Packed camp & away before 9am, then just on the outskirts of Roma we were stopped by Police, a very wide load was coming through, it was a house on a truck. The road from Roma to Surat is rolling grasslands on either side of the road, but we don’t see many cattle at all. There is the occasional homestead & the occasional entrance road to a station that we see. There is a bit of traffic coming the other way but nothing passes us at all & we are only travelling at between 80 & 90 km/hr.
Surat is a small town with an interesting history. We stop at the old Cobb & Co Coach house that is now a museum, we have a look through it. They have a very large fish tank in the foyer with lots of native fish local to the area swimming around in it. There is a very comprehensive history of the town, the district plus the role of the Cobb & Co Coach with early transport systems for the outback of Queensland. The museum is very interesting & you could spend all day in there reading it all. In a large back room is a beautifully restored 14 seater coach that was pulled by a team of up to 8 horses dependent upon the load & the road. The Surat Shire Hall is a very impressive building with striking architecture, it is great to see it being cared for as well as it is.
The countryside after Surat is more of the same but the fields change to wheat paddocks, then as we get closer to St George & the Balonne River there are cotton fields. Again hardly any traffic on the highway. At St George we check in to the van park & set up then turn the air-conditioner on, it is 36C & very hot. We have lunch then do some reading, playing cards (Tereza beat me both games) & resting before heading to the camp kitchen for some port, garlic bread & meeting & chatting with some fellow travellers. All very interesting & we get some travel tips for things to see in St George & district tomorrow. Back to the van & a nice BBQ dinner. Another great day.
An early start this morning again, this time we are off to the Roma Saleyards, the largest cattle selling site in the southern hemisphere. We are there by 8.15am & the auction has already started, today they are selling around 8,500 cattle. We meet a volunteer guide, a retired worker from the saleyards called Geoff, he is very informative & explains the history, the types of cattle, the breeds of cattle & the sales process. Geoff then takes us on a short walking tour of the cattle yards & the live weight weighing system & explains the process of moving the cattle through the vast complex of pens. He explains the auction process & we watch & hear an auction of cattle in progress. It is very quick & very hard to understand what the auctioneer is saying. We thought we would be there for at most an hour, but it is 3 hours later before we finally leave & head back to the van for lunch.
On the way we stop & take a photo of a really great horse made out of rusty steel, further on we stop at an Aboriginal sacred land, where 3 elders are mainly responsible for a simple bush park & a glass display cabinet with some boomerangs, a couple of birds, echidnas, an Aboriginal painting & their flag on a tree trunk – I think maybe it is still a project in progress. A little bit further on another stop because we spotted some art. Most of the art has been removed, either sold or the artist took it. We see two magnificent black cockatoos made out of corrugated iron – really good but the going price is $20,000. There is also a sculpture of a baby magpie & a soldier. It is a shame that we missed out on seeing the other art pieces.
After lunch we head back to the Visitor Information Centre for the guided tour we missed yesterday. We are taken around the static displays of drilling rigs & equipment & given a thorough talk on the history of the gas & oil industry of the Roma region from start to the present day. It was very hard work in the early days, with the equipment & technology improving significantly since then. We look at a large drilling rig that was abandoned in a paddock on a farm for more than 50 years before being relocated into Roma by the local Apex Club & becoming the star attraction at the Visitor Centre. Afterwards we have high tea, sandwiches, scone sized mini dampers, jam & cream. Very tasty.
Next we go back into downtown Roma & visit Ace Haberdashery, my goodness, this store has very narrow aisles because they are packed to the rafters with all sorts of fabrics, craft items, pots, pans & stuff. It is amazing to walk in here & see it all.
Back to the van & before too long it is time for the sunset tour at the Visitor Centre. This is a detailed talk on the big drilling rig, including the history, the men that worked it & how it came to be. Very interesting & informative. At the end we are treated to a shot of port, it is very nice, we keep the shot glass as a souvenir. Then it is out to the sunset outdoor theatre that is set up to represent a drilling camp. The video is very informative about the history of the discovery of gas & oil in Roma on Hospital Hill & the many different holes drilled in the search for gas & the many companies & men that were involved.
Back to the van then showers, a glass of red (too full from afternoon tea to eat) & bed. Another great day.
