It was another glorious day when we set out to explore the hinterland of the Rainbow Beach and Noosa areas. We turned south from the Gympie road toward Kin Kin. The road is in good condition with bitumen through the fertile valleys and gravel through the rolling hills. Rain forests adorn the hills and market gardeners are active in the valleys.

Rolling Hills

Gravel road mountain pass

Long road

Farm house in the green valley

We came across a quiet little valley where the forest had been cleared and a rest area had been developed. We walked into the rainforest for a few hundred meters along a track and took some pictures of the tree canopy. It felt like another world.

Rest area in them thar hills

Inside the rain forrest

Filtered light under the green canopy

We eventually came across Kin Kin which turned out to be a charming little old village where one could sense the history of the area.  This history started with timber cutting and eventually moved on to dairy and small produce farming.  A coffee and some cake later we continued through this historically rich area on to Pomona. Behind Pomona a ‘Volcanic Plug’ overlooks the town. Volcanic plugs were formed by volcanic events some 5 million years ago. They are literally ‘Magma pimples’ that have been squeezed onto the earth’s surface by pressure increases pushing on cooling lava.

For more information visit the following sites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kin_Kin

http://www.inkinkin.net/

http://www.noosacountrydrive.com.au/country-drive-villages/kin-kin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomona,_Queensland

The ‘Country Life’ hotel at Kin Kin

Churches to be found at every place

The General store

A galery of historical pictures at the General Store

The Art school at Kin Kin

The products of the Art school (insect)

Along the way we drove through several other villages on our way home. We returned late in the day to our caravan park.

The plasma plug overlooking Pomona

…and the Locals are very friendly.

The next morning I drove the 100 km from Wyndham to Kununarra dodging the large Nickel road trains that transport the ore from the mine in the Kimberley to the Wyndham harbor. The total unit has four wagons filled with more than 40 tons of ore each; a truly daunting sight when it comes thundering towards you. I slowed down every time and pulled off the road. Close to Kununarra  a long bridge fords the Ord river.

I stopped at Kununarra. This is a really pleasant town with lush green vegetation, good roads and services and its own lake, Lake Kununarra. There is much fishing being done as well as boating and water skiing.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Lake+Kununurra,+Kununurra+WA+6743/@-15.808885,128.7047026,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x2c998cab21689ee9:0x52f3228531800e34

Lake Argyle is a further 50 km from Kununarra. I did that in quick time as the road is all bitumen and reached the caravan park in the early afternoon. Lake Argyle has resulted from the damming of the Ord River and was built in the late 1960s. It is more than seven times the size of Sydney harbor up to the Parramatta River. The lake measures something like 45 km by 25 km. This is the largest man-made lake in Australia.

For some interesting links on Lake Argyle, see below.

http://www.lakeargyle.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Argyle

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=lake+argyle&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQsARqFQoTCNuoqOzt9sgCFYfGpgod8dkBeA&dpr=1#imgrc=cJHCTK8jFCAI3M%3Ak

It is a really great park with tall trees offering shady sites. The park has a horizon pool that is situated on a hill overlooking a section of the lake. I enjoyed walking through the park and admiring the wide variety of caravans parked there; all shapes and sizes from camper trailers to massive off road caravans.

You can see forever

My humble tent in the shade

I decided to do the Lake Argyle cruise, an all day cruise, to get to know the history and engineering feat that created this biggest manmade lake in Australia. I purchased a ticket and lined up for the cruise the next morning at the office. We were taken by bus to the boat launch which is some 4 km away.

Our guide introduced himself and helped us board a large catamaran, the ‘Kimberley Durack’. Once the Ord River had been dammed and the project had been completed the lake was allowed to fill up. This process of rising water levels has created more than a 100 islands. Some of them have Euros living on them. They are marsupials like Kangaroos, only smaller. They occur only in the northern regions of Australia.

Miles of water and islands

A Euro trapped on an island

Many islands are occupied by fresh water crocodiles. The islands look magnificent as the sun sets across the water. Some islands have great looking geology. In one instance the island is bespeckled with small lava pipes that look like a bunch of caves in the hillside. Many trees had Hawks, Falcons and other birds of prey sitting in them.

