The big adventure starts
Trip Start
Apr 19, 2012
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29
Trip End
Oct 02, 2012
Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia
Thursday, April 19, 2012
From Inverell we travelled through Moree and on to Mungindi for lunch on the Barwon River which is the QLD Border. We then travelled on to free camp at Nindigully Pub which is beside the Moonie River. This is a very popular spot. It was surprising to see so many campers there. We had a great meal at the pub for tea. Albie took lots of bird photos as he tries to get familiar with his new camera.
After Nindigully we drove through St George, this is a big cotton growing area and we took some photos of the harvesting, then on past Surat to Roma, where we went to the Big Rig museum and the night show.
The next day we headed on to Carnarvon Gorge NP and camped at Takarakka Resort. It was a very nice bush setting. On the way in we stopped at a WW11 aircraft crash site of a Dakota that went down in an electrical storm.
Hidden in the rugged ranges of Queensland's central highlands, Carnarvon Gorge features towering sandstone cliffs, vibrantly coloured side gorges, diverse flora and fauna and Aboriginal rock art.
We walked halfway up the gorge about 6km to the Aboriginal Art Gallery and on the return went into the Moss Garden. Lots of river stone crossings which tested out the balance. Albie also did the walk up to Boolima Bluff the next day. We spent quite a lot of time here trying to photograph the Striated Pardalote and any other bird life.
We left Carnarvon early on the 25th April and headed further north to Clermont, stopping at Springsure for coffee and then lunch in Emerald where we did a walk through the Botanic garden and then up the street. Everything was closed as it was Anzac Day.
On the way to Charters Towers we passed the Blair Athol mining area.
Charters Towers is an old gold mining town and rich pastoral country. There are many beautiful old buildings especially the old stock exchange. In the Gold Rush Days, Charters Towers was the second largest centre in Queensland. Hosting over 60 hotels and a Stock Exchange, it was a bustling mining town with interests also in sheep and cattle.
An Aboriginal boy started it all when he picked up a nugget in 1871. History abounds in this town with a great deal of the architecture, built in those heady days, still standing as a proud reminder of the past. Visiting Charters Towers is like stepping back in time.
It rained all morning but the afternoon cleared enough for us to play 9 holes of golf.
Comments
Good job! blog and the pics look really good. Keep up the good work.