It is raining this morning when we wake & a storm skirts around us, a bit of thunder & a bit of wind, but not too much. So we change our plans, we were going walking, now we go shopping, a few groceries & a medicine script for Tereza, the chemist at Roma has it, so only missed out one day. The rain stopped, it is overcast but not hot so a good time to drive to the Roma Bush Gardens & have a nice slow walk on the concrete pathway around the railway Dam. It is very pleasant & thankfully nice & cool after the rain. There are signs dotted around explaining what the trees & shrubs are that we are looking at. There are lots of waterbirds in the dam & lots of birds in the trees, shrubs & on the grasses.
Back to our van for lunch then down to the Visitor Information Centre for the 4 hour experience we had booked & paid for at 2pm. Come 2pm & a women at the counter asks if she can help us. We are waiting for the tour start I reply, what tour start she asks, the complete tour I say. There is none booked today she says, I show her my receipt for the full tour. There is nothing in the computer she says. Anyway, we are now booked on the full tour tomorrow.
Alternative is that we go on a walking tour of the historic buildings around town. We have a map & start our walk, there are information signs on the footpath opposite that provide a great overview of the history of the building. We also look at the Remembrance Walk, Queensland Bottle trees that have been planted & a brass plaque commemorating each soldier from the Roma district who was killed during the First World War.
Back to the van, nice cheese, bikkies, red wine & an amazing sunset this afternoon, an amazingly beautiful show. Afterwards we had a nice BBQ dinner. Another great day.
I was up & out before sunrise this morning but we had another slow start, there is no rush. We spent a lot of time chatting with our camping neighbours this morning, he is from South Africa & his partner is Australian, they seem really nice people. We got away around 8.20am & drove relatively slowly away from Injune heading south again. The road is again fairly quiet with the main traffic coming the other direction are a few road trains & the odd car. We are overtaken by two cars on the whole 90 odd kilometres. The countryside is mainly flattish & mostly cattle grazing land. There are no towns between Injune & Roma.
We get into Roma around 9.30am & drive a little bit out of town to the Gun Club, our campsite for the next few nights. There is lots of space & not many campers, the tourist season is just about finished, it is starting to get too hot. As we set up camp there are lots of shots that we hear. The local pistol club members are having a shoot this morning. There is a pair of Tawny Frogmouth birds nesting in a Queensland Bottle Tree nearby & we go to have a look at them, they stay rock solid still with their camouflage of feathers.
After setting up we head back into town to explore. We go to the Tourist Information Centre & book some tours for tomorrow & then have lunch in the café. Very lucky, it is midday & they close the café at midday on Sunday. The Beckys Special Angus burger is very tasty, we both have one of those. Again it is so much food, we are both full.
Next on the agenda is the big Bottle Tree, it is the largest Queensland Bottle Tree in Roma & Roma has lots & lots of bottle trees growing around town, there are hundreds. This tree is seriously big, it is so squat & round, we are impressed. We then have a bit of a random drive around Roma & come across the old council chambers & courthouse & police station plus the new courthouse, they are all nice old buildings with an interesting style about them.
Back to camp & on with the air conditioning, it is 35C & we need to cool down. There are a series of gunshots as some of the Gun Club members practice their clay pigeon target shooting for around an hour. The sunset is beautiful this afternoon & we finish the day with some nice King Island blue cheese, bikkies & red wine. Another great day.
What a beautiful morning, everything is fresh & clear after the rain. A few campers leave early and we have a leisurely breakfast & slowly pack. The campgrounds are nearly deserted by the time we leave, it is a shame we are not staying here for a few more days, this is an absolutely beautiful campground. I have a chat to one of the staff at Takkarakka, the Carnarvon Gorge National Park is closed until 31 October. As we drive slowly out to the highway we find that the road into the National Park has a barrier across it & a “Park Closed” sign. The drive out is full of beautiful scenery with the sheer sandstone cliffs of the Carnarvon Ranges dominating the landscape. On the road south the scenery is just as spectacular with the sandstone ranges looking stunning & rugged. There is hardly any traffic on the highway, an occasional caravan or truck going the other way. Only one vehicle passes us in the whole 111km into Injune & we are only travelling at around 90km/hr with a 110km/hr speed limit.
We stop at Injune & set up in the small caravan park in town that is just a very hot piece of land with no trees, oh how we miss Takkarakka camp site, but this place has nice clean amenities & we are only here for one night. We went looking for somewhere to eat. The only place open is the Shell Service Station so I had a giant truckie burger & Tereza just a normal burger that was big enough for lunch, & delicious. The temperature is 39.5C with a strong hot wind. We walk a short way to the only tourist attraction that Injune has, an old steam train & the old Injune Railway Station. The information written up on the walls of the old railway station is very interesting & informative, we spend a long time reading all the stories.
