Continued ..... Day 10 – Friday 14 June
Warrumbungle NP to Queensland - 485 km
We headed north on the Leichhardt Way, and it was probably the worst 96 km stretch of highway that we have experienced for many a day. It was terrible.
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| Thomassen De Stegg Holland Beam Pump The original beam pump used on the Moonie #1 well back in the mid 1960's |
We wandered over to the hotel to have a drink and support the remote business. On the way back we scored a photo of a great sunset.
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| Sunset over the Moonie hotel/motel/service station/caravan park |
Shirley found her wand and conjured up some spaghetti bolognaise.
Day 11 – Saturday 15 June - Moonie to Miles - 135 km
An early and a slow start meant that we were on the road around 8:15 am. The local amenities were probably built when Moses was a boy, but the shower had the basic ingredients - it was clean, the water flowed down the drain (not out the door) and there was plenty of hot water.
I chatted to a local dog who seemed unhappy sleeping in 3 degrees when his master was warm inside. It's a dogs life.
The road to Miles was a bad as we experienced yesterday - maybe worse. There were repeated road-works where there was no road being worked and no people.
We duly arrived in Miles - a lovely little town and chatted to the lady at the Information Centre. IGA was next for some basic provisions. Then the bakery for coffee and tarts.
We back-tracked 5 km to Gil's Weir and camped under some cyprus/pine trees. Friends Ray & Gill soon pulled in beside us. It was a lovely spot.
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Above - Gil's Weir Below - Our camp site |
The fire was lit around 2:45, the pork was added at 3:55, the main veggies added about 4:45, the steamed veggies happened inside the caravan, as did the gravy. Darkness occurred before the feast.
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Above: Need I say what? Below: The 'kitchen' before & after dark Bottom: Roast pork & 10 Veggies |
It was amazing that we could be camped under pine trees, have a campfire, then feast on roast pork, ten veggies and gravy. Although the evening started to get cool the fire made the al fresco dining a pleasant experience. A glass of wine heightened the experience.
By 7pm we were inside the caravan as the temperature dropped. The diesel heater swung into action.
Day 12 – Sunday 16 June - Miles
At 6.30 am it was 9 degrees in the caravan and 2 degrees outside, so the diesel heater was reawakened. The sun was appearing and the forecast was 18, so the day was promising. I went for a walk to get an early morning photo. Alas, no birds.
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| Early Morning at Gil's Weir |
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| Ray doing breakfast |
Eventually we all appeared, Ray to cook a sumptuous breakfast outside.
Jobs were done, albeit slowly. There was no need to rush. By 10 am it was 15 degrees.
The day drifted along with little action. The main decision was that dinner would be lamb chop stew, followed by apple damper and cream.
Some wood was collected.
So the fire was lit at 3:15 and the stew started at 3:50. Veggies came later as did the apple damper.
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| Fire & Dinner in progress |
Everything went swimmingly until Shirley started to serve the dessert. A black/burnt bottom of the damper indicated that I had not put a 'trivet' under the damper - a very necessary task (to keep the damper off the bottom of the camp-oven. Shirley's deft hand delivered the apple damper without the burnt base. All turned out OK.
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| Apple Damper |
The cream helped. We sat around the fire and listed to Gill's music. Ray heated the kettle on the magnificent coals before the fire pit was filled in. It had been a superb fire.
Chairs & tables were packed away in readiness for a move north tomorrow - of 25 km.
We were inside by 8 pm.
Day 13 – Monday 17 June - Gil's Weir to Possum Park
Another chilly start, being 3 degrees at 6.45 am, when I pressed the start button for the diesel heater. With about 25 km to travel there was no rush. So we headed off just before 9 am and had a coffee in Miles - arriving at Possum Park around 10:20 am.
Possum Park was an RAAF ammunition storage dump in WW2. It has 16 underground bunkers - three different sizes. All bunkers are dug into the side of the same hill. The road/walk around the 16 bunkers is 3.4 km.
Possum Park is now a combination caravan park and tourism venue. Dozens of bougainvillea brighten the park.
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| A sample of the bougainvillea that we saw |
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| Shirley & Ray in front of Bunker # 1 |
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| Shirley inside the only bunker that we could enter |
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| A bunker that has been converted into accommodation |
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| Former TAA Vickers Viscount 756C |
The owners did not rest there. They bought and installed a number of old train carriages as accommodation, a library, a TV room and an artist studio.
