Embedded Files
Caravan packed and ready? - Check
Car packed and ready? - Check
House locked - Check
Rubbish bins out for tomorrow? - Check
Neighbours and friends advised? - Check
OK! We're off again!
A delightful last-minute addition to this trip is that we'll have our friends Mike & Julie with us for the first few days as we head north. As they live about 30 minutes from our place, we planned to meet them on the other side of the city. As fortune would have it, today was the first day in ages that there was a traffic snarl on the Gateway Motorway (our planned route), so instead we took a detour via two new tunnels under the city and saw nothing much of the scenery.
Mike & Julie got more than they bargained for though, as they were already on the Gateway Motorway and found the reasons for the delay - a collision, a car out of fuel and a car on fire on the Gateway Bridge! They get all the excitement!
We met up about 30kms north of Brisbane and set off in convoy up the freeway to Gympie. From there we turned west onto the Wide Bay Hwy (Why we keep naming potholed, single-lane roads as Highways is beyond me) and had an uneventful run to the Kilkivan Bush Camping Park. This low-key caravan park is in a delightful bush setting outside the small town of Kilkivan. It was basically a case of 'park wherever you want to', so we selected a couple of nice level spots.
Kilkivan Bush Camping Park.
We had seen some smoke as we approached and were told it was a local farmer burning off. We set up camp and then sat down to wash away the dust of the road over drinkies. We could see the flames from the fire as it crested a hill in a paddock about 300 yards away, and it was interesting to watch as it came closer while we had dinner.
As the evening progressed, some local farmers arrived to back-burn the verge of the road next to the caravan park to slow the advance of the main fire. This became quite exciting to watch!
Back-burning by the road.
The trees took on a ghostly orange glow in the flames. Dante's Inferno, Qld style?
Mopping up with a front-end-loader and rear-mounted spray unit.
While there were still a few patches of the roadside still alight (and one large tree), we felt quite secure and able to go to bed. We did feel happier in the knowledge that the caravans were still hooked up to the cars in the event it got out of control during the night. We had a quick peek outside when a large branch from the still-burning tree crashed onto the road at some early hour in the morning, but otherwise there wasn't much to see come breakfast.
Day 2
Kilkivan -> Cania Gorge <Map>
Distance 292kms Total 555kms
Today was mainly heading north up the Burnett Highway through cattle country. It looks really dry and we hope that the farmers and graziers get their summer rains.
The first stop of the day was at Ban Ban Springs for morning tea. This is a natural spring that is a sacred site to the local Wakka Wakka people. There is a mural with their Dreamtime story next to the rest area.
Ban Ban Springs. As you can see from the photo, Mike is having a rather enforced holiday due to a broken bone in his foot and is having to play navigator while Julie drives their Land Cruiser.
Sunning itself by the springs was this lovely Eastern Water Skink. It's about 10"/25cm long with tiny white dots on the sides of its brown body.
Next stop was Eidsvold for lunch, on to Monto to refuel and then to our destination for a few days - Cania Gorge.
Our arrival at the caravan park was the signal for hordes of King and Red-Winged Parrots and Rainbow Lorikeets to descend on our site looking for a handout! They obviously hadn't read the 'Please Don't Feed The Birds' sign.
Male King Parrot guarding the entrance to our van.
Day 3
Cania Gorge -> Kroombit Tops -> Cania Gorge <Map> *
Distance 192kms Total 747kms
* The online map is very vague and just shows the general area. The bomber crash site is roughly where the little green tree symbol is saying 'Kroombit Tops National Park'. Most of the tracks we went on today are not on any map, much less Google's!
Today was something that both Mike and I had planned since we knew they were coming to Cania Gorge with us. That was to try to find the wreckage of the USAAF B-24 Liberator 'Beautiful Betsy'. While it is recognised as a memorial to those US and UK airmen who died in the crash, it is only accessible by 4WD and is in a remote area of the Kroombit Tops National Park.
To get there we had to follow a road that follows a creek up into the Kroombit Tops. As we counted about 25 creek crossings (mostly dry, but with large-ish rocks), this isn't a road to attempt with your average commuter-mobile. The road/track crosses numerous cattle fields and consequently has a number of gates; cattle grids obviously not being well known in this part of Qld. Family rules state quite clearly that the driver is not required to get out and open gates, and as Mike wasn't really in a fit state to act in an expeditious gate-opening manner, that left 'the girls'. Equality rules!
No children (on or off bikes) were harmed in the making of this blog.
There were a few obstacles along the way.
While we wondered if the local farmers were trying to dissuade people from using this road, we really think this tree succumbed to wind and/or termites. After enabling 'bush-bashing' mode, we made it around the obstacle by going cross-country.
The track went from 'unsealed road' to '4WD track' as soon as we entered the National Park.
It's a bit difficult to tell in the shot above, but the road is going up at about 1 in 3 or 4 with very deep ruts and gutters. I was having fun, Mike was content, and the other passengers in the back couldn't see the road, so all was OK.
We survived the climb, so stopped for morning tea at the lookout. From Left, Mike, Julie, Sue
The crash site is about 400 yards from the car park. Mike was adamant that he was going to see it even it it took a while, so we set off.
The wreckage on the right is the inverted remains of the tailplane of the B-24, looking in the direction that the aircraft approached Kroombit Tops. There is wreckage strewn right through the trees.
This engine (one of four) was about 200 yards from the impact site.
The site is quite moving as the various signs document not only the destruction of an aircraft, but the stories of the USAAF crew and its 2 RAF passengers. One of the RAF passengers was on his way to Brisbane to be married to his Australian fiancée. The other RAF occupant was to be his best man.