On the main street we see for such a tiny town an unusual amount of cars parked, we found out from a man that they are having a big festivity, celebrating the 100th anniversary of their school.
Next we head to the old coal mine site about 4km south of Injune that supplied the steam trains, this is just off the highway & is very basic. A steel cut-out of a miner, a pony & a mine cart on an old tailing heap plus an information sign next to a table with seats under a roof. We are just about finished when another couple turned up & we chatted with them for more than an hour in the shade of the roof with the table. They were very interesting to chat with & we shared many similar experiences.
Back to the van & on with the air conditioner, it is so hot. We spend a couple of hours in here until the sun goes down then have some cheese, bikkies & red wine. Off to the showers, but before I went I stopped & chatted for ages with our new neighbours. Coming back we caught up with a bit of reading & writing. Another great day.
Today is a rest day to recover from the exertions of the walk yesterday. The Carnarvon Gorge National Park is closed & a lot of campers have left. The campgrounds look deserted. Tereza decided that I had to have a haircut & that’s exactly what she done, I am a new man now. I went for a walk later in the morning & got to the platypus pool & chatted for a while to a couple from near Toowoomba. A storm is gathering & thunder is rumbling so we head back to our vans. As I get back the first drops of rain start to fall & the storm is upon us, wind, heavy rain, light hail, lightening & thunder. We hope the trees surrounding us stay upright. We take the opportunity to have lunch during the storm & our Karavan keeps us cosy & dry.
The sun comes out after lunch & I put our ground mat out to dry on some nearby logs. Another storm rolls in & we head back into the Karavan but this one is not as severe nor as long. We head out for a short walk around the campgrounds & hurry back to the Karavan after another storm rolls in. Later on we wander down to the reception to buy an ice cream each & come across an echidna nosing around in the soft dirt after the storms looking for a feed. The echidna is not fussed by us at all & goes about its business, flinching at times when a peal of thunder rolls across the heavens.
Afterwards we have a game of cards then time for showers & dinner. We have showers in daylight so that we can find our Karavan again, it is difficult in the dark in a strange place. Dinner on the BBQ of steak, onion, capsicum & potatoes, simply delicious with a glass of red. A lazy but great day.
An early start (not early enough, we wanted to start walking at 6am) we were at the start of the walking track into Carnarvon Gorge National Park by 8am with lunch packed & lots of water in the backpack. We were here in 2010 & walked all the way to the end of the Gorge at Big Bend & back whilst looking at all the side gorges (each of the side gorges you have 600 metres more or less to walk in) too in one day. Today we are not so ambitious (those were the days, 11 years younger certainly makes a difference). There is a sign at the start of the track stating that the track will be closed at 3pm due to encroaching wildfires.
We cross the Carnarvon Creek over the dozen stepping stones full of excitement for the scenery that we knew lay ahead. The track has changed since we were last here with lots of steps put in along the track. We can understand why, the track is so worn in places from the huge amount of foot traffic. This is a very popular park, understandably so. There are a few walkers that overtake us as we are walking along slowly & taking our time. The scenery is just as beautiful as we remember it with the giant sandstone cliffs closing in on either side & giant gum trees & palm trees reaching to the sky. In places we can see that a fire has burned through here within the last year.
As the time passes there are lots more people that walk past us, some stop for a chat. The turn off to the Moss Garden is a bit over 3km along the track & it is a further 600m in & up the side of the gully. It is tough walking with lots of rough steps up & down crossing a few small creek beds. There is a new board walk & seats here but the moss gardens are just as beautiful with the small waterfall & all the moss growing on the rocks with water dripping out of it. It is also very wonderfully cool in here as the day is starting to really warm up. We sit & have our morning tea & wash it down with some of the cold water we brought. The colours here are amazing as the sandstone is sitting on top of an impervious layer of shale & the contrast in colours from the shale to the sandstone to the mosses & ferns is very pretty.
The walk back out of the Moss Garden is just as tough & we stop for another rest when we get back to the main track. We decide to continue on to the Amphitheatre, another 1.5km along the main track that is now fairly easy walking as we are down on the creek flats. There are two creek crossings that we take slowly, stepping from rock to rock & trying not to get out feet wet.