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| An old train carriage as a library, a TV room and an artist studio |
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| Ray considering a new career - in the Bush Chapel |
Around 4:30 we wandered down to happy hour, which was a number of bench seats around a 'roaring' campfire. Our hostess for the night arrived and provided a tour of the TAA plane.
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| The TAA Vickers Viscount modified for accommodation Bathroom etc at the rear |
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| The TAA Vickers Viscount cockpit |
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| Shirley glad to be home |
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| Our Fifth Campfire in Five Days |
Day 14 – Tuesday 18 June - Kowguran (Possum Park) to Theodore
It was one degree at 7 am, with a clear sky, as the sun rays filtered through the trees. We have 460 km to cover in three days (to Yeppoon) so early starts are off Shirley's agenda (which is nothing unusual).
Possum Park was left behind around 9 am and by 10 am we were in Wandoan, a town of 666 people. A coffee was had, then a fun & informative chat to a lady and her home taught year 7 daughter at the Information Centre.
A couple of photos were taken of the water tank and the windmill and the return services memorials. There were 103 soldier settlement blocks balloted and distributed after WW2. A rose garden & path has accompanying plaques that provide the names of the members of each of those many families.
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| Wandoan Water Tower |
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| A historic windmill |
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Above & Below - Memorials to local service personnel |
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| A Bottle Tree made of wire |
We visited the Waterloo Plains Environment Park and I was lucky enough to get a couple of photos of Great Egrets.
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| Great Egrets |
Taroom was next on the road north, where we stopped at a local Cafe for pie, chips and coffee. It was an excellent lunch.
Onwards we pressed and stopped at Theodore for the night - a free camp in 'Junction Park'. A walk around town provided photos of the mural on the water tower.
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| Mosaic at Junction Park |
The four of us wandered 450 metres down to the historic Theodore Hotel and had one drink. Dinner was left over beef stew and leftover lamb stew.
Day 15 – Wednesday 19 June - Theodore to Moura
Continuing a recent (chilly) theme, at 6 am it was 10 degrees inside the caravan and two degrees outside. So the diesel heater again swung into action.
By 6.30 am I was in the $1 shower, and it was excellent.
Soon after 8 am we departed Theodore and drove the 48 km to Moura. We passed many cotton fields which looked ready to be harvested.
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| Cotton |
We had a quick look around Moura - as we were here two years ago - and headed 6 km west of town to the free camp at Apex park on the Dawson River.
Our camp for the day was established by 10:30 am.
We relaxed and did very little. It was a magnificent day, maybe around 24 degrees. Ray and I went for a drive and scavenged some wood. We found the bank of the Moura Weir, nearly 2 km down stream from our camp. No wonder the water level is a consistent height.
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Above - The bank of the Moura Weir across the Dawson River Below - The weir bank and the upstream water (Our camp was around 1.5 km to the right) |
A subsequent walk captured my favourite bird - a Kookaburra. I reckon that this guy was a Blue Winged Kookaburra.
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| Blue Winged Kookaburra |
Around 4 pm we lit the fire and another superb campfire it became. A BBQ had been decided for dinner - so sausages, potatoes in foil in the coals (with sour cream), onions, mushrooms, broccoli and carrots were destined for our plate. It was a meal that was fit for Kings & Queens.
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| The fire at 4 pm |
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| Happy Hour for Shirley, Gill, Chris & Ray |
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| Dinner Fire & Dinner |
It did not end there as BBQ'd pancakes were dished up for dessert - with a variation of toppings. Sleep was not an issue.
Day 16 – Thursday 20 June - Moura to Yeppoon
It only dropped to six degrees, but the heater still came on at 6:30 am. We were on the road soon after 8 am and headed to the coast.
We passed through Moura and bought diesel in Banana, mainly for the diesel heater. A coffee stop happened at Wowan, where they are establishing a historical village.
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| Wowan Historical Precinct |
As we traversed the Mt Morgan hills a rock provided a 30 cm crack in the windscreen - a job for next week. That grew to 35 cm by the time we went to bed.
Information was gathered at the Information Centre in Rockhampton and we were setting up camp just south of Yeppoon by soon after 12:30.
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| Site at NRMA Capricorn Palms - Yeppoon |
That took a while and the lovely shower afterwards took nearly as long. We were about 350 metres from the beach.
It was time to relax, with Ray & Gill being about 50 metres away.
There was Happy Hour, then BBQ pork dinner, then relax.
This chapter is complete. The following is our route from home to Yeppoon. So far we have travelled 2655 km, or around 166 km per day. That rate should halve by the time we leave Yeppoon.
Last updated at 12:30 pm on Saturday 22 June 2024
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