Crocks (Freshies) are everywhere

Lava pipes

In the evening our guide stopped the boat in 30 foot of water so that we might enjoy the sunset and the braver ones were invited to take a swim in the lake (amongst the Freshies).  The water was pleasantly warm. A beer and snacks were also served. We returned to our camp after sunset having enjoyed a day that most of us would never forget.

The hills light up in ocher in the evening sun

El Questro is a very large property on which there are many spectacular spots that tourists visit. I did not have time to take in all of them. I will cover those that I had a look at.

The next morning I continued north along the Gibb River road. There were a number of Jump Ups to be negotiated. These are climbs to the top of mountain ranges many of which seem to run east to west. The final one offered a splendid view across the next valley. One could see right across the next valley to the upper reaches of Cambridge Gulf and the town of Wyndham. This town is a Nickle ore export harbor. I could also see a number of major rivers emptying into the Gulf.

View across Cambridge Gulf to Wyndham

A while later I reached the turnoff to El Questro.  Another good many kilometers I reached the grounds of this tourist resort and was impressed by how well developed it was. Great caravan and camping facilities. The general visitor area is impressive as well. The general visitor cannot get to the upmarket facilities.

After a while I carried on touring and went on to El Questro Gorge and to Zebedee Springs.Both destinations are spectacular. As I entered these gorges I could feel the air becoming warmer and more humid. It was like stepping into the sub-tropics. Palms replaced the normal vegetation and the water in the streams became clearer and warmer. Both these gorges were similar in the type of rock and vegetation. It was close to two km up the gorge to get to the spring. Many people were doing the same thing. The water at the spring came bubbling out of the rocks and measured 32 degrees Centigrade. The natural rock formations have created a number of pools where tourists enjoy a natural spa bath.

El Questro tour bus crossing the Pentecost River

Clear water

Start of Zebedee Springs gorge

Tropical climate, palms and stream with deep pools

The water comes out the ground at 32C.

Nothing like a swim!

On the return trip I had to negotiate the Pentecost River once more. That got the adrenaline going as the water was touching the top of the bonnet and I did not have a snorkel on my Patrol. I was aware that if the vehicle stopped I would have to wade through chest high water that was the home to many crocks.

Pentecost River, wider than 50 meters

Somewhere in there Crocks are lurking

Just across the Gibb river road is the turn off for Emma Gorge. This place is sensational. After walking half an hour up a hot canyon I reached this great pool that has a river trickling down an escarpment. The icy water is very refreshing and most people have a swim before heading back.

Canyon walls closing in

Petrified river bed; see the ripples on what was sand once

Yours truly having a swim

I returned to the Gibb River road and completed the last section to the Kununurra – Wyndham road. I decided to spend the night at the Wyndham caravan park which offers shady sites and clean facilities. Wyndham is located on the Cambridge Gulf. It has a large Nickle ore loading facility.

Wyndham ore loading facility.

Cambridge Gulf

Time at James Price Point (JPP)

My good mate Watto and I decided to spend a day visiting this spectacular destination on the Dampier peninsula. We got away fairly early and turned onto the road to the Dampier peninsula and JPP. When we left the bitumen and rode onto the red dirt the immediate impact was sensory. The color of the sky and the landscape changed and became more vivid. One also noticed immediately that the bush was dry. Much of West Australia is enduring a prolonged dry spell.

James Price Point shot to prominence when Woodside Petroleum wanted to level hundreds of acres here to build a harbor and gas refinery. It caused an international outcry and many hundreds of people involved themselves to either protest, camp and obstruct at the site, lobby politicians or collect signatures to send to their local members of Parliament. Even Sea Shepherd was  involved.

As you can see from the pics this place has stunning colors, has a thriving marine life and is close to the breeding ground of Southern Right Whales. At the southern end of this area turtles emerge during winter to lay their eggs on the beach at night, see pic.  Beautiful reefs exist just 50 meters from the beach where a multitude of shells live. I have seen massive clams, textile cones and many cowries when I dived there 2 years ago.

