Monday 5th May.
Well, today is our 29th wedding anniversary and it is also the day we leave Lennox Head. We took Lee to the airport yesterday afternoon as she was going to Sydney to do a course for a week. We aren't leaving Lennox until about 2pm today as we are taking the van to Nambour to have a service done and as Bushtracker is in an industrial area and we are just going to sleep out the front of the factory in the van, we can't get there until after 5pm.
According to the surfer next door the surf is pounding today so we went for a drive up to the lookout and he was right. There must have been 50+ surfers in the water and the surf was rolling in beautifully.
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| Looking toward Lennox Head from Pat Morton Lookout |
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| Maura with Boulder Beach, Lenox Head in the background |
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| Ray with Boulder Beach in the background |
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| Surfers at Lennox |
We got away at 2pm but didn't get to Bushtracker until 6.15pm. The traffic on the north side of Brisbane was pretty heavy and it was peak hour by then. Lucky we had made a curry in a camping slow cooker we have. You just make it in the morning, cook it on the stove for 20minutes then put it in a special thermos and then into an insulated bag and it cooks while we drive along. A wonderful invention
We put the van into Bushtracker at 7am and headed down to Alexandra Heads Surf Club for breakfast. It was beautiful down at the beach. The sun was shining and there were heaps of people doing the same thing. What a wonderful money spinner this is for Queensland Surf Clubs. Cafes, restaurants, bars, brilliant.
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| Surf Rescue jet ski on Alexandra Headland beach |
We did some shopping and went to Caloundra for lunch, then we went and booked in to Forest Glen caravan park for the night and just sat on our site with no van until Bushtracker gave us a call about 4.30pm
The next morning we got away about 8.30am and headed north. We stopped at a lovely rest area just north of Gympie for morning tea and then stopped at Gayndah for lunch where we were befriended by a lovely brown lab who we think came from the orange farm next door. As with all labs he knew where to get a feed. From all of the travellers who stop at this rest area for lunch.
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| Friendly lab at Gayndah |
Then to Eidsvold and on to Wuruma Dam. We decided to only stay here 1 night as it was hard to find a level site in the sun as the place was packed. It is a very popular free camp spot right on a lake. We need the sun to keep the solar panels charging. It was nice enough and very quiet at night but we decided to go on to Cania Gorge the next day (Thursday).
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| Maura at camp site at Wuruma Dam |
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| Fellow campers at Wuruma Dam |
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| Ray says "Cheers" |
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| Cows having a drink at waters edge |
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| Wuruma Dam |
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| Ray and a friendly calf |
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| Wuruma Dam ripples |
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| Sunset at Wuruma Dam |
Next day, Thursday we headed off to Cania Gorge. We had been there before about 15years ago and remembered it was a lovely park with some nice walks close by. We decided to stay for 3 nights and the next day walked up to a lookout in the park to take some shots.
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| Looking down on the caravan park at Cania Gorge from the lookout |
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| Kooka helping himself to a drink |
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| Our van from the lookout |
We then drove down to Cania Dam and took a few shots. This area had been done up a lot since we had seen it last. Boat ramps and lovely picnic area built.
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| Cania Dam |
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| Cania Dam in front of the dam wall |
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| Tree beside Cania Dam |
Ray made a fire and we had a leg of lamb done in the camp oven and it was delicious.
The next day we walked to Bloodwood Cave and Dragon Cave about 2 hours all around. Ray also walked up to the Gorge lookout but it was a bit too many steps for me.
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| Dragon Cave so called because of the dragon shape on the cave wall |
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| Maura outside Dragon Cave |
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| Ray on the bridge going from Bloodwood cave |
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| Staghorn growing on the cliff |
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| Path leading from Dragon Cave |
That night Ray lit the brazier which I had bought him for last Xmas. It was lovely sitting around it as it gave out great warmth
Sunday morning we woke to another lovely clear day and we headed to Emerald. Neither of us had been there before. We had lunch at a place called Bluff and then drove through Blackwater, a very busy mining town. the road between Bluff and Blackwater we saw a sign which stated that heavy wide loads use this road and if the police direct you to park up you do so. Well I didn't think they would be moving heavy vehicles on a Sunday. Wrong!!! Around the next corner an escort vehicle told us to pull over and next thing this huge load comes along. It was an 8metre wide loader bucket on a low loader. It took up the whole width of the road. Luckily there was room on the verge for us to fit.
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| The 8 metre wide load we had to get off the road for |
We got to Emerald about 2.30pm and have a nice site in a caravan park right beside the golf course. Very quiet. Emerald seems a nice town. A couple of big mines on the outskirts so lots of mine vehicles driving around. A couple of big shopping centres with the usual stores, Coles, Woolies, Big W, Target, Best and Less etc. We went for a drive out to Fairbairn Dam which is only 50% capacity so a bit dry.
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| Fairbairn Dam, Emerald |
We then came back into town and went to the Tourist Information Centre. In a park behind there is a replica of Van Gogh's painting "Sunflowers". It is the largest painting on an easel in the southern hemisphere. It is huge and quite spectacular. Leading to it is a path with mosaics depicting the history of Emerald
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| Mosaic depicting mining in Emerald |
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| Mosaic depicting the aboriginal past in Emerald |
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| Sunflower replica |
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| Sunflowers |
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On Monday afternoon this fellow came around the caravan park selling trays of red claw to raise money for the local football club. He had caught them that morning in the dam. Only $10 for the tray and there were about 35 red claw already halved on the tray. We froze half for another day and with the other half we split them 3 ways. We had one lot done on the BBQ with just salt and pepper.
We had another lot soaked in coconut milk and then a lime squeezed over then and dry pan fried.
The third lot we did in garlic butter in the wok. These were the tastiest although they were all good. It was the first time we had them and they were really nice. A bit like a mini freshwater lobster.
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| Red Claw with salt and pepper on the barbie |
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| Red Claw in coconut milk with lime juice |
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| Red Claw in the wok with garlic butter |
Tomorrow, Wednesday 14th May we are heading to a free camp at Jericho on the river before heading on up to Longreach on Thursday
