fruit bats are making a nuisance of themselves in the trees of a couple of residents, who are to be pitied, they're such smelly, noisy creatures.

We'll go to a caravan park in Rocky to do the washing and hopefully will catch up then.

Carnarvon gorge- simply gorgeous!

Yesterday was a long day.  It's 100 kms from Rolleston to the gorge, so a very long day trip.  On the drive in, there are a number of creek crossings.

Crossing Carnarvon Creek on the way in to the gorge- the tyres get washed!

 It's a good gravel road and we thought we could have taken the caravan in, but once there, there's only one place for caravans to go, Takarakka or some such resort, at $44 per night.  Tents can go right to the visitor's centre, I don't know if there's a camping fee but no fee for entering the park.  Many walks, varying length- we did one to Moss Garden which was 10km return with a number of stepping stone creek crossings.  We had lunch at this lovely spot, joined by a hopeful raven, but there was no way he was getting any of our food!  He did grab the gladwrap and flew off with it, dropping it out of reach so we couldn't retrieve it, which was a bit of a worry because some other animal might try to eat it.

At Moss Garden there's a little waterfall as well as mossy walls which are permanently damp due to a multitude of drips coming through the huge sandstone rocks above- they say that this is long-ago rain being filtered through the sandstone, maybe thousands of years old.

You start the walk by crossing this creek on stepping stones.  These were dry, but sometimes we got our feet a bit wet. This photo is looking up the gorge, which closes in as you walk further.

We did a couple of short walks, to the Rock Pool (where we decided not to swim, since the access to the water looked a bit dicey- we should have approached from the other side) and to Baloon Cave, where we looked at aboriginal art.  Obviously it was a huge slab of sandstone originally, but now much of it has broken off, but there are still designs to be seen, mostly hands large and small but also axes.

On the way back to the main road we stopped at one of the creek crossings and had a cuppa.  Further on, we saw some spectacular birds, which unfortunately flew further away as we stopped but we were able to identify them- jabiru.  They are absolutely lovely, with stark black and white colouring, and bright red legs, and as they are a type of stork, they are huge!

Overall, Carnarvon Gorge is well worth a visit for the lovely forest, well kept visitor centre area (roos are abundant here). The creek crossings (two where you actually drive through water) can become risky if there is rain in the area.

No photos yet but stay tuned!

Roamin' in Roma

It's been a lovely day in Roma after the chilly start.  It warmed up quite quickly and most of the day was about 26 degrees, quite pleasant.

We returned to the Visitors' Centre for more information.  Instead of looking for auto electricians and Toyota dealers, we were after sights to see in Roma.  We visited the Oil Patch exhibition inside the tourist centre, buying combined tickets for the day and night events.  Daytime is not really an event, it's a self-guided tour about the history of oil and gas exploration in the area, which has been going on for over a century.

          Big Rig at Roma. This was used for oil/gas exploration before they came up with mobile rigs. The truck is an old International known as JP's truck, JP being an old identity in the area.

Then we headed for the biggest bottle tree, not far away.  It's big, alright!

It being my birthday, we decided to have a pub lunch instead of the usual home made sangers. We'd noticed the Club Pub advertising meals for $12.90, and it turned out to be a really good deal, a huge countryman's lunch on a big plate.  I'd ordered steak with vegetables; the steak was delicious and quite large, and was accompanied by carrot, pumpkin, peas, mashed potato AND chips, and just to fill in the gaps, pasta.  Needless to say, some remained on the plate.

We walked off the lunch in the advertised "Bush Garden", which was disappointing.  A small lake with a few ducks, surrounded by a couple of copses with some of the trees named.  I suppose in an area so starved for water, no decent river here and an annual average rainfall of less than 600mm, a little lake is easy on the eye. Anyway, we had our walk.

So it was time to tackle the groceries.  Woolworths and IGA are both here, but we haven't noticed Coles.  We chose Woollies, as did hundreds of other people, and it's school hols so the kids were along too, most of them pushing their own empty trollies, and not looking where they were going- the parents, that is.  We've never come across so many people blocking the aisles, oblivious to everyone else.  Oh dear, we're still city slickers and haven't settled to the slow pace of life in the country.

Back on the farm, some people have left, others have arrived, so at $20 per couple, Pat's doing OK.  We haven't seen any animals on the farm so we take it to mean her conversation last night meant she has not yet bought any beasts, so at least this is providing her with some income.

