Tin Can Bay to Mylestom

October 13th 2011

We left Tin Can Bay on Wednesday with the intent of making a night stop-over at Yandina, this town is home of the Buderim Ginger Factory and the Macadamia Nut Factory. Therefore a mandatory stop to top up with ginger products, macadamia samples and a nice cup of hot chocolate at the cafe. It is a very busy tourist stop and is the major drawcard for the town.
The next day, we crossed the border into NSW and on to Murwillumbah, our third visit. Unfortunately, the caravan park has deteriorated a little since we were there in 2006. We decided to go there because of the NSW school holidays, inland is less busy than the coast and no holiday loading for site fees. On our previous visits we had made friends with the proprietors, Stuart and Gwyneth. They would be heartbroken to see how their hard work has been let go. We did find that long term resident Margaret was still there and pleased to see us, one friendly face. Three days was enough for us to revisit a few of our favourite venues, The Natural Arch Waterfall, just over the Border Ranges; Clarrie Hall Dam and to Mount Warning. The dam is a beautiful picnic spot, the Mount is quite different. Being the core of an ancient Volcano that formed steep crags of the Border Ranges, Mt Warning is said to be the first part of Australia to greet the sun every morning. The walk/climb to the top is reputed to take over 5 hours, so we only did enough to show us that we would be making hard work of it.

From Murwillumbah to another inland location, Mullumbimby, to camp at the Rugby Leagues Ground, from there, we were able to do a bit more sightseeing along the coast and into the ranges. We revisited Nimbin, (The “Grass” Capital of Australia) again after driving through beautiful forest ranges to see Rocky Creek Dam and to Minyon Falls. This time at Nimbin no one came up to us to ask if we wanted to buy any “grass”. We didn’t but were disappointed to find things “not quite the same”. Some say that if you haven’t been to Nimbin, you haven’t been anywhere!
Brunswick Heads, was very busy, being a favourite family destination in the holidays, quite a tent city on the shores of the estuary with dozens of family groups enjoying the break. We saw enough though to mark this up as a great place to visit again, the fresh fish and chips at the Marina were good enough to go back for.

Byron Bay, a very popular holiday destination for thousands of overseas and Aussie youth, is the place where one can visit the lighthouse at Cape Byron, the most Easterly point of mainland Australia, . Not that we think that the youth come to see that, it is the popular beach, the weather and the surf that attracts. On our visit, it again was very busy and not a town for “grey nomads” to R&R.
As we walked up the hill to the lighthouse, we were rewarded by a distant view of a pod of three-four whales. They were moving steadily on their way south but still put on a bit of a show for visitors to the Cape.
After Byron, a bit further south, we did find a spot that would be worth adding to our itinerary at a later date. Near Lennox Head, we found a caravan park at Lake Ainsworth that would be ideal for a stop-over, having the lake one side of the road, the lovely beach on the other.

CASINO
Moved on to Casino, a larger town that is the centre of cattle country along the Richmond River Valley; beautiful country with great drives around the many State and National Parks and forests, scenic surprises around every bend. One day saw us driving along the Richmond River to Evans Head, the mouth of the river. There is a magnificent look-out above the river estuary, facing north and viewing miles of pristine (and empty) beaches. Again, we earmarked the caravan park for possible future visits.
Along the valley, we came across the small town of Coraki, another caravan park on the river bank that would be worth a stay, fishing should be good, and the people we met were friendly and welcomed travellers.
Another day, a drive out to Kyogle, still on the Richmond River; Kyogle is surrounded by the ranges and forests, great cattle country and a busy service centre. The town was due to have its annual Bull Riding Event and Show Weekend. On to Toonumbar Dam for our picnic lunch, followed by a lovely forest drive through the Richmond Range National Park. The roads are unmade, winding their way through the forests, alive with small marsupials that we think were paddymelons, we also saw a lone Echidna, spotted the lovely Regent Bower Bird, a rare sighting. The road along the ridge-tops follows the Cambridge Plateau Forest Drive, 35km of narrow track. We only saw a couple of other vehicles along the way and had a pleasant afternoon drive. We were quite surprised at the southern end of the trek to exit onto the Casino-Tabulam highway at a familiar spot. We remembered that on our very first visit to northern NSW, we had earmarked a free camp that when we got to the turn-off with the caravan in tow, saw the sign about “4-wheel drive, impassable when wet”. We then changed our mind about trying to find the camp at the park. After coming right through the park, it was self evident that trying to find the camp with van in tow would have been disastrous.

School holidays in NSW are over so we now can head back down to the coast. We decided to stay at the North Beach Holiday Park at Mylestom. The small town, a “locality”, is south of Coffs Harbour, set between the ocean and the estuary of the Bellingen River. A very quiet spot, Mylestom has lovely walks along the river, or along the beach if inclined. Eight Mile Beach is deserted, early morning fishing, alone with the pod of dolphins just off-shore, it looks a good surfing beach to me.
We took a drive along the Bellingen River Valley to the township of Bellingen, still cattle country and up to the mountain town of Dorrigo. Dorrigo boasts “...where the mountains meet the sky”. The surrounding country is the highest parts of NSW outside of the Australian Alps. At Dorrigo, we visited the Rainforest Centre, walked down through the rainforest to the lovely Crystal Showers waterfalls and later visited the Dangar Falls. Both falls are easy to get to; it’s just that the walk back up-hill is exhausting.
Dorrigo is also home to what is said to be the largest collection of railway steam locomotives and rolling stock, “.....possibly the largest collection in the world”. The yards are not open to visitors but you can drive along the side road to view the steam locos, we counted ten along the track nearest the road with many wagons and rolling stock across a wide area.

There are many NSW State and National Parks around this area and many waterfalls, the highway from the coast across the mountains to Armidale is named the Waterfall Way, and one could spend weeks up here exploring the many walks and sights of the Great Dividing Range.

On Friday we took a day visit to Coffs Harbour, a drier day after they had had 56mm the previous day. We had lunch at the marina and a bit of distant whale watching from the causeway to Muttonbird Nature Island Reserve; a walk around the retail centre and some shopping to top up the pantry. A nice day out!

Next week, we will be moving onto a second beachside venue, yet to be decided, as we wind our way down the East Coast of New South Wales. Please enjoy a look at the photographic updates in the attached albums:

Click on the link below to view the album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/TinCanBayToMylestom?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLjLltGrxajroAE&feat=directlink

Tin Can Bay

September 18th
After settling in at Tin Can Bay, we took in a bit of local exploring, there are several kilometres of a good walking trail, below the street from the park. One can choose the path along the Environment Walkway to Toolara, along the coast amid trees and mangrove shoreline. With the tide out, there are miles of mudflats, anchored boats lying on their side. A prettier picture when the tide is in, a myriad of birdlife; parrots, lorikeets, White Ibis and a variety of honey eaters, minor birds and the harassed ravens. At one point we had a raptor of some kind swoop down and flew away with a fish carcass. Appropriately, this walk is known as the Bird-walk. The other direction and the path is to follow the wooded shoreline of Snapper Creek to the marina and fishing wharfs. Not far from the marina is the Public Boat Ramp. Next to the ramp is the cafe that is famous for Dolphin Feeding.

Dolphins:
For many years, successive generations of Estuarine Dolphins’ have been coming up to the little beach to interact and get a feed of small fish. At around 7-7:30am, 2 or three dolphins swim up to the beach awaiting their 8am feeding time. We were lucky enough to get there when two of the regulars turned up. For $5 children were able to walk into the water and have a dolphin carefully and gently take fish from their hand. These are wild animals, from the same pod; it was wonderful to see them in their own environment. As soon as the last bucket had been emptied, they turned away and set off with the tide out to the Sandy Straits proper. (See photo in our albums).

Another feature of the estuarine waters is that the tidal flats are home to a variety of marine life. Most spectacular is seeing the hoards of Soldier Crabs. These little crabs, 1-2 centimetres in size, move along the mud in unison. They look like something along the lines of the Orks in Lord of the Rings. With blue shell-backs, an area of around a square metre moving en-mass, one can imagine a Stephen Spielberg Epic filmed in miniature.

The Mary River flows into the sea, through Maryborough, birthplace of P L Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, the famous nanny, . At Maryborough, we were in time to see a school spectacular, the annual Technology Events, head-lined by a 24 hour Pedal-Prix, over 100 school teams with a variety of human powered vehicles, (HPV), they were all very serious about it and some of them were really moving in their machines around the street circuit. Behind the scenes, in “Pit-Lane Tents”, teams rested, machines repaired and even massages for the young rider/drivers. So good to see teenagers from many kilometres away, doing something so physical. A special mention must be made about the hundreds of hours that teachers, parents and community members had to have put in to organise and run the event.

The Mary River Valley drive provides a scenic route to several small towns and is also the route of the Mary Valley Rattler, a wonderfully restored and maintained steam engine. The train runs from Gympie, through Kandanga to Imbil. We caught up with the train at Imbil and Vicki was chuffed to be allowed up onto the foot-plate to see the controls and feel the heat of the boiler.

Hervey Bay Whale Cruise
On Friday 16th, we travelled to Hervey Bay to take an afternoon Whale Watch Cruise. We booked on the twin-hull Tasman Venture, the same operator that we used back in 2006. The weather was good, clear and only light winds, we had a great time. Being Friday PM cruise, we were fortunate that there were only 12 adults on a boat designed to carry 90. This made it much more comfortable to be able to run around the deck to view the whales. We got to see several small pods of whales and it was, as if scripted, the last pod of four that put on a good show for us. We saw rolls, mugging, pectoral flips and tail waves. Best of all, we got to see “breaching” where the animal leaps clear out of the water. Just awesome! Visualise up to 40 tonne of marine animal putting on a spectacular show. The day was rounded off by a magnificent sunset over the bay as we returned along the north shore of Fraser Island, The cruise is a highly recommended experience.

Tin Can Bay is a very pleasant and relaxed little town, growing like so many but it should remain quieter than the busier Rainbow Beach or Hervey Bay. We would come here again. Not sure yet as to when we will be heading back south, it is school holidays time in NSW and QLD so many towns along the coast are very busy. Decisions-decisions!!!!!

Meanwhile, take a look at some of the magnificent pictures that Vicki took, (hundreds taken, few were selected!), yes, all her own work and no Photoshop editing: https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/WhaleWatchingHerveyBayQLD?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIvh9oKJ5a2crQE&feat=directlinkauthkey=Gv1sRgCIvh9oKJ5a2crQE&feat=directlink

Click on the link below to view some photos in the album.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/GowintaFarmToTinCanBay?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOCv56vUxZGOXA&feat=directlink

Durack Gardens, Brisbane to Tin Can Bay

August 2011
Brisbane is a busy city, not sure if by world standards but it has to be up there. The four weeks at Durack Gardens went quickly, weather swung from glorious early spring like back to winter rains on a daily basis. We picked a nice day to revisit the Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha, took a picnic lunch and spent a couple of hours wandering through the displays and around the numerous walk-ways. The park map was just about useless to directionally challenged folk like us and the meandering paths didn’t seem to match up at all. A good day however, the Botanic Gardens are a lovely spot.
Tamborine Mountain is a popular Gold Coast Hinterland destination, right in the mountains, B&B’s, touristy quaint shops and cafe’s make for a lovely day’s outing. There we visited the Tree-Top Walk, Cheese Factory and found an “Olde English Lolly” shop. We liked the cheeses on offer and bought a few samples but didn’t try the local ale from the brewery next door. Quite a popular spot this as you can try their products before you buy. The route back via Logan gives magnificent views of the Gold Coast.

August 22nd
Packed up and moved from Durack Gardens, via the motorways, travelled northwards to the Glass House Mountains region and Beerwah. We had read about a seasonal caravan park at a real working farm, Gowinta Farms. The farm produces strawberries, April to October, Pineapples and Lychees. The farm is in a lovely area, apparently the volcanic soils of the region being ideal for this type of farming. Two of the Glass House Mountains, first named by Captain Cook, in the background add to the scenery.
The majority of the people in the park were the seasonal workforce picking and packing the fruit. Many of the pickers were young folk from Europe on work visas, back-packing and living in tents and from the back of their vehicles. They seemed a happy bunch, even when up to their armpits in mud from the several rainy days. Mind you, some European mothers would have a fit if they saw how their off-springs were living. Have a look at the photos of Gowinta Farm in our albums.

There are several tourist drives around the district from Beerwah; small towns such as Maleny and Montville are prettily nestled in the valleys up in the mountains of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, . These are very popular with the locals and tourists alike. Several lakes, waterfalls and scenic lookouts are features of these drives, wineries, a couple of dairies and our favourite, the Maleny Cheese Factory.

From Beerwah, the Sunshine Coast is not far away, we had two day trips to Caloundra, Maroochydore and to Mooloolaba. The latter is well known for the Underwater World, a most impressive aquarium complex on the harbour. It was a lovely day for the drive there, the visit to the aquarium and a walk along the breakwater, a bit of sea-air.
In the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, there are several tropical fruit and nut farms; a visit here without calling into the Buderim Ginger Factory would be a waste. The factory is at Yandina, a tourist complex with shops, a tour of the factory to see ginger being processed and a shop to buy their products. We had orders for family so spent quite a bit in there. Across the road, very handy is the NutWorks Factory, where Macadamia Nuts are processed, our favourite, (and most expensive!).

Down to Maroochydore and a visit to the huge Sunshine Plaza shopping complex. We had to replace a couple of lens filters for Vicki’s camera and a specialist camera supplier was needed. The complex centre is built around the river estuary and boardwalks, bridges and two levels makes for an interesting shopping experience. It would take a month of Sundays to get to know your way around there.

At Gowinta, we were fortunate to have the company of Bill and Joy, our caravanning friends who were travelling back from Townsville. They are good company and we were happy to catch up with their latest news. This year they are travelling with Molly the dog, Vicki loved having the dog to walk and fuss about. We love to pet other people’s dogs!
At the farm, we were allowed to select fresh pineapples from the “seconds” bins, fresh juice couldn’t be better, however, it wasn’t until just before we left that we found out about “seconds” of strawberries. Never mind, next time!

September 7th
Pack up day and time to move on, again to the north, via Gympie to Tin Can Bay, a small holiday town on the estuaries of the waters between the mainland and Fraser Island, the largest sand-island in the world they say, famous for being right on the migration trail of the great Southern Right Whales. People come from all over the world to visit Fraser and to go on whale watch cruises.
Tin Can Bay is a quieter spot around the region, the park that we are in is lovely and clean, well paved and organised. I think of it as being likened to a retirement village.

Rainbow Beach, around the estuary is famous for the spectacular sand cliffs. Rainbow Beach is named after the multi-coloured sands in the cliffs, last time we were here we collected 14 different coloured samples of the sands. Most of the coast between Noosa and Fraser Island is composed of State and National Parks of some significance.
From Inskip Point, near Rainbow Beach, is a vehicle ferry that takes campers in their four wheel drive vehicles, campervans and tents to enjoy the driving and scenery of the long flat western shores of the island. Just to get on the ferry requires 4x4 to cross the deep soft sand of the beach.

Less experienced travellers go from Hervey Bay to hire their 4x4 on the Island; they come from all over the world to experience this most exceptional place. They hope to see some of the last of the pure-bred Australian Dingo, isolated from mainland strains; again, quite unique. They bite!
Locals often shake their heads to see people from the big cities of Asia and Europe, land at Fraser, pick up their rental Landcruiser and then take to the soft sandy tracks around the island. Looks good on the adverts but one can get into all sorts of trouble. At Rainbow Beach, there is a rogues Gallery of photos of the disasters that befall even the best of drivers.
Enjoy the photos in the albums, until next month, keep safe and well

Click on the link below to view the latest photos.
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Goondiwindi to Durack Gardens, Brisbane

11th July 2011
We left Goondiwindi on a bright sunny AM, favourable winds and headed east. We, didn’t get far before we were waved down by QLD police into a random drug-alcohol testing operation. A bit of a wait as the young bloke in the car in front was getting a right going over, licence, car safety check and a check via the radio; it seemed that they were determined to find something wrong. Being from interstate, I had my licence ready. Very polite, the officer took my breath test, recorded zero of course and we were waved on our way. A bit of a novelty as several times we have come across these operations but have always been waved through when we had the van on the back.

We towed the van along the Cunningham Highway, late morning we stopped for a tea break at Coolmunda Dam, currently full to the brim from the earlier rains that flooded many parts of the Darling and Southern Downs. Maybe as an affect of the inflow of flood water, or the recent very cold temperatures, we were surprised to find dead fish on the shoreline. Millions of fingerlings, around 100mm in size, spanned about a half-metre wide swath along the shore. The Shags and other ducks apparently didn’t want these as a free feed as they were still diving under to catch their own live tucker. The dam is one of those waters that are regularly stocked with native fish, a pity that so many of them died.

After around 210k towing, we pulled into Lake Leslie Campground, another man-made waterway close to Warwick and a popular camping recreation spot. There is plenty of water in the lake and obvious signs of the recent floods that filled it. The Border Ranges provided wonderful scenery as a backdrop; abundant bird life, kangaroos that visited close by and water alive with signs of plentiful fish in the lake. However, this wasn’t born out by catches. Boaties struggled to get a fish and fishers on the bank were not getting anything, just saw one catfish caught in four days.
On our fourth day, heavy rain was forecast for the region so discretion deemed that we moved on to a drier campsite. Less than 20k and we booked into the Big-4 at Warwick.
On a previous morning, Warwick had recorded a minimum temperature of minus seven degrees. We didn’t get that but several of the next few mornings were around the zero mark. However, the days were beautiful and hovered around the 20-23 degrees.

Warwick is steeped in pioneering history, seems to have a good community spirit and some lovely old buildings. In the town centre, a statue of the state’s first premier had been decked out with a scarf and beanie. Not sure if this is a testament to the cold or it was an advert for the Colours of the Country, a travelling show that is celebrating 10 years of the Alice Springs Beanie Festival.

Several self-guided tours are available from Warwick; we did two, the Settlers Way and Waterfalls Drive. Gorgeous scenery of the Border Ranges and the Queen Mary Falls were quite spectacular and well worth the climb down, (and back up) to the base of the falls. Further across the ranges and a drive back along the Condamine River valley that entailed 14 river crossings, good fun in the appropriate vehicle. By the look of the valley floor, it was not too long ago that flood tore through the Gorge and caused problems for the little town of Kilarney and surrounds.
We happened to be in Warwick at the “Jumpers and Jazz in July”, on these days, trees around the city centre are clad in “jumpers”, themed costumes and street jazz groups. See our photos in the album.
Warwick has is a major sports centre for Equestrian and Motor sports, (both involve horsepower!) at Morgan Park. Warwick, a major city of the Southern Downs and Granite Belt, is well worth a visit.
24th July,
Time now to move to Brisbane, we had a booking at the Durack Gardens Caravan Park, about 14k from the Brisbane CBD, close to Springfield Lakes where our good friend Catie and her daughter’s family live.
On the way to Brisbane, we had one night to pass and intended a stop-over at Boonah. However, on the way we decided to look at another one of Queensland’s reservoirs, Lake Moogerah. Not surprising, this camping and recreation location is very popular with people from Ipswich, Brisbane and surrounds. How popular we found out, towing the van into the day use area, we got a surprise as it was packed with a variety of cars and their occupants, parked both sides of the narrow circuit, I had to weave our way through “Ipswich Muscle and Classic Cars”, their owners gaping open mouthed as the van inched past their pride and joys.

The lake is surrounded by the hills of the Main Range and Moogerah Peaks National Park. I would rate this lake among the best for scenery, serenity and accessibility. Lakeside camp spot, a walk along the shore and friendly parrots made our day. Early morning in the mist was a magnificent sight, black swans, dozens of other water birds only 20-30 metres from our door. Just another day in paradise they say!!! Look at our pics in the album.

Brisbane
25th July;
A reasonably stress free tow along through Beaudesert, the Mount Lindsay Highway and we moved into our site at Durack Gardens. Here we are in Brisbane, booked for four weeks and a variety of things to do. Not keen on big cities but Brisbane is one that you “have to do!” After two weeks, we have spent a lovely evening with Catie and family; taken a drive to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha Look-out and the Brisbane Planetarium that was well worth the visit. We tested the new “GO” Translink transport ticket system on a bus ride to the city and a trip along the Brisbane River by City Cats. All we could think about on the boat was how amazing that after the major flood in January, the city had done a remarkable job of cleaning up and the restoring of the river and surrounds. Chatting to people, they have the amazing ability to make light of what would have been a devastating event. Most blame the “government” for the floods. We have caught up with a bit of maintenance and had a day trip to Toowoomba and the return along the pioneering Cobb and Co Trail.
So much yet to see and do; places to go and planning for the next phase of our 2011 travels.