And this is the area that politics and business were happy to sacrifice for profit when there are alternate options available!!!

On this visit, my third, there are  signs still standing, maintained by dedicated protesters / campers who come here year after year to relax, soak in the natural beauty and just chill. I am sure they keep an eye on things too.

As this was my first visit in two years it was interesting to see the changes from the heyday of the protests. The major camp at the turnoff to JPP had totally disappeared. The smaller camp 2km from the coast had fallen into neglect. It had been used by campers during the winter season but was empty now. Campers fill this area during the winter months year after year. At JPP itself a few campers remained. By end of September it is getting quite hot already and the winter campers, who came to enjoy the benign weather, had gone back south over the last month.

We saw a Fish Eagle sitting in the tree and it was in no way concerned by us. The aboriginal elder / spokesperson (Janet) was no longer at JPP. She had left the place months earlier to return to Broome to live with family. I have included pics of the great spot she had used for years. Only a broken down panel van remains.

Our friend Dave still remains. He has been coming here for 9 years I think. He still rates this as one of the top spots in this area. See pics of his camp. He is known for finding dinosaur footprints amongst the rocks at low tide. There are some really good fishing spots in this area. Dave manages to catch a feed quite often.

We drove north along the coast on the gravel road to explore more of JPP. Pics of some of the stunning coastline below. At low tide many reefs emerge from the water and reveal great fishing spots. There is vehicle access to a great beach which leads to the next rocky point 9 km up north.

Also see this link:   https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=144528419227958&set=ms.c.eJw9ybkRACAMA7CNOOw43%7E%3B6LUQQodYLkLJlXK2gL1%7E%3BQAez%7E_zyWzP73k8Y74OgNsQCw%7E-%7E-.bps.a.105255276488606.1073741827.100010124012478&type=3

Unfortunately I had to head back home after two more days. It was great to catch up, catch some fish and recharge my batteries.

We finally arrived back at Winterwood after 5 days of travel. Around 2200 km after we left Yeppoon we were at home in Trentham Victoria. It is still cold here by mid-Qld standards. The temp gauge was registering 8 degrees C. However we got here safely, thank God.

The biggest surprise along the way was how much the countryside had changed from dry to lush green during the 10 weeks plus we had been away. Evidence of drenching rain were to be seen everywhere in Queensland and NSW. Rivers were running very high or in flood. Large puddles of water had gathered in all depressions All the dams were full or overflowing.

A large thank you to all who have stayed with us during our trip. I hope you have enjoyed the blog and some of the experiences I have managed to record. Please feel free to share the link with your friends and family so that they may also share the beauty of this great country with its diverse sceneries and history.

I will shortly be in the Kimberleys in Western Australia. Talk to you then.

Today has been a delightful day. Yeah, the temperature was 23 degrees again, the sun was shining and we walked on the beach with our dog. People are friendly here on the Capricorn Coast. We are in our last week up here and so it was good to see a few unexpected sights.

As we drove along the road we came across a letter box that was just begging to be photographed. Earlier on this trip I did a segment on letter boxes and this pic is just had to be included.

We spent a few hours at the Rockhampton Botanical gardens. They were established in the mid 1800s and have included some pics. The lake has turtles and ducks competing for scraps of bread. I have included a few pics of the gardens. I was impressed by the many varieties of Bamboo on display.

Within the gardens is a German WW1 Howitzer. This forms part of a war memorial. This is now the second German made artillery piece that I have come across in this ex British colony.  I am curious how these guns have ended up miles from the battle fields of Europe. The local Kiosk provided some excellent scones and tea.

When we left the park this afternoon for our beach walk we saw new campers with a beautiful Airedale Terrier dog. The context is that our 3 boys grew up with one of these wonderful animals. We got the dog, then a Siamese cat and then 3 boys. I moved house before the menagerie got any bigger. Look at the pics, you’ll understand. So the pics are for my 3 boys.

Yesterday a pink Hotrod (The Pink Peril) moved into the park with a retro caravan in tow. Just had to share the pics.

