Nanango to Crows nest

The Big orange in Gayndah was our only stop here The coffee and scones were very good nice friendly staff

.Gayndah is known as the citrus capital of Queensland and also the home of the Big Orange.

Visit between April and October to taste the fresh juice made from the citrus growing on the property.

Nanango

Nango, Queensland’s fourth oldest town and the second largest in the South Burnett, Nanango is a vibrant centre steeped in heritage while still retaining its tranquil rural charm.

The township started as early as 1848 when Jacob Goode established a traveller’s rest house at ‘Nooganida’ on the banks of Barker’s Creek on the Nanango run. By 1851 he had a licence to sell alcohol. Thus it was that Nanango, described as Queensland’s fourth-oldest town, came into existence around Goode’s Inn. It grew slowly as a stopping point for people passing through the area and as a recreation point for the shepherds and rural labourers who worked on the large holdings. In the 1860s when gold prospectors, brought to the area by the wealth of Gympie, found small deposits in the streams and gullies around the town. At one time the area’s population included 700 miners, many of whom were Chinese. In the 1880s there was some reef mining but the goldfields were short-lived, Today the town is a typical rural centre in rich poll hereford country. The local industries include beef and pork production, dairying and milk processing, timber, small crops, grapes and olives.

If you love a country market, Nanango has one of the biggest in South East Queensland. Held on the first Saturday of each month at the Nanango Showgrounds you’ll find something for everyone. friendly country town surrounded by vine scrublands and eucalypt forests enjoys cool summers and brisk winters. One of the things that I really like about older towns and villages is the history that is displayed by the buildings and in fracture, Nanango did not disappoint.

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Fourth oldest town in Queensland
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Nanango

Our next stop for a few days is Esk, only a couple of hours from Nanango.

A beautiful part of Australia great drive

Wreck rock, Deepwater national park

Wreck rock, in the deepwater national park Queensland, Quiet, secluded, plenty of wildlife, swimming, fishing what more could you want.
The long secluded beaches are a nesting place for turtles, and sea birds a great place to visit for a few days.

This is our fourth time at Wreck rock, this year we decided that it would be our starting point for our discover Australia adventure, a bit hotter and windier than usual but never been disappointed with this place.

In previous years we have been in our old faithful camper trailer, this year upgraded both home and tow vehicle, there were plenty of sites to pick from but our favourites were taken, this park is a bit rustic with a long drop toilet and a cold shower, which I had to fix to make usable

As our friends will know we travel with our bird (Baby) a well travelled little girl, when we are at places like this we have to be careful of the natural inhabitants who dont always appreciate feathered visitors, this place has a population of sand Goannas, they don’t bother us but you have to be aware of them.

The ocean this time was a bit wild, so swimming was a bit risky but we managed to find a few rock pools that were sheltered, there was not much beach fishing either this year but a couple persisted with no luck, we decided to just relax and enjoy mother ocean doing her thing.

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SAFE SWIMMING POOL
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Jourama falls North Queensland

First days off grid

Jourama falls

After a week or so getting used to our new home we have decided to test the off grid features of the van, the destination Jourama falls was the closest but we were a bit aprehensive because the Townsville area has been very dry and there are plenty of fire warnings about, we have been to this park a few times and if there is no water flowing it is not all that pleasant.

So ten minutes after finding our camp spot annex out and roof up and rain, yes after weeks of dry dusty weather rain, being able to go to a campsite and bring rain is one of my many talents, but the scrub turkeys appreciated it and showed it by fighting for a place near us .

First setup off grid for the SUV Hybrid van

One of the things that really impressed us with this van is the very very comfortable king size bed, so because we could we settled in for our afternoon nap and listened to the light rain and get read to have our first night in the bush. I mentioned the scrub turkeys, and there were plenty, to me they have always been just harmless bird that survive on grubs, so I’m watching one wander through the leaf litter and a very large goanna arrived and tried to grab one, initially the bird took off, then turned on the lizard, what happened next really amazed me this bird turned on a display of aggression that would do an eagle proud, it chased the lizard around the park across the road and every time the goanna tried to turn on the bird it spread its wings and kept going at the lizard until it ran off up a hill and never returned

Anyway after that bit of excitement the camp got a bit quiet, except for the backpackers arriving late and leaving early, (before the ranger arives)so we packed up and moved on to our next destination, Ballenden Ker far north Queensland.

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Herberton North Queensland

We had been talking about this for a while, so in 2022 my friend Errol (known as E) decided to explore the Herbert Historic village in far north Queensland, this was going to be a boys trip, the girls weren’t really interested as it was planned to take two days to do the tour, anyway a shopping trip to Townsville seemed more exciting.

When you a drive there is plenty of parking although in busy times you may have to walk a bit, the cost is $38 that gets you all day and a pass to come back next day if you dont get through everything, also a free pass to the Herbert mining museum, so if you are interested in Aussie history this is the place.

They have added a lot to since I was here last there are now interactive displays all day, we stayed for a while at the working blacksmith area

If you are into old cars and trucks, then you will have a ball, the restoration work is very detailed , especially the old coaches.

Many of the historic buildings from the surrounding area have been moved here, the bookmaker, printer, old police station, chemist (Alchemist) grocer shop, all stocked with the things I remember from my early years.

There is so much to see, the old police station with a display of uniforms, a working sawmill, an old railway ambulance, a school set up as was back in the early 1900s.

But for me the best was the house of the founder of Herbert with all the trappings that were used by him and his family every day, there is to much to see in one day and we took advantage of the next day offer just to go through this impressive display of how they lived.

This historic display is well worth dedicating a couple of days to see, and then there is the mining museum, which is just as impressive.

February/ March 2021 trip 1

First trip for the year Covid-19 has kept us quiet but we have slipped out for a few weeks

Loaded ready to go, fishing rods, golf clubs, and bird

It’s been a while since the last trip thanks to Covid-19, so the plan is head south visiting friends and relatives camping, fishing golfing

First stop Carmilla beach

We have stayed at Carmilla before pretty basic camping with the only facility being a toilets , access is easy just follow the road past the servo for about 14K and turn right at end of road.

there are a few areas to chose from a fairly easy shaded area for caravans and motor homes to sandy spots for camper trailers and tents.

There is creek and beach fishing at both ends of the camp area although one of these areas is 4X4 only, we did not have much luck fishing but put the crab pot in one night and had some luck

Carmilla beach is a pretty spot, not much to do just fish and relax.

Next stop Wreck rock

Located in Deepwater national park about 60k south of Town of 1770 wreck rock is one of two camping grounds in the NP the road to wreck rock is average and comes in from Baffle creek all except the last few kilometres is bitumen and the dirt stretch is not bad, to access the camp area is a sandy track and is ok for most vehicles.

The beach is a turtle nesting habitat and the nests are marked so that they are not disturbed

There are not a great many campsites and well distributed so not busy even on the weekend the camps were full and still remained quiet.

The local wildlife was a bit friendly and were obviously used to being around humans

Feet on the beach

A small album of changes in the sand on our beach

I’m always looking for changes on our beach, almost every time we go for a walk something is different this time, while contemplating my feet I noticed the difference in the sand almost every time I moved.

Just a collection of the changes over time

VALLEY OF LAGOONS CAMP 1st in 2020 (week before LOCKDOWN)

Valley of lagoons camping area🏕 one of our favourite places can’t wait to go back

There are a few ways to get to this place this time we chose the short route over the beautiful Mt Fox and then on to the dirt.

this is usually the rough way to get there but this time not so bad.

Valley of lagoons road at its best

Valley of lagoons station looks spectacular we have never been here and not seen plenty of water in this large billlabong.