Take a look at the pictures of our adventures, until the next time, keep well.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108879761974384702036/GoondiwindiToDurackGardens?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPSRvOSYyoPHag&feat=directlink

Cobar to Lightning Ridge

16th June 2011
We had extended our stay in Cobar as there was a bit of wet-windy weather ahead; as we intended to camp alongside rivers, we should wait and see, we thought. The electrical problem eventually resolved itself as “one-of-those-things” that had no immediate resolution. Let’s put up with it if it happens again.
There is enough to see and do around Cobar, a nice walking trail, a big turnover of vans in the park for added interest and a couple of books yet to be read. Took it easy, watched others mow the lawns and had a restful time.
When we did leave, it was north to Burke, the NSW town that advertises itself as being the gateway to the real outback, Aussies talk about being “......back o’ Bourke....”, way beyond the Black Stump. This was our second visit to the town but we revisited the Info Centre at the old railway centre, the grumpy owner still the same. We went back to look again at the memorial and burial site of the great Fred Hollows, a true hero. Have a look at his story here:
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/fred-hollows

At the old Darling River wharf at Bourke, there is housed a 1923 vintage Crossley Twin Cylinder Oil Fuelled Stationary Engine, that produced 128BHP at 260 Revolutions Per Minute, its 6 tonne flywheel assisted momentum between strokes to drive Electrical Generators for Sydney, (1923-1936). Later it was used in a Butter Factory at Coffs Harbour and in 1949, bought to the bush to be used to drive Irrigation Water Pumps until taken out of service in 1964. The makers in Manchester UK, would be delighted to see the engine still running. The engine, restored and maintained by volunteers is run as a tourist attraction at noon, 3 days a week. We were lucky this time to see and hear it run. Have a look at photos in the album.
After our lunch break at Bourke, headed east to a small town Brewarrina, (can’t get my tongue around this one.) We camped on the banks of the Barwon River, flowing steadily now but there was plenty of evidence of the flooding deluge that had passed this way earlier this year. Some camp areas were still closed after the floods.
When we passed this way in 2006, the effects of many years of drought were starkly evident. The incredible difference after the rains, how do grass and other vegetation survive the arid conditions, just to regenerate as soon as rain comes? More incredible, fish, Yabbies and frogs all survive the long dry, to re-immerge when the rivers run again. The bird life around the river is abundant, Egrets, Shags and ducks; parrots and the legendary Kookaburra made for a delightful few days.

20th June
Further east to Walgett, another small town that sits on the junction of the Barwon and Namoi Rivers, once busy river transport centres, the rail came and the riverboats disappeared, over time, commerce has disappeared and now the town is a service centre for part of the major irrigation and farming areas. This is another town that encourages caravanners; there is a free camp for 3 days that encourages one to spend a bit of money in the town. One thing that we did notice in Walgett was the number of dogs wandering around the town. It seems that the Indigenous population like to keep dogs but are not totally responsible when it comes to controlling and restraining them.
From Walgett, we headed north, to look for Lightning Ridge, another iconic town in the Australian outback.

Lightning Ridge; (http://lightningridgeinfo.com.au/)
Lightning Ridge got its name from a story of two people who were killed by lightning on a rocky ridge outside of where the town is established. Lightning Ridge is famous for Opal, the spectacular Australian gemstone; in particular, Lightning Ridge has a rare variety of “black opal”. This town and the myriad of opal mine sites is different to that of Coober Pedy and Andamooka Opal fields in South Australia. Here the miners live in “normal” above ground houses and bore their mines in much the same way as digging a well. If Opal is found, they follow the seam and hope to become rich.
Lightning Ridge is one of the towns in Australia that claims to be the hottest place, summer temperatures soar to around 45o Celsius, sometime to 50. Not a place that I would visit in January-February. However, winter nights can be very cool; we had below zero on at least one morning. There is a nice thermal mineral spring spa pool in the town, close to where we stayed, a very popular attraction. The water comes from deep in the Great Artesian Basin and the pool temperature is around 40o, ideal therapy to warm the cockles and old joints.
There are several mine tours available, one called “Chambers of the Black Hand”, it is a working Opal mine, the owners have an underground shop, but most spectacular, is the series of carvings that have been sculptured out of the sandstone below which, the opal is to be found. The owner started the carvings to entertain him but as it progressed, has become a major tourist attraction. At $30 a head to visit, it probably makes more money than the original opal mine. The sculptures include copies of Egyptian carvings, modern pop culture and mythology, animals and political satire. An amazing collection, follow links above to see for yourselves.
Self drive tours can be taken from the town around the mine workings, following the “mud-map” from the Info Centre, the tours are marked at intervals by old car doors hanging on trees, one follows the colours, red, yellow , blue and green car-door self drive tours. Quite unique to Lightning Ridge, we loved it. The new Opal Caravan Park where we stayed had everything to make our stay very comfortable. In the park, amazingly, there is a vehicle wash bay. Everywhere else in Australia we are discouraged, if not forbidden to wash cars with hoses. Here, in the middle of the driest country, plenty of water, quite an anomaly. We washed the van and the car as we don’t expect to be able to do it again for a while.