The full story of the crash can be found at this link.
We went back to the lookout for lunch, then went back the way we came.
At one of the gates, we found this delightfully rustic cattle yard with cattle dip (out of sight) and picnic area for the stockmen. It was made from two old aluminium garage doors for a roof, tree stumps for seats and a section of tree for a table.
Day 4
Cania Gorge <Map>
Distance 22kms Total 769kms
As Mike didn't really think he wanted to go bush-walking today, Sue and I went and explored the Cania Gorge Nat Pk. This is only a small national park, but has a couple of nice walks.
The one we decided to do was the Dripping Rock and The Overhang.
On the walk into the gorge, there were a number of lovely bushes in bloom. Like a Hibiscus, it seems to shed its leaves before it blooms. No idea what it's called, though. Any budding botanists out there?
Dripping Rock is so named due to the water seeping through the sandstone of the gorge and creating this lovely green grotto. The plants are totally different to the rest of the flora in the gorge.
On the same track was a cave in the gorge wall that had been used by the local Aboriginal people for rock art. On the left of the rock in the foreground are hand-prints made from the ochre in the gorge.
Day 5
Cania Gorge -> Baralaba <Map>
Distance 202kms Total 971kms
The main item on today's agenda was a visit to a supermarket to stock up on supplies (and liquid refreshments as 'someone' had forgotten to buy any wine!). Biloela (or 'Bilo' to the locals) was on the way to our next planned stop and was big enough to have all the items needed as well as discount fuel. They also have a very convenient parking area for tourists with motor-homes and caravans adjacent to the main shopping centre. Ten points to the city planners!
Suitably victualled, we set off for a free camp on the banks of the Dawson River at Baralaba. We had heard that this was a nice place to spend a day or so.
The Neville Hewitt Weir at Baralaba. A lovely place to camp.
The weir was built in 1976 to provide irrigation water for cotton and grain farmers in the area. In the 2011 floods, all the area in the photo was underwater and the low level wooden road bridge downstream of the weir was destroyed.
The new bridge is being built below the weir. The weir wall is the stone structure on the left.
This was the last night we would have with Mike & Julie, so Chef Mike put on a lovely roast dinner. They're heading back home via Rockhampton so this is where we part ways.
Day 6
Baralaba -> Capella <Map>
Distance 330kms Total 1301kms
After saying goodbye to Mike & Julie, we set off west from Baralaba. Within 15kms, we had a 'moment' when two suicidal Eastern Grey Kangaroos tried to test the resilience of our bull/roo bar. Fortunately, we missed each other by inches but it did point out that 'roos are around during the day as well as in the early morning and late afternoon.
Only a short distance along the road we came across a sight not too familiar in downtown suburbia.
A family droving a herd of cattle along the Baralaba - Woorabinda road. There was Dad and two kids on horseback with Mum driving the 4WD ute behind.
We took a rather roundabout route today as we wanted to keep away from the main roads that carry a lot of traffic supporting the coal mining industry in the area. We were mostly successful except that we had to travel along part of the Capricorn Highway (see map) and took the 'opportunity' to refuel at Dingo (most expensive fuel of the trip to date) before we headed bush again to Capella via Middlemount.
Day 7
Capella -> Charters Towers <Map>
Distance 443kms Total 1744kms
Three surprises today -
One: There is one caravan park in Capella and fortunately it was a gem! Unlike just about every caravan park in this part of the world it hadn't turned into a camp for mine workers.
Two: It rained!! Most of the bird poo from Cania Gorge has now been removed from the van and car. Yay!! :-))
Three: Capella has a secret! Well, we'd never heard of it. It is where the emu feathers were first worn in the hats of the Australian Light Horse.
"The Light Horse Brigade has historical significance to Capella. It is believed, that the first time Australian troopers wore Emu feathers in their slouch hats was at Peak Downs. The story is told, that a detachment of Mounted Infantry troopers guarding a gang of ‘non-union’ shearers during the great shearers' strike of 1891 rode down to the creek one day when things were quiet and shot an Emu. Each took a handful of feathers and placed them in the band of his hat. From then on it became tradition for troopers to wear the Emu feathers. The monument consists of a Light Horse Brigade sculpture and two screen dioramas"
The memorial walk at Capella. The glistening damp stuff on the ground is rain - a substance not recently seen in SE Qld before we left.
Turning around, one sees the memorial.
The silhouettes are laser-cut sheet metal while the statue is from scrap metal. For those familiar with the Angel of the North outside Newcastle in the UK, this is made in a similar (if very much smaller) fashion with flat sheets making up a three dimensional structure.
There were more coal mine sites between Capella and Clermont, but fortunately not much in the way of traffic. We headed into Clermont to refuel, there being only one (presumably expensive) fuel station between there and Charters Towers - a distance of about 370kms. It was a Sunday and Clermont was shut. We drove around looking for fuel and finally found it down a side street. Charlotte was useless as the only fuel stations she showed us were fuel depots. So much for the expensive map updates we got before this trip.
A lunch stop was called for at Belyando Crossing - the fuel stop mentioned above as well as a pub / cafe / general store and picnic area.
This shot encompasses everything there is to see at Belyando Crossing, except...
... the farmer who landed his R22 chopper in the adjacent paddock to drop his wife off so she could catch a lift to town.
It was along this road at one of the many sections of road works, that a large truck showered us with rocks. Very shortly thereafter, a very artistic crack snaked its way from the right side of the windscreen to the bottom, causing the suction-mounted rear-view monitor to fall off the screen. Hmmm. Was it fate that decreed I should add windscreen protection to our insurance policy last year? :-)
Continue on to Week 2
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse