Day 30 to 34

Day 30 August 28 Thursday
Left Eungella NP in the fog and misty rain and headed down the mountain to Finch Hatton Gorge section of the park. The Araluen Cascade trail was open but the rest was closed because of floods. Very pretty cascade with a big pool at the bottom. Made lunch and a kookaburra swept out of the tree and took a bit. I had to sit in the van to finish eating. Little bugger. Drove towards Mackay but turned north on hwy 1 and then took the Seaforth turnoff which took me to Cape Hillsborough NP on the ocean. Spent the night a a small NP campground. With 10 sites called Smalley‘s Beach. Lucky one was open. Spent the evening until 7 and pitch black, talking with a German man who had been here for 20 years. While we were sitting talking a possum came wondering by. When the tide is out here it is mudflats but it has a sandy beach.

Smalley Beach

Day 31 August 29 Friday
Left Smalley’s beach and went on a couple of hikes in the park. One was on an elevated walkway through the mangrove forest. The other went through an area which showed the plants and trees that the aboriginal people used. Left the park and headed north an A1 again and took a side road to Airlie Beach which is suppose to be the’in place” for backbackers. Lots of them there and the place seemed like a tourist trap. Headed north again and stopped just south of Bowen for the night. Did some laundry, took and shower and had a nice dinner. It seemed hot today. Probably around 30 (86 deg) and humid. I am going to have this kind of weather for a while.

Day 32 August 30 Saturday
Left Bowen Palms Caravan park and headed north on A1. Stopped in Townsville and bought me a book called Camp 4 which list thousands of free and cheap places to camp. It was very helpful for tonight. Stopped at Jourama Falls NP which is very tiny. Nice falls and cascades which would be spactacular in the rainy season but then it might be closed due to road flooding. I had to cross the river twice to view the falls. Spend the night at a wayside park just before the town of Tully.

Day 33 August 31 Sunday.
Left the wayside park and headed north on hwy1 ti Innisfail where I headed west to Millaa Millaa on the Palmerston hughway. At Millaa Millaa there is a 15 k loop with three falls. Ellinjaa, Zillie and the more famous Millaa Millaa falls. They were very pretty. Just past Millaa Millaa took hwy 25 north to Malanda and then east a bit to the famous Curtain Fig Tree NP. This huge fig over the years grew roots down from the top of another tree. The other tree finally died leaving the fig on its own with hundreds of roots going to the ground. Went to Atheron and headed north hwy 1 to Granite Canyon Nature Park. There were some rock wallabies there amongst the bolders and a nice lake. Got back to hwy I and drove north to Mount Molloy where I spent the night in another free wayside park. Cold shower and water that needed to be boiled to drink. Hot and humid today but cooled down nicely after dinner.

Day 34 Sept 1 Monday.
Left the wayside park and headed north on highway 81, Mulligan Highway to Cooktown. It was all redone and repaved in 2001 so it was a very good road. Once in Cooktown, drove to the top of Grassy Hill where Cook once stood surveying the harbor and reefs. He spent months there rebuilding the Endeavour after running aground, then waiting several months for favorable tide and wind to escape. Visited the old convent, now museum, holding an original Endeavor anchor and cannon, and aboriginal and early Cooktown artifacts. Spend the night at Cooktown Caravan Park. Hot and humid and extremely windy (every day SE winds).

View from Grassy Hill

More Australian Birds

These top three were seen in Eungella NP in Queensland

Azure kingfisher


bush turkey

eastern robin

These three were seen in Rubyvale

kookaburra on my van tailgate waiting for a handout

willy wagtail

Galah

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• White winged chough in Girraween NP


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• Pale headed rosellas
  


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Pied currawong in Girreween NP

plumed duck

Day 28 and 29

Day 28 August 28 Tuesday
Left Rubydale and took the back road to A7. Along the way was Peak Range mountains NP. A very small park with only dirt roads. Nice peaks sticking up. Continued past Nebo to a rest area about 65 km from Mackay to spend the night. Stopped in Clermont for internet access and to get groceries and petrol. There are lots of huge coal miles along the road.

Day 29 August 29 Wednesday
Left the wayside park and headed towards Mackay on the coast on hwy 70. At Walkerston turned West onto the Makay Eungella highway. The last 5 km to Eungella were up a steep (12% grade) and windy road where I had to use second gear all the way. And it was very foggy near the top because Eungella means “where the clouds meet the land” in local aboriginal. Went for a few walks in the tropical rainforest and the fog cleared up. Spent the night at a RV park at the top of the mountain with a nice view down the valley towards the ocean. Ate my first real meal out instead of cooking. We had a little rain shower just before dark.

Tree with lots of vines growing on it.

This is a view from my campsite on the mountain. Pretty.

Day 21 to Day 27

Day 21 Sunday August 17.
Saw I misdated my last blog. Oh well. Left Lightning Ridge and headed south on Castlereagh Hwy to almost Walgett then headed east to Glen Innes. Saw emus and red foxes and dead ‘roo’s. This is real outback. Found the coolant problem, a small leak in the radiator. Will see about getting it fixed tomorrow or use stop leak. Spent the night at Blue Sapphire Caravan park. Did a load of laundry. Lots of parrots around, the owner called them king parrots.

Day 22 Monday August 18
No one in town knew about a radiator shop so I went to an auto store and bought some Stop Leak and put it in the radiator. Will see how it works. Left town and headed north on hwy 15 to Tenterfield . From there went to Boonoo Boonoo NP. Very pretty water falls and sights. Stopped at a picnic site along the river and saw a platypus. Real neat but picture is not good. I then went to Bald Mt. NP which has the largest exposed granite outcrop in the southern hemisphere. It is 1277 meters high (3700 ft above sea level). The long path up goes through boulder tunnels and is 2.2 km. On the way I saw a lyre bird but it did not stay put long enough to get a picture. Drat. It was very windy on the top and I had to take my hat off. Nice views all around. I then took the steep way down the face of the mountain. A 1km trail. Saw some red necked wallabies too. A good day. Spent the night at blue Sapphire Caravan Park in Tenterfield. Cold night again.

23 Tuesday August 19
Left Blue Sapphire Caravan Park and headed north on A15. Took the road to Girraween NP. Climbed the “Pyramid” and had some great views, especially of the big granite rock I climbed the day before. This climb was much steeper and lucky the footing was good. No lyre birds even though the guide book says lots of them. Continued north on A15 through Warwick, Toowoomba to Hamiltor where I turned right onto hwy 85 to Esk where I spent the night. Esk Carravan park space number 6. This is the first night I have been able to sit outside for dinner and feel reasonably comfortable. It is not windy or cold. Checked the coolant level and it look like none was used. Wheee! Will keep checking and hope it stays.

Day 24 Wednesday August 20
Left Esk on hwy 85and headed towards Beerwah on hwy 6. Australian (Crockodile Hunter) Zoo)was just a few km’s north. It was very nice there, clean with lots of staff showing off animals, that you can touch if you want. It costs $50A and includes all the shows. Spent 5 hours there. I got to the aviary just a morning feeding. Wow birds flying all over the place. The main stage show had elephants, snakes, birds and of course crocodiles. The birds (parrots, cockatoos, and jabiru) were neat in that they were allowed to fly free and they all came back. The wombat and the Tasmanian devil were very cute and cuddly critters. Spend the night at Landsborough PinesCaravan Park at which there are ponds with lots of birds. I think I got a little sun today even though I put on sunscreen. First day for shorts. Yea!! There was just a accident outside the park where a woman ran a stop sign and ran into a empty tour bus. No injuries.

Day 25 Thursday August 21
Left Landsborough and headed north on A1 until just past Gympie where I took the road to Kilkivan and then a side road to A3 North. The side road was only paved in the middle for much of it so with oncoming traffic I had to drive half on pavement and half on dirt. Spent the night at Biloela Caravan Park space 27. The road was scenic but as usual very bumpy and uneven. No dead ‘roos on the road and not much wild life. The rv park has a bunch of peacocks and guinea hens running around. Noisy buggers.

Day 24 Friday August 22
Stayed in Biloela until the bank opened and got some more money. Filled up the petrol tank and headed west on hwy 60 to Banana where I took A7 to Emerald. Spent the night at a place set aside at the local botanical gardens. No fee and no services. Warming up now. Should be plenty warm overnight.