Queensland
On 28th June, we moved north again and crossed the border between NSW and Queensland, across the border sits the small hamlet of Hebel, basically a famous old pub and a store that was once the towns dance hall, now well know for quality meals for tourist and truckers alike. Further north, the township of St George, and a 3 day camp at the Kapunda Riverside Camping Ground. This is another town that suffered from two serious spates of flooding, both caused isolation of the town and the camp area had damage that will take a few years to restore. We felt that our camping fees would help just a little.
Driving up to St George, the roadside is littered with the white cotton bolls from the huge cotton plantations. These plantations are a source of controversy as one of the biggest properties is said to store more water than the Sydney Harbour. There would be millions of dollars worth of cotton on the roadsides, looking like snow all the way from Hebel, St George, and all the way to Goondiwindi. Vast areas of the country side are laser-levelled; with irrigation channels to flood irrigate these fields for cotton, rice and sorghum. Vicki picked a couple of cotton bolls from wayward roadside plants that escaped the last harvest.

Nindigully
Another well known camping place in the west-Queensland boarder country is at the old hotel at Nindigully, on the banks of the Moonie River, another source of the masses of water needed for the huge irrigation areas of this part of Australia. The pub of course, is the attraction; the place is quite busy with caravanners from all over Australia, staying from one day to a few weeks. The pub supplies the campers with free showers and toilets and put on great meals. They advertise a Hamburger at $50, what! You may ask? This is no ordinary Hamburger, supposed to feed 20 people, they need 3 days notice to make one. Also, their 2-inch steak at $50 dollars needs the same 3-day notice and there are legends about stockmen and truckies who have endeavoured to consume these enormous meals. The yearly rodeo surely adds to the legends, hard men need hard tucker!

Goondiwindi
By 4th July, we were booked in to the Goondiwindi Top Tourist Caravan Park, booked three days but extended to a full week. On the drive across to here, the cotton trucks were everywhere, transporting up to 12 230kg round bales, and 2x 9 tonne compacted 40ft modules. We had seen these bales alongside the roads, awaiting transport to the Cotton Gins. Goondiwindi has two Gins, and the cotton is sorted, cleaned, the fibres separated from the seeds and prepared for transport to cotton mills around the world. Cotton has been grown in Australia since the arrival of the First Fleet and is a substantial component, albeit controversial, of the agricultural industry of Australia. About 55000 Hectares of cotton plantations are around the St George-Goondiwindi areas. The business is worth billions of dollars to the region so it would be a brave visiting South Australian that complained that the cotton fields were taking all our water, (and not to mention rice!).
Goondiwindi is a major service centre of the border region, once a main crossing from NSW; the old Border Bridge Customs house would have been very busy before federation. Now the town services agriculture, transport and several government centres.
The MacIntyre River forms part of the border between NSW and Qld, Goondiwindi sits entirely on the northern bank of the river and therefore, a Queensland township. The town history is that of a major border crossing and this is still true today, literally thousands of heavy transport vehicles pass through the town 24/7 along the Newell, Cunningham, Barwon and the Leichhardt Highways, thousands of tonnes of road transport freight to and from the Eastern States.
Goondiwindi is also remembered for a race-horse, nicknamed the “Goondiwindi Grey”, registered name was Gunsynd and won many famous horse races across Australia during the 50-60’s. The information centre has a great display of the horses achievements, followers of the “sport of kings” would be delighted to explore the museum display.

Texas
A day drive took us to another small border town named Texas, not a lot there but the town is RV friendly, free camps down by the river and a small caravan park within the town. We always wanted to say “we’ve been to Texas!” Nice eatery, friendly lady at the newsagency and for travellers, free showers in the toilet block in the main street. Texas is working hard to attract tourists on route to the more popular Queensland venues.

July 10th Vicki’s birthday, we are packing up and getting ready to move on, not really sure to where, but a bit further north and hopefully, a bit warmer climes.

Click on the link below to view the photo album.

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