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Published: November 15th 2010
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Monday 8th November and we must say happy birthday to our niece, Claire, who lives in Tewkesbury – we hope you had a great birthday, Claire.
We decided to stay another day in Kingaroy so we were just pottering about when a New Zealand couple we had chatted to the day before came over to say goodbye. Derek and Mary are a fascinating couple who we would have loved to have spent more time with. Very unassuming, they own three bays in the north of South Island NZ which are very remote - over an hour’s drive from Nelson. One bay they have used for their own house which they built themselves and which has a gravel road access of many kms. The other two bays they are developing as “retreats” for “get away from it all” families. Each bay is sub-divided into twelve lots each of a hectare so the properties are quite substantial. Access is by sea only which appeals only to people who can afford to be there – hopefully the sort of people who will appeal to them. They have sold 6 lots so far and there is much interest in the remainder. Why they would
choose to leave such an idyllic situation in NZ to spend time travelling around Queensland in a small camper van is still a mystery to us but it takes all sorts.
We had been meaning to get the tent out to see what it was like so this morning Graham put it up. It’s the sort of tent that goes up in a trice and it did – eventually! It looked very impressive so we resolved to use it at some stage on our trip! Next we have to test the blow up mattress but we decided to leave that for another day. We did a bit of shopping and then stopped by the famous peanut van. Graham sat in the car so missed the chatter of the friendly lady in the van. She insisted that I sample the peanuts and I had to start with a few plain ones, then I tried some hickory smoked ones, honey and then savoury but then I had to say stop – no more! Anyway, her sales pitch worked as I bought a few packets. We went back to the caravan, had lunch and then went to visit a nearby lavender farm.
Graham was left to amuse himself for a while as I was being persuaded to try some lavender liqueur which was surprisingly pleasant and some lavender port which was just as nice. Of course I came out with a bag of goodies – surprise surprise! Back at the site we both went for a swim and prepared for moving on in the morning.
Derek and Mary, the New Zealand couple, had advised against going towards the coast as the forecast was for persistent rain. So we chose what we thought was a happy medium – Cania Gorge. This destination was not originally on our list because we have been there before and our intention has been to stay only at places we have not been to before. Nevertheless, we recall Cania fondly and it was no hardship to head that way again although our route to get there was completely different to last time.
So on Tuesday morning we left Kingaroy and the dark red fields that were all ready for peanut planting. The countryside was quite interesting and varied and the road fairly quiet. We went through the small town of Murgon – I had thought we
might stay near there for a couple of days at Lake Boondoona but we had decided against it on this trip. So we carried on going north until we got to Ban Ban Springs and then had a quick tea-break stop. From there it wasn’t too far to Mundubbera where we stopped for an early lunch. The mobile phone had seemed completely dead that morning so we popped in to the Telstra shop where a lovely young girl helped us out. She confirmed that the battery was completely flat but still serviceable – I always keep it charged up, or so I thought, but some of the power sockets in the caravan do seem to be a bit dodgy - I’ll have to be more careful in future. She reminded us that if the phone is searching for a signal, which it often is in these remote locations, it uses more battery so we would do better to turn it off. She also put us on another pre-paid plan which she said could be better for us but we’ll see (we don’t use it that much but just feel happier when it’s on and we get a signal). Another very
pleasant, helpful person!
After stocking up with the necessary groceries we pressed on towards Cania passing through Monto. Cania Gorge starts at about 20kms out of Monto but part of the road is “single track” with gravel on each side for passing oncoming traffic – not so easy when towing a caravan. A few kms into the gorge road we passed a Top Tourist caravan park and were tempted to try that one but we decided to go the extra 7 kms to the Big 4 Park – the same park we had enjoyed so much last time. Seven years ago we were there for a few days but we didn’t have power so we had parked right at the far end, away from the general hub-hub, amongst the trees and the kangaroos. This time we wanted to connect up to the power so we chose a site much nearer all the amenities although, surprisingly, it wasn’t crowded out with campers. We hadn’t been there long when we were visited by some chickens and a couple of king parrots! The park had become slightly more commercial with a small golf course and a few more cabins but it hadn’t
really spoilt it. There had been a lot of rain so everywhere was a bit muddy but at least the rain had stopped. We had a stroll around the park and then it was time for the bird feeding – everyday at 5pm one of the staff comes out to a spot just over the track from where we were parked. With a big bucket of seeds it takes no time at all for the area to be flooded with rainbow lorikeets, king parrots, galahs, the bigger white cockatoos and the chickens join in too. Sarah’s large brimmed hat that she had left behind really came into its own now as the lorikeets were soon on my head and all up my arms. It was very entertaining but their claws were sharp! Graham watched all the goings on from a safe distance with the camera poised.
As soon as it got dark the same spot was visited every night by some very cute bettongs who cleared up the remains of the food left from the bird feeding. Bettongs are lovely little marsupials that are not very common and we never tired of seeing them. I took a few photos
but they were disappointing so I’d have to try again tomorrow. With the evidence that was left in the morning they must have mooched around Sweetie as well during the night.
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