Two Days on the Road -

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Rainbow Lorikeets - what's not to like?

On the last night in Carnarvon, I left the campervan flashlight in hand but not turned on (remember how much I love the darkness???).  That is why I forged ahead and fell over a huge log, landing hard on my right chest and scraping and bruising left shin, right elbow and hand. Altogether, I know I’ve been lucky to get away without breaking something. Jock thinks I may have an intercostal tear or perhaps a bruised rib, but compared to all that could have happened, I’ve definitely been lucky – didn’t even break my glasses or Jock’s camera that I was carrying!

 

 A "new" roo, not cute at all, but interesting:  probably an Eastern red with feet, tail and snout blackened by rooting around in the charred forest floor (there was a "controlled burn" here about 3 days ago and some of the larger logs are still smoking).

Leaving CGNP

We left Carnarvon with no particular destination in mind. Just as well as we wouldn’t have got there. The road works are seemingly endless – I wish I had kept a running count from the beginning. We now realize that likely they are still being repaired after the devastating floods of 2 years ago when it just rained and rained and rained. Much of Queensland was under water.

 

The first emus we've seen - how many heads can Ben find?

 

Jock spotted this great pond full of birds and we turned around to go back for a good view and photos - what a collection! Jabirus, now called black-necked storks, yellow billed and black billed spoonbills, egrets, ibises, herons, ducks.

 

We ended up in Chinchilla in the Show Grounds, of all places, because all of the former caravan parks are now turned into higher end “villas” – or any other term that will convince the miners and gas workers to pay more for their temporary lodgings.  At least the sunsets are still affordable...

It seems to be war between the traditional farms of the Downs and the mining companies. The farm land in the Downs is good and the fields are huge, reminding us of the prairies at times, when we see a cluster of enormous grain elevators, or of Texas, when we see vast cotton fields stretching to the horizon. Under all of this rich soil lie coal and/or gas. As we passed farm gates, we kept track of their protest signs: THIS GATE IS LOCKED TO COAL AND GAS MINING;  DUTCH SHELL GO TO HELL and so on.

We ate our breakfast at the Chinchilla weir and enjoyed the company of red-winged parrots, galahs and pelicans.

 

 

 Friday was miserably hot so our plans to stay at Broadwater Lake didn’t come to be. We went in to see it, the largest freshwater lake in Queensland, we’re told, but our Canadian hauteur when it comes to fresh water raised its ugly head. It was a poor excuse for a lake when you’re accustomed to Canadian waters. Aside from that, it is well used by water-skiers and jet skis. This facat, coupled with maybe the worst heat so far on the trip meant we couldn’t leave fast enough.

Friday night in Stanthorpe in a caravan park of no great character but with power points and clean amenities. We’re starting to need more comforts in our old age. It’s beautiful  after the winds and rain swept through in the afternoon, a weather event known as a “cool change”.

This morning, Saturday, we got a message from Pacific Coach Lines that they have “found” Jock’s missing suitcase. Great!  It can’t help us here!

 

Today we're headed for Girraween NP.  From the web site:

Girraween, meaning 'place of flowers', is a park of massive granite outcrops, large angular tors, and precariously balanced boulders. Spectacular wildflower displays splash colour among the granite in spring.

We can only hope it's so....