Day 25 Saturday august 23
Left Emerald after a nice reasonably warm night and headed to Sapphire to look up some people Jim of the Shelton Rock club knows. After a few stops found one man who knew both couples and off I went. Met Lou and Trudy at their place which is on the way to Graves Hill fossicking area (rockhounding). Very nice couple. Lou has had the flu and invited me on Tuesday to watch him run his machine to separate sapphirs from junk. He showed me some of his gems he has cut and there are very nice. Lou said he will set me up with the equipment I need on Sunday afternoon. He is good friends with the other couple I was suppose to see. John and Toni live in town and ows a mine just outside of town. He and his wife both have real jobs outside the sapphire business. John gave me a piece of opal to bring back to Jim of the rock club. Spent some time touring the area. Spent the night in the local free camping area set aside by the local community.

Day 26 August 24 Sunday
Went to the local flee market after breakfast. This was not ordinary in that there were cut gems in the thousands of dollars worth each just sitting there waiting for someone to buy them. Wow. I had a fried egg and ham sandwich for a snack. Yum. Found out Lou was still not doing well so he may not work his mine equipment on Tues. Went and rented some gear and headed off to one of the site. Spent all day digging, screening and wet screen. No luck. Found out all the sites available for free have been dug commercially and have be dug by thousands of people over the years. I will try a new place tomorrow. Went back to the free camping place for the night.

Day 27 August 25 Monday
While having breakfast, two horsed slowly wandered up to the van and stuck there head in to see what I was eating. Gave each half a carrot, wrong thing to do as it was then hard to get rid of them. Note that cows, horses, and goats wander freely around town. Well, after horsing around, I went and spent more time digging, sieving and washing dirt trying to make my fortune. Unlucky today. So I am spending the night in Rubyvale, at the Bedford Gardens Caravan Park which is a few km north of Sapphire.. While I am cooking dinner some apostle birds came around, then a couple of rainbow lorikeets were here and a kookaburra landed on the raised tailgate. The owner of the park told me to put some bread in each hand and soon I had 8 to 10 lorikeets on my hands and arms eating. Cool. If I had gotten out a piece of chicken, the kookaburra would have taken it out of my hand too. Fun place, makes up for not finding a sapphire, that is for sure.

Day 17 to the 20th

Day 17 August 12 Wednesday
Left Gunnedah and headed west on the Oxley Highway to Coonabarabran. Tried the internet but would not read my text file for web site. Quit and went to Warrumbungle National Park. Hiked the White Gum Lookout trail. Nice views of the mountains. Paid my fee at the visitors center. Kangaroos, emus, and a koala bear were found there. Lots of ‘roos and emus. I hiked up the Fan’s Horizon lookout trail for some fantastic views. There were longer hikes but did not take them. Went back into town and tried internet again. Hooked into broadband but the blogsite would not let me send pictures. Why? May add later. Spend the night at John Oxley Caravan park, space 14.

Day 18 August 13 Thursday
From Coonabarabran, took hwy 39 to Narrabri. A cotton center. I then went to Mt. Kapatur Nationa Park and drove to the top of the mountain at around 1500 meters (4600 feet) The view was great. The literature said you could see one third of NSW from there and I believe it. Saw a small bit of fresh snow in a shady area. The road was narrow, steep and windy and mostly unpaved. The van did very well. Took a few walks to different view points. Cold and windy. Headed back to town and spent the night at Holiday Tourist Park, space 49. They had WiFi so I could send some emails and add pics to my blog.

My van

Sawn Rocks

Day 19 August 14 Friday
Left Narrabi and headed west on the Kilamaroi highway through Wee Waa to Walcott then north on Castlereagh highway to Lighting Ridge. This is the real outback, straight roads and not much of anything. Checked out the town a little then went to the information center to find out about looking for opals. They directed me to a place out of town where the mines dump tailing. Looked a bit and found some pretty rocks. Headed back to town and spent the night at Crocodile Caravan Park. Place was packed because this is the busy season. Hardly any one comes in the summer. Too hot. Ate dinner and had a fun chat with a whole bunch of travelers, all Australians. After dinner went to the Bore Bath just at the edge of town. Bore means a well. It is an artesian hot water bath built by the miners but managed by the city. Open 24 hours a day. Had a fun chat with a local miner and said it will be difficult to make my fortune finding opals. I told him I just wanted to find something to make a pair of earings or so.

Day 20 August 15 Saturday
After breakfast headed off to the opal mines southwest of town. Rummaged through the tailings and got a sandwich bag full of seam opal. Most were small pieces and not very thick After 5 hours came back to town and took the blue car door tour to an opal mine and saw some samples of opal similar to mine, rough and cut, and the famous nodule black opal. They used old car doors to mark the auto tour routes. It was a fun day even though I did not make my fortune in opals.

