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Roma
The flat lands around Miles and Roma Brisbane to Carnarvon National Park
We woke up Monday the 27th excited to start our great Aussie adventure. We took the train to the outskirts of Brisbane and picked up our van. The rental people were great, carefully explaining all the ways they will screw us if we crash their van. Finally on our way, we got onto the M1 highway (the main highway north) before quickly realizing we'd already made a wrong turn as we'd intended to head west.
It's not so hard getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road, the worst part is getting used to the different vehicle and getting it in the centre of the lane. Our Mitsubishi van is brand new with only 30,000km but it's not the most ergonomic vehicle to drive as it's essentially just a cargo van converted into a camper.
After making a few adjustments we finally were headed in the right direction. We made it to Dalby that night and readied our van for sleeping in the information centre carpark. The van is set up perfectly. There are bench seats and a table in the middle that convert into a bed at night. At
Carnarvon National Park
Hey, keep your eyes on the road! the back, accessed through the rear hatch, there's a sink with water storage, fridge, kettle, toaster, camp cooker and a cupboard and drawers full of kitchen utensils. The fridge and power points in the living compartment are run off a second car battery that needs to be charged up via plug-in every 2-3 days to keep everything running. The windows have curtains for privacy and there's also a safe and more storage area under the bench/bed area. It also came with camp chairs and a plastic table which Alex has already melted nearly in half.
We left Dalby and headed straight west on the Warrego Highway through Miles to Roma where we stocked up on food to start driving north on the Great Inland Way from there. We're in the proper Queensland hinterland now with Saskatchewan-flat crop lands changing to rolling hills and dry scrub forest further inland. We ended up in the small town of Injune just north of Roma which was a perfect jumping off point for our destination the next day, Carnarvon National Park. The drive to Carnarvon was amazing. We went past unbelievably massive cattle stations all the while being able to see the distant
Carnarvon National Park
Walking to the swimming hole hills in the park. After crossing about 20km of unsealed roads we made it to a 'bush resort' campground that bordered the park and grabbed a spot. That night we made a small hike to a swimming hole in the river but didn't end up swimming as we saw a turtle and felt we shouldn't disturb it.
The next day we did a full hike in the park. There was a main track that followed a river up the Carnarvon Gorge with side trails to different sites along the way. We settled on seeing the first 4 side tracks which was a total of 14km. We walked the main track all the way in, spotting Kookaburra and Cockatoos along the way. The first track was to a rock cliff that had preserved Aboriginal art depicting stensils of hands, boomarangs and other tools. The next trail was to skinny Ward's Canyon that was a refuge for giant tree ferns and king ferns typical of a sub-tropical rainforest. This micro-ecosystem was thanks to a year-round creek and temperatures at least 10 degrees cooler than the open land. The next one lead to a 60m tall natural amphitheatre carved out of limestone.
Carnarvon National Park
Refection of the rock in the pool It was similar to climbing into a cave but once you were in there it opened up to a massive chamber with a hole in the top. The final track lead through some more rainforest to a waterfall and moss garden. All in all, it was a fantastic day. We hope to stop at as many National Parks as possible on our journey around the east coast.
Now we head north towards ... well, we're not really sure. The adventure continues!
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