The Road traverses typical bush cattle country and then you go over the rise and you see why this is such a special part of Queensland

After about 3 hours we arrived at the camping area, this is a large area that once a year hosts a bush cricket match, no shortage of space or quality camps we arrived here one year with our friends Wendy and Glen Christensen, (they were living in sin then but have since married in a wonderful white wedding in Canada) to find the 2 day cricket match in full flight and at least 500 people camping but the area is so spread out we drove in to a great campsite big enough for two camper trailers.This time though only 2 groups of campers but the river had had a fair bit of rain and we could not get to our favourite spot, but there are no bad spots here so set up camp on the river bank.

first camp site 2020 valley of lagoons

***roast lamb and veg camp oven style***

“Cool nights , peaceful, it does not get any better than this , quiet drink beside the fire while the roast lamb and veg cook in the camp ovens

There is plenty to see and places to explore but we know what’s coming and have to get back home.

As Arnie said we will be back

Lake Tinaroo 06/02/2020

Well second last day here, first on the list today is a trip down to Cairns for a couple of hours then back to do some exploring, I really don’t like the road down from here the Gillies highway about 45ks of twists and turns if you manage to get over 60kph you are not in a Nissan patro I can tell you. And then you will always get Fangio driving his piece of crap sitting right up your bum trying to make you speed up, we are now going to maintain 40kph and Fangio hasn’t got the message because he is now feigning to pass over double lines on blind corners,anyway enough about my issues we get our business done and head back up the Gillies*#$

On the way down we saw a dirt road that we haven’t been down yet so decided to have a look on the way back n ow my friends know that I cannot resist finding what lies at the end of a dirt road and this one gave us a clue because the sign said Gillies road lookout with a warning (Not suitable for caravans or trailers) what it should have said hey don’t try to take your van down this road because first up it goes up and fairly quickly, it wasn’t so bad just a bit of fun and a couple of gates.

When you get to the top, it’s only 4K the view is spectacular a great lookout over the valley a sheer drop but I was concerned about the safety fence because it had gates that opened out on to the edge.

But after looking around we see that this is where the Cairns’s hang gliding club cast themselves out into the wild blue younder

Well back to camp, a cuppa and a paddle around to have a look at the little creek we found yesterday and move on to tomorrow.

Lake Tinaroo 5/02/2020

Well early morning and the mist is coming down and the ducks are settling in, I think Jacky may have left an enticement for these guys, they are not afraid of us just made themselves at home, it’s very quiet there is no other sound except the birds in the surrounding rainforest feel so lucky to be sharing their space

Early morning visitors 1
Early morning mist

well some days it’s all about how the day starts and with views like these it’s hard not to feel good, so after the visitors ate us out of house and home we put the kayaks in and went for a paddle down the lake, came back had a swim then breakfast, bloody hectic being retired.

This trip I managed to smuggle the golf clubs in, so while Jacky rested and settled in with her book I drove in to Atherton for a game, the course is in terrific condition many too good as I decided to walk lush thick fairways make hard going on this hilly track but a good day.

Fairway no 4 a 430mtr par 4
Fairway 3 a 165mtr par 3

Feeling pretty hot after my little walk so straight in to the water 💦 Jacky wanted to go and have a look around the lake so off for a paddle we pushed up through a bit of shallow water and found a waterfall emptying into the lakenot far from camp will take some pics tomorrow after we come back from Cairns

Lake Tinaroo

Well we are supposed to be going south about now but as usual things change, so we have started out up north, this is a quiet time around here especially during the week, so the kayaks are on the bank and the fishing rods are ready, maybe a Barra for dinner tomorrow night.

we are camped at the Kauri creek camping area which is on the logging road that goes around the back of the lake, this is a great spot we have been threatening to come here for a while, there are a couple of tracks that finish near this camp one track has some incredible rock formations some as large as houses, if your game you can climb down the gully and walk under them, we have showed this place to some of our special friends it is really like going into a prehistoric time.

I think the wildlife here are used to people especially the March flies who are a bit willing in the evening although the ducks don’t mind them they just come into the camp and clean up the carcasses of the dead flies. Well the suns just going down so might try to get a couple of pics light the fire and have a wine then see what tomorrow brings