Opal mines where I got my opal

More Pics Aug 11-16

This aboriginal painting were found on Mt. Wilson in the Blue Mts. on the Bells Line of Road (Real name of road)

these marks and dark hole were made by aboriginal people. This is sandstone so maybe they were sharpening something?The RV park owner caught this blue tongue lizard to show me

Two Galah cockatoos smooching in a tree. There are flocks of these here.

This is Seal Rock beach.

Pretty!

Pictures from Day 11

These pics are from the Blue Mts. (Blue from eucalyptus oils)
Govetts Leap lookout. Leap falls.
Pulpit rock at the OZ Grand canyon
Leura Cascades

Three Sisters at Echo Rock (Aboriginal names)
And a pic of me there (It was cold)

Day 12 to Day 16

OZ day 11 Plus

Day 11 August 7 Thursday.

Well I checked out of my room and headed for Travelers Auto Barn. I went through all the paperwork and test drive and finally got out of there at 12 noonish. Managed to find my way out of town through down town to the M4 freeway to the Blue Mountains. Baptism of fire for me, new car and driving on the other side of the road. The van seemed to work ok except it pulled to the left a bit and not sure whether it was due to road, wind or alignment. Drove from M4 to hwy 32 into the Blue Mts.. Spent the night at Blackheath Caravan Park. They had snow showers just before I arrived. Whee.

Day 12 August 8 Friday USA Win a lot of gold in the Olympics.
Got freezing cold last night, yes near the freezing point of ice. Got up and headed for Lithlow further west on Hwy 32. Got some groceries and some other supplies I needed. A flashlight (torch) and extra batteries, a blanket, clothes line, matches and lighter and a heater/fan. No freezing tonight.. Now I am set for a while. Had breakfast at McDonalds and headed back to Blackheath to see the Blue Mts. Drove to Govetts Leap to see the OZ equivalent of the US Grand Canyon in terms of size but not depth. It still was impressive. Headed to Katumba to see Echo Point, the most famous place in the Blue Mts. There were five buses of tourists there. It too is a very pretty view. Both of these sites are on cliffs and outcrops the go straight down. Went to Leura Cascades which was a walk down a canyon following a creek before it plunges over a cliff. On my way out, hit a bump and my spare tire popped out and the hold was bouncing on the ground. I got it back ok. Getting late so headed back to Blackheath and went up Evans Lookout which also looks out on OZ grand canyon. The sun was setting so it was great. Went back to the Caravan park I was at the night before and got a powered site. Made dinner of chicken with noodles in a tomato sauce with garlic. Yum. Cookies and tea for desert. Now for a warm night sleep.

Day 13 August 9 Saturday
Froze outside again last night. Burr but the van was warm. Added water to the radiator overflow for two days in a row now. Called the place where I bought the van about fixing it. Will see how it goes today. Decided to take the Bells Line of the Road (hwy 40) through the Blue Mts. from Lithgow to Wilson. Very pretty drive with lots of curves and hills. Went to Mt. Wilson and looked around there and saw Du Faurs rocks and an old aboriginal cave with paintings and tool gouges in the sandstone. The rocks are very odd shaped sandstone. Very nice since nothing was mentioned in the guide books. Then went to Mt. Thomah Botanical gardens which has colder climate plants from around the world. Some plants were blooming but it is still winter here. Nice place for lunch. Headed to Avena Van Village just south of Wilson on hwy 2 to spend the night. Got space 159. The owner came by and talked for 15 minutes and told me to go look at his paddocks for birds. While one my way he brought me a blue tongued lizard. After dinner he came back and we talked for another half hour or so. Nice man. Checked the water in the overflow and it had gone down very little. Whew! Will check again tomorrow and if it is ok then will not got to Sydney.

Day 14 August 10 Sunday.
Water in overflow looked good so do not plan to go back to Sydney. Went bird watching before breakfast. Saw four pink breasted “parrots”. I drove b ack to Windsor and bought more butane for stove so I do not run out. Also a charger for AA batteries (mine did not work with adaptor?) From Windsor too hwy 69, aka Putty Road, to Singleton . What a very pretty drive through the mountains, good views, twisty up and down road. At Singleton turned onto hwy 1north and stopped for the night at Tomago Village Van Park space 56.

