Statistics

• Trip 18/08/2020 – 29/11/2020 : 3 months, 11 days
• Car Distance Travelled: ~8,300km
• Caravan Distance Travelled: ~6,200km
• Wiki Camps Trip Record: https://wctrip.co/au/601748/1726715917

We are now residing at Chateau Cooper where we have an idyllic environment to relax and wait.

Of all the caravan parks, this was the most difficult to reach. The Tom Tom and Google both wanted us to take the caravan the same way, along Postmans Track, which had a sign indicating that it is not suitable for heavy vehicles or caravans. This meant we would have to try the approach from the top of the range from Conondale itself.

As we reached the alternative, Aherns Road, we were confronted again with a even larger notice that the road was not suitable for heavy vehicles and caravans. While we were considering calling the Caravan Park to learn how to get there, some locals stopped and talked to us. Once they knew we were heading to Crystal Waters they told us that this was was fine to get there and they offered to lead us to the caravan park as they lived just past it. The road was narrow in places but we arrived safe and sound.

We went for a drive into Maleny for some fuel and supplies and decided to drive the Postmans Track without the caravan to see what it was like. I was extremely steep, narrow and bendy. If two caravans met along the way they would not be able to pass each other, two cars could but with not much spare room.

The Caravan Park was very pleasant and relaxing with no mobile or television reception and only the WiFi in the camp kitchen providing us with a link out of the valley. The sounds of the birds and the kangaroos and wallabies that were visiting us made the stay very enjoyable.

Now that we have reached Dalby we have moved into maintenance and cleaning mode. This is our last stop in a major town before putting the caravan in for repairs in a weeks time and the car for a service and airbag suspension repairs. We have carried out minor repairs where screws have worked loose and have repaired a cupboard door latch that was partially broken.

In the hedge next to the caravan we have found a mum and baby possum. It must be their home as they are there each day we have been here and at night they must be off doing their forraging. WE did not do much looking around but made a couple of trips by foot to the supermarket for supplies.

Moving on from Dalby we travelled onto a farm-stay at Rangemore Estate, a winery that has been suffering from drought for the past 6+ years to the extent that the vines have died. Ther now run some sheep and a goat. This is our base for the Bunya Mountains.

We drove up the mountains to Dandabah to get a walking map and had lunch at “The Bunyas Coffee Shop & Tavern”. Rather than return directly we travelled through the mountains and back via Bell as we heard that there was a great coffee shop there. Unfortunately for us it was closed being a Monday, glad we had lunch at Dandabah.

Storms then developed and we had a day in the caravan as the wind began blowing very hard, enough to shake the caravan. Looking at the radar there was rain falling around us but nothing on the farm. That night while cooking dinner the gas bottle ran out. We switched over to the second bottle and finished cooking. In the morning there was no gas left. When switching over, the connections were double checked in case they came loose while travelling. So either there was very little gas in the second bottle or we has a leak somewhere. It was the first time that bottle had been used. We did a gas bottle swap at Quinalow.

There is an old disused railway tunnel located near by, the Mantapa Railway Tunnel built in 1912, that now is home for Bent Wing bats. It is the longest single bore railway tunnel. The tunnel is open to walk into but the middle section is fenced off as it is where the bat reside. Kulpi was our lunch destination but we also visited Quinalow and Maclagan.

Our last day we went back tot he Bunya Mountains for a walk along one of the many track. We chose the Scenic Circuit taking in Festoon Falls, Pine Gorge Lookout and Tim Shea Falls. Undoubtedly the best part of the trip was the wildlife, although we would have been happy to leave out the snake encounter.

We are now driving through Wheat and Cotton farms. We arrived at St George after the longer than usual drive but the roads are continually improving although there are some very rough sections.

We spent a day travelling round a 200km loop visiting local towns that each had something to see.

Dirranbandi was the first stop for morning tea as they have a Russian Bakery that make all sorts of sweets, pastries and Russian Breads. The artwork around the town was great to look at.

Thallon was out stop for lunch at the Francis Hotel where they have a “Drop Bear” on display. We visited the Silo Painting and the Giant Northern Hairy Nosed Wombat. It is amazing to see the enormous stock piles of wheat under tarps. They are hundreds of metres long and fifty metres wide and we counted at least five of them. A road train of wheat can only make a tiny dent into one of these.

Nindigully is very small and it is basically a pub on the side of the Moonie River. There were many Caravans free camping here.

The Caravan Park had mobs of kangaroos relaxing in the shade of the trees and feeding on the grass.

We visited the Visitor Information Centre which included a museum and a “Time Tunnel”. Driving around the town we past many old building and stopped to see the “Cunnamulla Fella” statue. We learned that the original council competition for creating a sketch of the “Cunnamulla Fella” was won by our Mapleton Neighbour Michael Nicholas back in 2004. From this sketch Archie St Clair Scuplted the statue.

We visited a local winery for a tasting the “Cunnamulla Conservation Bushlands” walking through the different type of bushland that makes up the outback.

Our first stop on the Natural Sciences Loop was in Quilpie where we set up camp and enjoyed the artesian spas that were available for guests to use. The water was around 38c and very relaxing.

We went exploring the town which has many pieces of artwork and in the main street and Information Centre. There is also an old water tower and the original artesian bore.

We visited The Lake before stopping off at the swimming pool to cool off.