The turnoff to the Amphitheatre takes us up the side of the escarpment & is again tough going up & down many steps. The entrance to the Amphitheatre is part way up the side of the cliff & is reached by a series of ladders, more hard work. Inside is worth it all, again, it is stunningly beautiful & we sit on one of the benches & have our lunch whilst enjoying the coolness inside.
Walking back is tough as now it is hot, around 35C and we are around 5km (this isn’t counting all the walks we done to get into these side gorges) away with a lot of up & down, steps & creek crossings to go. The scenery is still beautiful & we stop & admire it still, we have a few more rest stops on the way out and drink more cold water. The sight of the Park Headquarters roof is welcoming & the last creek crossing even more so, but still more steps to climb out of the creek. We are exhausted, we have been walking for 7 hours. Back at camp we sit & rest for a couple of hours, drinking lots of more cold water. We are both sore especially our thighs from walking up & down all those steps & it was such a pleasure to take our shoes off. A long day, early to bed tonight.
I am so very grateful that Ron was there with me with his helping hand every time we went over very rough terrain, steps and helping me from falling off the stepping stones into the creek. Stepping off the stepping stones into the cool water was very tempting. That last kilometre heading out I found in the heat very hard – thank you my sweet heart.
On returning to the Karavan we only had a light meal but lots & lots of cold water – I think because of the heat & exhaustion.
The national park is closed because the rangers don’t want people in there just in case the fires get out of hand & get into the gorges. The caravan park offered us all, if we wanted to leave earlier, they would refund the fees we paid. We decided to stay with many others. There is no smoke here at all, we will have a relaxing day & enjoy walks around the river or if our legs won’t recover maybe a swim – there are no crocodiles here. Exhausting but a great day.
Packed & away by 9.20am & off to top up the car with fuel & after that the Heritage Village dump point. It is already starting to get hot. Back to the shopping centre & we bought a few more bits & pieces for our trip then off to the chemist. We had picked up some prescription medication yesterday & Tereza’s was not available, the chemist was ordering it in. This morning at the chemist they received the wrong medication. Damn.
We were away from Biloela around 11am & the drive west is pleasant through the flat farm lands. There are some big paddocks freshly ploughed for cotton & some paddocks full of sticky looking plants that are planted in even rows, we don’t know what it is. The roads are long & straight but very bouncy, there must be lots of big trucks travelling over these roads. We travel at around 90km/hour. There are big storms brewing but we seem to pass under them before they start storming.
As we approach Banana we get a bit excited about the town, no bananas, the town is named after a large bull that was named Banana because it was a yellowish colour. More long straight flat roads with lots of bouncing & as we come into Moura the very large tailings heaps from the big coal mines dominate the landscape. Moura is a big town with lots of mining support being the primary industry. We check the only chemist if they have the medicine, but NO. We have lunch at a nice little café in town (no lovely sea food any more) before continuing westwards.
Rolleston is our turning point southwards & is a small rural crossroads town with not much going for it (in our point of view). More long flat roads with bounces, however, these are becoming less the further south we go. The mountains start to get bigger & there is lots of smoke around from burning off on some of the farms. The temperature is now 36 Centigrade. Around 80km south of Rolleston we turn off towards Carnarvon Gorge, a further 40 km in. To our surprise the road is bitumen, eleven years ago it was dirt. We are now driving through unfenced farms & after we pass a few ploughed cotton fields we come into cattle country with some cattle wandering down the centre of the road. The smoke gets thicker & we wonder if the National Park is burning.
We stop at the memorial to an aircraft crash in 1943 when a military plane flying from Darwin to Brisbane was engulfed in a storm & crashed at this site with total loss of life. It is a poignant reminder of how precious life is. The road into the national park is in very good condition & gets fairly twisty as we start to cross a few creeks & get into the National park. We are greeted into Takarakka Bush Camp by a big male kangaroo grazing near the creek crossing. This camp has very nice clean shower & toilet facilities. It is a very nice camp site because it has a lot of big trees & it is next to the creek, there are lots of birds flitting around. We set up in a very large site then go for a walk along Carnarvon Creek. It is lovely & quite & we meet & chat with a few other travellers. Back to camp then cheese, bikkies & red wine to finish another great day.
Out a bit after 7am, breakfast then the washing as it is a nice sunny morning & it should all dry as there is a threat of storms this afternoon. After the washing is hung we head down to the Biloela Queensland Heritage Park, the local museum & get there around 10am.