If you were to draw a line from Rockhampton to Yeppoon and then to Emu Park (and Zielzie) and back to Rocky, you’d have put a border around some of the most scenic and interesting countryside in Queensland. There are a number of geological features called ‘plugs’ where rocky outcrops appear to have been forced out of the ground. They look almost like pimples on the landscape. These were created by volcanic activity millennia ago.

I am constantly amazed by the foliage. There are many spectacular species of old trees like the Fig tree below. The area is very easy on the eye. One bay follows the other as you head south from Yeppoon. There are at least 15 bays and headlands. One never tires of walking on the beach at any tide. As the bays are very shallow you can walk into the sea forever it seems. Every day we have 23 degrees C. Only a slight breeze…  Yeah I know, it is really tough to endure!!

  and another tree:

However, I am really surprised by the interesting history of the area as some of the links below might indicate:

The town of Rockhampton was created in 1853 by the Archer family. Soon gold was discovered and a 50 year gold boom endured. The largest mine was at Mount Morgan. Initially sheep were farmed and these were later replaced largely by cattle. This area still is a major cattle area. These industries attracted the populations in the early days. These days there is a substantial coal mining industry as well. In the process Rockhampton has become the capital of central Queensland.  The wealth from the gold boom resulted in riches that afforded the building of the many beautiful buildings that have been preserved and adorn the town and river frontage.

In the early days roads were constructed to Yeppoon and Emu Park. There was no road from Yeppon to Emu Park as the Causeway lake at Kinka beach presented an insurmountable barrier. A railroad was built to Emu Beach where the wellheeled had their coastal homes in this slice of paradise.

Some of the history at the link below:

http://library-resources.cqu.edu.au/cqcollection/manuscripts/short-manuscripts/rockhampton.pdf

This summarises some of the main industries of the early days like Beef, gold mining and natural wealth. Gold was found throughout the region and in places was very lucrative like at Mount Morgan.

Some old images showing early Rockhampton at:

http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/old-images-show-how-much-rockhampton-cbd-has-grown/1894214/

A summary of early development can be found at

http://ajthompson.com.au/capricorn-coast/history-rockhampton-environs-early-settlement.htm#.VcHpAfmqqkp

The history of Yeppoon is similarly interesting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeppoon

A quick summary can be found here:

http://queenslandplaces.com.au/yeppoon

Further info includes Emu Park where we have been a few times now:

http://www.cqhistory.com/places/yeppoon.html

I have just had a look at a list of shipwrecks to be found off the Qld coast. There are literally hundreds of them. In some cases Queensland towns derived their names from the name of a shipwreck in their vicinity, for example: Coolangatta at the Gold Coast

http://oceans1.customer.netspace.net.au/qld-wrecks.html

Needless to say the above is just the tip of the iceberg.

I spent some time on top of Mount Archer. The hill overlooks the city from about 9 km  away. It shows off the big Fitzroy river snaking through then landscape. There are some stunning views for 360 degrees.

Locals call this town Rocky. As has been said earlier, Rocky has a population around 85,000.  It is a nice size town, but surprises in how neat it is being kept by the local council. It has a lot of ‘old world’ charm. The town center has a large shady main street that is wide and has many well maintained British colonial buildings. The old Post Office building looks almost new, but has been converted and sports a lovely coffee shop serving great coffee and good cakes. The town is about 40 kilometers from the coast

The ‘Oxford pub in the main street offers great pub meals and has all the local beers on offer. We had the Curry and rice meal. This was beautifully spicy and was a substantial meal. It cost only $8.00. Cannot believe how they can do it so cheaply.

http://stevesoutbackadventure.com/?p=587 Continue reading »]]> Exploring the Yeppoon Coast.

Views from Yeppon!

Yeppoon is built across a number of hills. They offer excellent views in many directions; see below.

Rosslyn Harbor, where the ferry to Great Keppel departs.