We spent an evening at Baldy Top Lookout to experience the sunset. Magnificent views in all directions.

The second stop on “The Loop” was at the Eromanga Natural History Museum to see the Dinosaurs and Megafauna, the home of Cooper, a Titanosaur, one of the world’s largest dinosaurs.

We continued on to Thargomindah where we stopped just for a night.

Our next stop was Augathella where we took some photos of murals, the resident giant meat ant, filled up with some diesel and continued on our way.

We arrived at the Evening Star Caravan Park and checked in before heading into Charleville for a look around and supplies. We arrived back at the caravan park in time to attend happy hour and meet the owners and campers. We were even brave enough to try their Blue Mulga Gin that they had made, which was not a bad drop.

We went for a walk around the caravan park property visiting the woolshed and the night viewing location before walking around the perimeter of the property, along the dog fence. We stumble across a clay pigeon launcher and an experiment by a university that appeared to be testing nets and roofing sheets.

We booked in to attend the Cosmos Centre for a night viewing which made our decision to stay another night so that we didn’t have to hit the road after a late night star gazing. The star gazing at the caravan park had ended for the season as has the Bilby viewing in Charleville.

The Cosmos Centre was amazing with lots of displays to learn about our solar system and videos as to how it came into existence and what will happen to it, eventually. The night viewing was outside starting in a building with a couple of telescopes. As the introduction began the building spliot in to and retracted away from us leaving an unobstructed view of the night sky. After a cloudy day we actually had clear skies for the viewing. We looked at

• Canopus, the brightest star in our sky,
• Large Magellanic Cloud, Globular cluster
• Small Magellanic Cloud, Globular Cluster
• Pleiades star cluster, aka the seven sisters
• Jupiter, along with four of its moons
• Saturn, including seeing it rings
• Shooting stars, during the evening

We then enjoyed a day of rest before heading off along the “Natural Sciences Loop” to Cunnamulla.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (Yeast, salt, flour).
Make a well in the centre, add the wet ingredients (oil and water).
Mix with a spatula then your hands until coming away cleanly from the side of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes.
Mould into a loaf tin pushing into the corners.
Leave to rise for 60 minutes. Or in the fridge overnight.

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.
Brush the top with water.
Cut a cross about 6cm long into the top of the loaf.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
Cool on wire rack.

We arrive in Blackall early afternoon with the temperature around 39c. We set up the caravan and went into town to check out what is there. We found the Black Stump which possibly means that we are no longer “Beyond the Black Stump”, until we head to Charleville in a couple of days.

We also found the Tribute to Jackie Howe who shore 321 sheep in one day using blade shearers back in 1892.

We also went and visited Ram Park with it historical display.

We found the Artesian Aquatic Centre and later when it was open we went for a swim and a spa in the 38c artesian waters. Most relaxing. When we got back to the caravan we discovered that the “cold water” connected to the caravan was coming our at 42c so it is too hot for a shower and just bearable for washing up. Hopefully the water in the amenities is a bit cooler.

We visited the Woolscour a little out of Blackall for a tour. The Woolscour has been lovingly restored and the tour was most informative.

While talking with Annette, our guide, we learned that someone from Mapleton had just dropped by to say hi. It turns out that it was friends of ours from Mapleton so we phoned them and caught up with them for lunch and dinner over several drinks. At Robert’s suggestion we have stayed a couple of extra nights in Blackall and are travelling with Robert and Linda to Yaraka for the day. Robert believes that Yaraka is a must see and wants to show us around.

We were picked up around 9:00am and stopped at Emmet along the way for Robert to catch up with friends, being the entire Emmet population of two. Then we went to Mt Slocombe to look at the magnificent vista of very little as far as the eye could see. After that we continued on to Yaraka for lunch at the pub. Being a Saturday it was very quiet as the regulars had gone to Isisford for the horse races.

After a day of travelling we spent a quiet day in the caravan and Ian baked a loaf of bread for the first time on this trip. It was a wholemeal loaf

The caravan park was very pleasant and the local Wellshot Hotel was just next door. Once our camp was set up we travelled into Longreach for a look around to se how things had changed and collect brochures from the information centre. One the return I videoed the machine mile, the railway side of the road through Ilfracombe that contains many many machines on display.

One returning to the caravan park we discovered that our camp had been disrupted with the awning in pieces one window off, another broken damaging the blind and the TV aerial bent, even though it was down at the time. Our new neighbours who arrived while we were out came up to let us know that a mini tornado, a whirly whirly, entered the park going up the awning side of the caravan then turned around left the park.

Chris along with help from the caravan park were able to remove the awning that is no longer usable and managed to refit the window that was blown out. We contracted Joseph a local caravan repairer to check out the van and let us know if it was still fit to be towed. He inspected and checked the roof for damage and was surprised that he could not see any damage to any of the panels. He informed us that it would be fit for towing without the awning.

We went to the Wellshot hotel that evening to begin drowning our sorrows and to have a meal as neither of us felt like cooking. The Wellshot Hotel is a lovely little country pub with some quirky bar stools.

The next day we went back into Longreach to purchase with the aim of purchasing something to be able to provide us with some shade. Marquee’s we in short supply and expensive so we got two tent poles and using some leftover shade cloth rigged a shade cloth replacement awning, albeit it a lot smaller.