Day 89 – Saturday 16^th October 2021 – ? Km

An easy start this morning as we don’t have that far to travel. It is a beautiful morning in 1770, so calm & clear after the storms of yesterday. A few people near us are moving out this morning as well & because things are fairly tight we need to wait a little for others to move so that we can hook the Karavan up. We stop at the dump point on the way out & then refuel at Agnes Water. There is hardly any traffic heading out of 1770, most people are heading in to 1770 as it is the weekend so it is a calm & peaceful trip in to Miriam Vale on the Bruce Highway.

There is a nice big parking area for caravans in Miriam Vale & we find a shady spot before going for a short walk in the main street, it is only one block long & on one side of the street. The buildings are all old, some impressive, others weary. At the pub there is a small market on the corner & the Miriam Vale wood chop events are on today, a big occasion for the small town. We browse & do a little bit of retail therapy & make a small contribution to the town’s economy. The café we have lunch in is small & friendly, with seafood again the choice of us both, very tasty.

Back on the road & we pass the turn-offs to Tannum Sands & Gladstone before crossing the Calliope River & turning in to the Calliope River free camping area. We chose the north side to camp at & we find a nice spot with a good view of the river, in the shade & near the only toilet facility for both sides of the river. 

We set up then walk to the Calliope River Historical Village next door, this village consists of lots of old historical buildings that have been moved here from their previous locations, restored, furnished & open for display with a story on each building. The entry & food kiosk is the old Yarwun Railway Station building. We spend a good 2 hours walking around, looking at every building & the displays inside & reading the stories of each, it is very interesting. There is also a good collection of farm machinery & railway history. Inside the small Wright Cottage is an interesting display & we are surprised to find a possum resting on a shelf in a room suckling a young possum. There is even an old Freemason Hall completely furnished as it was left & the old school is also very interesting, Tereza & I reminisced about our memories of the desks with inkwells. The old Hazeldean Church is beautifully simple with an exquisite pulpit made by a farmhand of the time. We finished at 4pm just as the volunteers were packing up & leaving. Back at our van we relaxed with cheese, bikkies & a glass of red before walking down to the old bridge on the old Bruce Highway over the Calliope River. This old bridge is built on top of the old ford & you can still see the old rocks cemented in place to make the ford easier to cross. There are lots of people fishing for barramundi from this bridge as the tide comes in. It is remarkable watching the river flowing downstream over the rocks under the bridge then seeing at the next rockbar downstream the river flowing upstream with the tide. After a while the river is roaring over the rocks under the bridge as it floods upriver. The sunset is beautiful over the river & we walk back to our camp. The moon & stars are lovely & we have a nice cooling breeze blowing from the coast. Another great day.