Lennox Head to Emerald via Forest Glen, Warrun Dam and Cania Gorge

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.

Looking toward Lennox Head from Pat Morton Lookout

Maura with Boulder Beach, Lenox Head in the background

Ray with Boulder Beach in the background

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.

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.

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).

Maura at camp site at Wuruma Dam

Fellow campers at Wuruma Dam

Ray says "Cheers"

Cows having a drink at waters edge

Wuruma Dam

Ray and a friendly calf

Wuruma Dam ripples

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.

Looking down on the caravan park at Cania Gorge from the lookout

Kooka helping himself to a drink

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.

Cania Dam

Cania Dam in front of the dam wall

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.

Dragon Cave so called because of the dragon shape on the cave wall

Maura outside Dragon Cave

Ray on the bridge going from Bloodwood cave

Staghorn growing on the cliff

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.

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.

 

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

Mosaic depicting mining in Emerald

Mosaic depicting the aboriginal past in Emerald

Sunflower replica

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.

Red Claw with salt and pepper on the barbie

Red Claw in coconut milk with lime juice

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



ON THE ROAD AGAIN 2014

Home to Lennox Head April/May 2014

Hi everyone, welcome back to our Blog.
We are currently in Lennox Head after leaving home on Monday 28th April. We had an uneventful trip north with a stop overnight at a free camp beside the river at Bulahdelah and a stop in the van park at Urunga.
The stop at Bulahdelah was beautiful and there were about 25 campers taking advantage of the free camp. It has been done up by the local Lions organisation and is a credit to them. It is only a short walk over the bridge into town and since the Bulahdelah bypass has been opened it is a really quiet spot.


Looking downriver at Bulahdelah

Looking towards Bulahdelah from the free camp

Our rig at the free camp

All of the campers using the free camp

Little white ducks lazing by the water

On Tuesday we headed to Urunga and after setting up we went for a long walk out to the end of the boardwalk, about 1.5km. It has been extended right to the end of the breakwater and is a very pleasant walk.

Looking along the beach at Urunga from the boardwalk

Looking back at Urunga from the end of the boardwalk

Soldier crabs under the boardwalk

Looking towards the river entrances at Urunga

 We  went across the road to the local hotel for tea and once again another lovely meal.

Wednesday we arrived in Lennox Head to spend some time with Lee before we go further afield.
She had come home from work early on Wednesday, so after setting up we enjoyed a few drinks and a lot of chat. Thursday night we went to Lennox Hotel for dinner to celebrate Lee's birthday, Ray's birthday and our wedding anniversary. Fantastic meal. Brian had steak, Lee and Ray had pork chops and I had rabbit and pork terrine. All very nice. Friday morning we got up early and went for a big walk up the beach with Lee and her dog Suzie. We spent a fairly quiet day as it was raining on and off. We went over to the surf club for lunch. Another yummy feed.

Mr Coconut Head guarding our neighbours camp at Lennox Head

Happy 62nd birthday Ray

Saturday we went into Ballina and bumped into the wife of a friend of Ray's brother Max. Carol and Steve, her husband had moved to Lennox Head from Horsley on Wednesday and have bought a villa over the back fence form Lee and Brian. We arranged to meet them at the Bowling Club that afternoon and Ray and I decided to have tea there as well. Lee joined us after she had been to Lismore for the footy. Another lovely meal. Lee and Ray had pork belly and I had pork belly spring rolls. Another great feed. When we were walking home we noticed how cold it had got so when we got back to the van the heater went on.
Waking up this morning, Sunday, there is quite a cold breeze blowing and it is chilly so I made a start on the Blog

Nyngan to Forbes

Friday 27th September.
Got to Nyngan early and had a relaxing afternoon. Attached to the caravan park is an animal park with camels, donkeys, goats, ducks, kangaroos which you can feed scraps to. So we had a walk up and fed some bread to them. The camels went crazy, like they had never been fed.

Greedy Camels

Ray patting the camels with their big soft velvet lips

The next day we packed up and headed to Trangie. Ray's nephew is a policeman based at Trangie and works at Narromine also. We parked up out the back of the police station for the night. Maxwell lives 2 doors up so we made tea for him and when he finished work we watched the football. A relaxing night.

Guess who they put in the lock up

On Sunday Maxwell came in early for coffee before he went to work and we got away from Trangie about 8am and headed to Condobolin.

After setting up camp at the River View Caravan park we went to get some lunch and then headed out to Utes in the Paddock. These are old Holden utes which have been painted by Australian artists as a tribute to life in the outback.

Golden West Medley

Clancy stopping the overflow

Drizakubra

Emuute

Epitaph to fossil Fuel

The Stockman

Ute of Arms

We decided to stay in Condobolin for an extra night as the area around the caravan park is so nice. it is right on the banks of the Lachlan River directly above the weir. There are huge gum trees everywhere and a heap of different birds. A very peaceful place. It is an old park and needs a bit of TLC but the amenities are clean and that is a big plus.

looking toward Condobolin Weir

Our camp at the caravan park at Condobolin

The Lachlan River at Condobolin

Volume of water flowing over the weir at Condobolin

We got away from Condobolin about 8.30am. We only had 100km to get to Forbes so we were there in time to set up and go and have morning tea with Freda and Bob (Ray's cousin and his wife). It is Bob's 69th birthday today so we said we would go out to dinner so we did. we enjoyed a nice meal at The Forbes Inn. We had a storm this afternoon. It is the first major rain we have had in the day time since we left home.

 

On Wednesday morning Ray decided to take a drive to look for his Uncle Franks old farm. Ray, his parents and brothers and sisters used to go out to Franks farm every Xmas holidays when they were young. Frank sold up in the mid 70's and the family moved into Forbes. ray has great memories of those times so off we went to find it. We drove out about 15km from Forbes to where he thought it was but to no avail. We finally rang Freda and she told us which lane to drive down and so we found "Robeengrae". We spoke to the children and some friends of the people who own it now and Ray had a good look around outside. He showed me some of the places where they used to swim and generally play around. Very interesting. It would have been a lovely place.

 

We then came back to town and met Bob and Freda for lunch, once more at The Forbes Inn. One of young Scott's work friends at The House With No Steps had a birthday so we went to celebrate too. We had a great time with them.

 

After this Bob took us for a drive out to Bedgerebong, where Bob, Freda and Scott are going on Tuesday to a festival, where they will play and read poetry. A lovely spot.

 

Then back to the park and get ready to go home tomorrow.

Friendly magpie in caravan park

 

That is all the Blog for now. Hope you have enjoyed it. The next one will probably be next year when we are heading back to The Kimberley and then back across the Savannah Way to Cairns and then down the coast to home.

Bye for now.