The museum main building represents a grain silo & is a relic from the Brisbane Expo a number of years back that was relocated to Biloela, very impressive inside. There is some nice displays of old vehicles & farm machinery, including a good collection of cream separators as dairying was a big industry in Biloela years ago. There is a small theatre with a good video of old tractors playing, that is very interesting as well & we watch it all the way through.
The first place we look at outside is the old Callide Church that has been relocated here & inside is more interesting displays of the history of Biloela. Inside is an old Pyramid telephone cord switchboard from the old hospital, I have not seen one of these for a very long time. Next door is the relocated old Biloela Railway Station with another collection of interesting items. We keep walking around & there is lots of old farm equipment & machinery in sheds & out in the paddock. One shed has a very impressive collection of restored tractors & trucks & farm implements.
Next stop is at the town water reservoirs, one tank has a giant mural painted halfway round it representing the role women have had to play in the district from aboriginal time up until the 1920s. The storyboards explaining each section of the mural are very interesting & some made us chuckle.
The drive out to the Callide Dam & the view over the Callide Power Stations does not take long at all. There is lots of water standing next to the road from all the recent rain. The water level in the dam is down a long way & contractors are working on the spillway of the dam. We drive around the dam & as we pass through some cattle paddocks admire some large Queensland Bottle trees, they are huge. We keep following the Calvale Road around the dam through some farms & the road steadily gets narrower & a little bit rough, some wet sections along Kroombit Gully are a bit scary as the soil is very soft & boggy. We go through a number of gates before eventually reaching Valentine Plains Road through another gate with a great view of the flat topped Mount Kroombit as we get there. What an adventure.
The drive back into Biloela is uneventful & the land is very flat & fertile with lots of large cropping farms. We turn in to our van park & time for a coffee & then fold our dry washing. Dinner on the BBQ & a game of cards.
We have really slowed down with our travel, we are heading south, homeward bound. Canberra opened up the lockdown to many NSW rural areas but not the way we have to travel home. We have to go through NSW, therefore we will have to go into 14 days quarantine & have to have 2 Covid tests even though we haven’t been anywhere in our travels where Covid is. Here in QLD & NT where we travelled we are free to go anywhere without any restrictions or even wear a mask. We are hoping for more border openings soon.
Out of bed early & the weather looks a little threatening, a quick check on the radar shows that rain is heading our way. As I boil the kettle & toast the bread on the gas I start packing & getting the van ready to depart. Tereza starts packing & cleaning inside as well. Just as well, we just get all packed ready to leave & the first raindrops start to wet us as we get into the car, really good timing.
As we turn south onto the Bruce highway the rain gets a little heavier then lightens a little as we turn off into the town of Calliope. After that brief respite we get a little out of town & the heavens open, the rain gets very heavy with lightening & thunder. We slow right down with water pooling & running over the road, we are only travelling at between 60 & 70 kilometres/hour. I pull over to let a large truck & car pass by then pull back out & follow them. Then the hail starts, light at first then heavy, again I slow down even more before the hail thankfully passes & it is just heavy rain, a tropical downpour. We seem to dodge a few more storms that are looming & by the time we get to Mount Alma the rain has stopped & there is a bit of blue sky.
The road is dry & as we pass by Mount Murchison we see giant piles of mine tailings from the huge coal mines that are near here feeding the three Callide power stations. We pulled into Biloela around 10.30am & found the local shopping centre then pulled up in a nice quite street behind it, we needed to restock our grocery supplies. Woolworths is large & after our shopping we walk back to the Karavan & put the groceries inside. It looks like it may rain so we go back into the shopping centre, have a coffee with an early lunch of kebabs. Afterwards we wander down the street to the local camping store looking for some special soluble toilet paper. They didn’t have any, no-one had ever asked for it, I was the first.
We walk back to the car & go looking for a caravan park to stay a couple of nights, we find one close by & they have a spot so we drive in & set up. Just in time, as we finish setting up it starts to rain heavily, then light hail, then heavy hail, then lightening & thunder. We sit inside as a couple of storms roll through. Around 4pm it all starts to clear & Tereza makes a nice cuppa for us with a special mint chocolate treat. We played cards for a while.
Our van has an ensuite shower & toilet for our personal use so we both take the luxury of a nice hot shower before dinner. It is shear luxury after 2 days of bush camping by the river, where we had no showers. Dinner is some fresh monster prawns in fresh bread rolls with some Tartare Sauce, simple but oh so yummy. More storms roll through, not as severe as previous ones thankfully. Another great day.
Trekkin 