Day 15 August 11 Monday.
Left Tomago and headed north on hwy 1. Lots of construction. At Buladelah, headed east on hwy 6 through Booti Booti NP Stopped a Seal Rock light house. Very pretty beach there. In a little town of Forster, talked to man and he says there are lots of places to go look for opals that you do not have to pay for especially around Lightning Ridge where I plan on going. Got back on hwy1 and turned east at Kew onto hwy10, the back road to Port Macquarie. Stopped in town and got a few groceries then headed to Aquatic Caravan Park space 45 on the Hastings River, Nice and clean and cheap. Saw some Australian pelicans and “little black “ cormorants in the river.
Day 16 August 12 Tuesday
It was relatively warm overnight, the warmest so far. Left Port Macquarie and took hwy 34 west over the coastal range. The drive was through tropical forests and the road was the curviest yet. Lots of 25 or 35 kph curves. And it was cold but the forests were spectacular. Hwy 34 ended at hwy 15. At Tamworth headed west again on 34 to Gunnedah where I spent the night. Gunnedhah Tourist Caravan Park, space 27. Lots of the pink breasted Galah parrots here around the park. Going over the coastal range is like going from western Washington into eastern Washington. Completely different scenery. No live ‘roo sighting but lots of dead ones along the roads. ‘roos kill a lot more people in OZ than all the snakes, spiders, jelly fish, and snails.

Australia Birds

Mynas and the ibis are very common here in town. Saw a huge flock of cockatoos. The rainbow parrot is very pretty. I plan on seeing a lot more here.

Australia Day 6 to 10

Day 6 August 2 Saturday
After breakfast went to the botanical gardens to look at birds and flowers and have a cup of coffee. Lost my little notebook somewhere there. Rats. Saw my first parrots. Two green ones flew overhead. Then went to the NSW state library to use the internet. Checked my email and wrote a few. After lunch I went to the car market to see what had come in. A Jeep Cherokee like mine with all the camping gear and a Toyota Land Cruiser with all the stuff. I stopped by the library again and checked email. A spam entry told me my credit union has some problem with the wire transfer of money. I just about erased it. Now I will have to call Tuesday 2 to 3 am my time to reach the credit union in the morning on Monday. Sydney is 17 hours ahead of the West coast. I am not a happy camper (no pun intended) I will probably have to stay here at least through Thursday before the money comes.

Day 7 August 3 Sunday
Had normal breakfast of oatmeal. Went to the Botanical Gardens to try and take pictures of “parrots“. Saw at least two different kinds, rainbow lorikeet and yellow crested cockatoo and got a few nice pictures. There was a huge flock of yellow crested cockatoos and they all took off at once. Neat sight. Stopped by the library and checked email. Interesting that Hyde Park is a formal garden put in in 1810 and on the north end of the park, in a row are the old insane asylum, the mint, the hospital, the parliament building. After lunch went to the Australian Museum. I saw an aboriginal performer. Also, they had a wonderful mineral collection and I am ready to go looking myself.

Day 8 August 4 Monday
Got up late, 6:50. Had breakfast with the lady from Canada who gave me more traveling tips. Went to the library and found out they have WiFi internet which is free. I checked on ferry to Manly beach so plan on going if not raining. I took a free ferry to Cockatoo Island which used to be a ship building yard for WWII and now is turning into an arts center. The exhibits there now were audio/visual things and lets say art is definitely in the eye of the beholder. It was a nice boat ride in the harbor. After dinner went to The Side Bar for free wine sponsored by the hostel. I had a nice conversation with a young man from Germany. He is here on a vacation/work visa issued to just about anyone around the world age under thirty. They need lots of workers here. Went to bed late and have to get up at 2 am to call the credit union to find out why they have not transferred money to the bank here.

Day 9 August 5Tuesday.
Called credit union and they were worried about sending money but sent it on Friday anyway. Called the local bank and the money was deposited. Yea!!! After breakfast decided to go to Manly beach. Took the half hour ferry ride to the beach. The van guy called and asked some questions about what I wanted in the van. I will go talk with him tomorrow about getting the van if there are no complications. I had lunch and a free beer in Manly. The beach was very nice and the water according to my feet was cold. No swimmers only a few surfers with wet suits. I did not get sick on the ferry.

Day 10 August 6 Wednesday
I went to the library to try the wireless internet and it was not working properly. Then I went to check out my campervan. They were essentially done. I asked for a bunch of stuff to be included and he obliged. I will pick it up at 10 in the morning on Thursday and head for the Blue Mountains which probably will not have snow. It rained off and on today.