 We think these are dusky woodswallows- we've seen them all over these Western areas, always in a bunch, always on the ground, though they fly away if you approach.

 Some of the retired farm machinery.  There are also 3 caravans of different vintages, and two old cars, one shown below. The other is a slightly less vintage Ford kept in a shed.

Name that car!  We have no idea except that it's American.  A gangster wagon if ever I saw one.

Soon we'll be setting off for the Evening Show at the Big Rig. Tomorrow we'll visit Injune, north of here, on the way to Rolleston, where we'll stay several nights while doing day trips to Carnarvon Gorge, which looks gorgeous in  the postcards I've seen, can't wait.  There's no TV reception at Rolleston, don't know about mobile reception so it might be a while before we're online again as after Rolleston we'll be going to Sapphire, and I don't hold a lot of hope for internet reception there either.  We plan on staying there for a few days, maybe a week, because we'll meet up with Kim and Debbie.  Chris spoke to Kim yesterday and they're leaving Bowen tomorrow in their van.

Sunny Queensland?

It was a chilly night here on Meadowbank Farm outside Roma.  We broke out the sleeping bags which we use as quilts, and slept snugly, but it was very cool getting dressed this morning, 6 degrees.  It's going to be a lovely day, mid-twenties predicted.

We'll go into town today and see the sights, and will eat out this evening.  I'd actually forgotten it was my birthday today but Chris remembered.  He gave me some pegs!  (He'd already given me my birthday gift before we left home).

This is a beef cattle farm, and the owner, Pat, a widow, was telling us how difficult life has been lately.  She looks like she's had hard times.  The drought forced them to sell off their breeding stock and she said it's very difficult to build it up again to the quality they had previously.  It still looks very dry here.  There's no river frontage but they have a bore. It's the sort of place where they never throw anything out, which explains the museum onsite. Various tractors adorn the yard, and at least two old cars.  We'll get Pat to let us into the museum sometime, apparently it takes at least 90 minutes to look at it.

More later

Repairs, relaxing and rustic camping at Roma

St George has a pleasant walkway on the riverbank with exercise stations, who needs a gym?  The locals are friendly and the streets mainly wide and tree-lined- a very attractive town with 4 pubs, 4 banks (though only 2 ATM's, one of which was OOO.

     Balonne River, St George- a raging torrent just 6-8 weeks ago, now peaceful and calm.

We'd been advised by several people to stop at Surat, on the way to Roma.  What a nice little town, and the Cobb & Co museum is worth a visit (gold coin donation).  Nowhere to park the caravan in the main street but the street next to the river, parallel to the main street, has plenty of room plus a nice shady park where we saw our first bottle tree.

Main street of Surat.  Museum, aquarium, art gallery, coffee shop, and a few other things in this building.

While driving across the continuing vast plains (though more elevated and more undulating now), we were reminded of the comment made on the Time Traveller show on TV on Sunday, about Australia being a flat red country- we coastal dwellers are not constantly aware of that fact, but it's very true.

While doing his normal stop for a check which he does about 15 minutes after leaving each morning, Chris discovered a loose connection in the Anderson plug which connects the car electrics to the caravan and runs the frig while we are moving.  He did running repairs but needed to see an auto electrician in Roma. James carried out roadside repairs around the corner from his place of work (we couldn't get the caravan closer) and all seems to be well now.  James said Roma had just had a very successful Easter in the Country festival (we were aware this was on, and avoided it).  We'd actually met someone in Mungindi who'd been there, he sells pegs (very good pegs, we bought some from him) and also plays harmonica in a band- he'd done both in Roma.  He offered to play the harmonica for us but Chris suddenly remembered an urgent appointment.  We both hate harmonicas and especially country music.

Repairs at Roma.  Note the bottle trees, part of a memorial avenue to fallen servicemen.

So, finally, to our destination, Meadowbank, a farm with a museum and camping grounds about 14 kilometres outside Roma on the Warrego Highway.  It's a comedown after last night, very rustic, complete with frogs in the toilet, but very quiet and I'm sure we'll sleep well, possums aside.  Possums made a bit of a racket at Mungindi and we woke the last morning after a few drops of rain to see where they'd been sliding down the windscreen of the car- what fun!

                      Amenities block- hot water is heated by a donkey engine (ie, a fire).

                                    Those windblown grass seeds again- stuck on the fence.

                                    The Meadowbank homestead, with a good example of a bottle tree