The Great Dividing Range snakes its way up the Australian east coast 50 – 150km inland. Close to Rockhamton a few tentacles separate and reach towards the north east. They reach the coast in the Yeppoon region and disappear into the Pacific Ocean. This makes for a hilly coastline with lush vegetation and grand vistas as far as the eye can see. The ranges do surface out of the sea every now and then as a myriad of islands, the best being the Great Keppel island. Wherever you look there are islands of varying sizes.

Great Keppel island

The name ‘Yeppoon’ is aboriginal for thunder or roaring noise. See early history at:

http://ajthompson.com.au/capricorn-coast/history-capricorn-coast-early-settlement.htm#.Vbca3vmqqko

We have been here for a week now. Done some driving around Yeppoon and the coast south. Great place and beautiful with more than 50 island visible. It’s called  the Capricorn coast as it is just north of then tropic. As a result it is beautifully warm here in winter. Temparatures range mid to high twenties every day and in the afternoon the cool breezes start.

We are staying at the Coolwaters  Holiday Resort. They have cabins and powered/unpowered sites. There are some permanents as well. They are located around 12 kilometers south of Yeppoon. I can strongly recommend this place. It is very well run and looked after. It has a mini Water World for the kids and the older kids (:-)  There are the other usual entertainment assets like Jumping Pillow, Tennis Court and even a BMX circuit for the slightly older kids. They have a number of fire pits where residents can light a fire to share with others and have a yarn. The resort borders the Causeway Lake and inlet and the fishing is good.

The staff are very friendly and the park is well run being constantly maintained….Do I need to say more?? Great place to stay, especially at weekly rates!

We will remain here for a good few more weeks.

Crab Art or Aboriginal Art

We love going for beach walks, Dawn, Lexie (dog) and I..It imbues you with a sense of freedom and calms the spirit. All over the beaches up here there is this beach art visible at low tide, see pic below. It is caused by the tiny Ghost crabs coming out of their holes as the waters recede. They then filter the surface mud for food and leave behind these round little balls of mud that radiated in all directions from their hole in the beach. The high tide then comes and washes it all away. The next low tide sees the play being repeated. It is just beautiful.

Now if you just zoom a bit into the picture it seems to me that I am looking at a piece of Aboriginal art. Many or most Aboriginal paintings use the myriad of little balls/dots to make a larger beautiful picture. Often the theme of the picture is circular in nature. Could it be that our ancient people got their inspiration from natural events such as this Crab Art???

Happiness is;

Happiness is a beautiful view, a thumping southeast wind banging into the hills and a bum firmly lodged into a sling as you ride the airwaves like a bird. Doesn’t get much better!!

Chilled out camping.

Looks like Hippies staying overnight at the resort.

Green palm tree stumps

Interesting to see that trunks of Palm trees generate a sugary sap once they have been cut down. This attracts the fruit flies a lot of which get stuck in the goo.

Waiting for fish to jump out of the water and surrender.

The cake and tea shop

The Lady of the Manor;- I mean Caravan!

Mangroves everywhere

If you look around south of Yeppoon there is a swag full of bays and little townships. Most of them are attractive. Most have great beaches and they are not overrun.

When I came around the corner on this beach I was startled by what I saw. At first glance it looked like a heap of skulls lying on the beach, A second look revealed that indeed it was coconuts that had been deposited here by the currents over time.

Some  of the houses are not too shabby!

!

On Thursday 8 July we decided to explore the town of Bundaberg. It is around 57km from Woodgate on a winding road through the sugarcane fields. ‘Makes sense, I thought, how else does one get the base fuel for the lovely Bundy Rum’.  The main street of Bundaberg is beautifully renovate with heaps of plants adorning the spaces available. We had a good breakfast at one of the many cafes and then had a walk about the town; see pics. Later we drove to the mouth of the Burnett river, which runs through Bundaberg, There is a nice little yacht club situated there. There is ongoing work at the river mouth to drege the sand that is filling up the inlet.

A while later I drove to the’ Bundaberg Distillery which is well signposted’.  Thus it was easy to find. I took some pics of the iconic polar bear as well as the decal of the rum bottle. The factory was going at full steam producing ever more of the beautiful amber liquid.  I ended up not buying any product as no one in our family drinks the stuff.

At this stage it was close to going home time.