long “pop” of around 750 kilometres and we didn’t make it in a day as hoped. Leaving Brisbane travelling on the Warrego Highway we passed towns of various shapes and sizes – Ipswich, Toowoomba, Dalby, Chinchilla (the melon capital of Australia) Miles (stopped for lunch) and on to Roma. Then turning north onto the Carnarvon Developmental Road at 4pm we finally reached a small town called Injune – still 150k short of our destination. Whilst we could have made it to Carnarvon by about 6pm it would have meant arriving in the dark and, with no campsite yet identified (there was no camping in the park itself) we decided to call it a day and explore the delights of Injune.We checked into the local campsite then went to the pub. The Injune Hotel’s bar (Sandra is not yet ready for public bars so I took her to the lounge) was a delightful ensemble of wood, corrugated iron and formica with a nod to modernity in the form of a 50 inch flatscreen TV dominating the room and blasting the only customers (us) with loud music. We bought a carry out and went back to the tent and had a good night.
Carnarvon Gorge was interesting although not as awesome as expected but provided plenty of good walking trails. I did far too much walking about 14k including a
number of river crossings jumping from stone to stone. At the end of one walk we came to the “Art Gallery” which featured a sandstone cliff covered with Aboriginal art. I would like to say I am turned on by Aboriginal art – but I’m not!On the wildlife front, we spotted our first wild dingo on the way out of Carnarvon and it was good enough to pose for a photo. We also spotted a very strange kangaroo which seemed to have extra legs!!
The following day we started the trek back to the coast to Bundaberg to spend some time with
Lawrie’s parents who we have met before (Lawrie is Sandra’s sister Gill’s partner) The first day of the trip was pretty uneventful unless one counts the “Gully Incident” Heading north Sandra spotted some interesting rock formations formed by erosion on our left and instructed me to turn and give her the camera. I did a U-turn and dropped her off then went to turn the vehicle. Arriving back at the drop off point I saw that Sandra had clambered down into the gully and was snapping away like mad. She seemed quite happy by herself so I left her to it i.e. I couldn’t be bothered climbing down then climbing up the other side to join her. Suddenly I caught a 
flash of red as she lost her footing and tumbled head-over-heels down the side of the gully and disappeared. When I arrived she was emerging from her red hole – battered, scraped, bruised, glasses awry – however the good news was the camera was undamaged!Arriving at the Dawson Highway we headed east through a series of small towns – Bauhinia, Moura (lunch stop) Banana (honestly, I thought it was funny, but Sandra wouldn’t let me stop for a photo) then a fairly large town Biloela where we got provisions for the night. Our destination was yet another gorge – Cania Gorge. Although a National Park there was no camping so we booked into a commercial site which was excellent despite the rain seeking us out yet again. After a wee poke around the gorge we set off for Bundaberg to see Lawrie and Colleen passing through Rosslyn, Mount Perry (“I like this place” said Sandra after our lunch stop) Gin Gin then into Bundaberg.
Sandra had phoned ahead to get the address – 2 Inspiration Drive – but the satnav didn’t recognise this and the nearest we could get was Inspiration Court. Thinking that this would be near enough we set off for Inspiration Court which we found quite easily but couldn’t find Inspiration Drive. Parking outside 2 Inspiration Court, we phoned for directions and, whilst speaking to Lawrie, noticed Colleen coming out of the “wrong” house waving – Sandra had taken the address down wrongly.
Rain has featured large on our trip. Whilst we complain, the locals
are delighted, as we seem to have broken the drought. We have had to invest in a tarp for the roof to stop things getting wet – but Sandra still keeps acquiring things and, when I complain, she says “Oh just put it on the roof”. I think we are starting to get a bit top heavy (see photo)Plan now is to spend a few days here then head up the coast to Mackay to visit Martin Hannah, a very old friend who I have not seen for over 40 years – unless one counts the 1976 incident when he was a policeman and I was innocent! Thankfully he seems to have forgotten it ever happened.
No comments:
Post a Comment