Sunday 13 May (Mother’s Day) - Gayndah
After 2 solid weeks of final preparation at home, we finally got ourselves ready for our 6 month journey. We are really rapt with the housesitters that we found to take care of our home and we’re sure our house is in very good hands. We took the mandatory scrapboooking photos of our van all hooked up and ready to go, then hit the road.
Our rig all ready to travel.
Our first stop was Gayndah in the heart of citrus country. The park we stayed at was full of tents, whizz-bangers and backpackers (fruit pickers). After sorting out a blocked tap, small power problem and tv reception we settled down to enjoy a well earned happy hour and a good night’s sleep.
Monday 14 May to Wednesday 16 May – Cania Gorge
Today we headed into Cania Gorge, a family favourite. Ad taught Kelsey how to ride her bike, which took a very short time and now we can't get her off it! The girls had a swim in the new water park here. The water and air temperature were way too cool, but we couldn't stop the girls. After 30 minutes they were frozen enough and ran for the towels.
The next day we woke to 0 degrees and fog. We spent the morning doing a walk to Dragon Cave, Bloodwood Cave and the Gorge Lookout, after which we had a picnic lunch. Then we did one more short walk called Two Storey Cave and returned to the van for a lazy afternoon and a camp fire before bed.
Toasting the toes at our Cania campfire.
The girls loved collecting kindling on their bikes all around the park. They also spent plenty of time on the jumping pillow, an activity that mum and dad were forced to participate in.
One morning we had billy tea and damper courtesy of the park staff, next to a roaring fire that kept us warm. On the Wednesday afternoon we went over to the bird feeding at 5.00pm. Georgia loved feeding the rainbow lorikeets, cockatoos and king parrots.
Georgia and her new friends at the birdfeeding . . . .
Thursday 17 May to Saturday 19 May – Carnarvon Gorge
After a stop at Biloela for some groceries we arrived late at Canarvon Gorge, around 5.00pm.
We did our first walk the next morning to Moss Garden (3.7km one way). The walk in was spectacular all the way, through groves of tall palms and eucalypts, and many creek crossings to negotiate. The kids loved the stepping stones. Moss Garden was spectacular with dripping walls of moss and a beautiful waterfall into a crystal clear pool. Very shady and cool.
Kelsey negotiating our first lot of stepping stones for the day.
Kelsey & Georgia taking a break in a dry creek bed on the way to Moss Garden.
Bushwalking beauties on the trail.
While there we spoke with our neighbours from the park and they suggested we should push on to the next destination, Wards Canyon. This added a further 3.6km to our trek but they said it would be worth it. They weren’t wrong. The first thing we saw was a pretty waterfall, but above that a beautiful creek ran beneath an overhang in the rock face and sheltered a spectacular stand of palms. The drop in temperature here was incredible, like walking into the frozen section at the supermarket.
After a 5km trek back to the car our sandwiches tasted so good. The rest of the afternoon was spent recuperating.
Sunday 20 May to Monday 21 May – Emerald
We left Carnarvon Gorge on Sunday morning and after a fuel stop at Rolleston, arrived in Emerald at around 12.30.
After setting up and a late lunch, we took off in the Cruiser for a look around town and a bit of shopping. On the way back from Home Hardware (closed), and on the main drag in town, we heard that sickening sound of a blown tyre. Upon pulling over and closer examination, it was found that it wasn't just a simple puncture, but a full blown (pardon the pun) sidewall blowout. Split almost from tread to rim. Brilliant . . . . welcome to Emerald . . . .
The diagnosis at the local Coopers dealer this morning revealed that it isn't covered under the new tyre warranty and we're up for $420 for a new tyre . . . . due Wednesday morning. So it looks like we're gunna get to know Emerald better than we thought.
Tomorrow we going to take the kids out to Sapphire & Rubyvale to do a mine tour and some fossicking for sapphires, and anything else Mother Nature might throw our way. I reckon $420 worth of gems should just about square the ledger.
So, till next post, when possibly we'll have ourselves organised enough to throw up a few pics, it's cheers from up here . . . .
