We had visited some of these towns before, on our way north earlier in the year, except for Surat and Broadwater lagoon. We were going over the same areas to get to St George where we had managed to get in for our second Covid vaccination and we didn’t see much of St George last time as all the caravan parks were booked out at that time.
After leaving Carnarvon Gorge, we stayed overnight at the racecourse in Injune next to Andrea And Dave. Our last night seeing these guys as we both headed off in different directions from here. Been fun catching up with them on and off for the last month, thanks for your great company guys, we will miss their sense of humour and fun and Andrea will have peace now from all Johns tech questions about video editing. Andrea has had plenty of practice as they post a weekly video of their travels on YouTube called Andy and Dave touring OZ.
So after morning tea in town we drove to Roma and stopped for two nights at the gun club park with 50 plus other vans. So many vans here in Qld. We stayed here last visit, a low cost facility with power, water etc.
Loads of washing was caught up on, sheets and towels plus clothes. No sight seeing was done.
Then an inside day to do blogs, the temperature outside was freezing such a change from the lovely hot days we had got used to in most of Queensland.
Shopping was done and then off to Surat for the night, We spent the afternoon at the Cobb and Co museum. The history showing us how this reliable service undertook all sorts of conditions from bad roads and mud sodden tracks delivering people and mail to the outback.
and then scootering along the river from the weir to the bridge, see video later in blog.
The nights and mornings are still really cold so after a late start it was off to St George. The afternoon spent with John trying his new blow up paddle board on the Balonne River. He went really well and didn’t fall off. He has wanted one for a long time. This was followed by a drink at the pub overlooking the river, all very pleasant pictures below
Then out to Beardmore dam 22 kms out of town for a look. Not the best dam we have ever seen!
Day two we went to St George Hospital to get our second Pfizer vaccination followed by a drive around the weir and bridge here in St George and a look at the unique eggs
An emu egg is hand carved and decorated by a polish man with each egg taking up to 100 hours and done by hand with a protractor and shaving knife. Each egg costing $550 .
Then a very indulgent lunch at the Riversands winery with a bottle of wine and a cheese platter yum
An early night followed as I felt a little head ache, aches and tiredness from the covid vaccination but woke up fine the next day
John replaced the water the pump on the van, as the existing pump had been playing up for a long time. Clothes washing was also done and a walk along the river for our last day in St George, seeing the sign showing previous flood heights and some old trees with their exposed root system. We enjoyed it here and will come back again.
Moodie hwy took us through to Tara where we stopped for fuel and the hairdresser. We were going to stay at a lagoon here but it was just a puddle and many off the outlying residents came into use the showers at the end of each day as they have no water so we decided to go somewhere quiter and stayed out of town in a gravel pit before arriving at Broadwater lagoon.
Broadwater conservation park and lagoon is shallow but large & is located outside of Dalby.
On the first afternoon John pumped up his paddle board and as we were staying here for three days he was very keen to get as much practice in as he he could. Unfortunately the wind was constant and just got stronger as the days went by. He managed to get out on the water a couple of times but had to paddle hard against the wind. He still enjoyed it despite the wind
Video below of Surat, St George & Broadwater Lagoon
On the day we left the Lagoon the wind was very gusty so we didn’t go far & had an overnight stop at Bowenville pub. We ended up leaving the van there at the Publicans suggestion, while we went to Brisbane for 5 days to spend time seeing Sophia, Dan and Tina.
The time has now come to go home after 11 months on the road for this leg of our journey, so after driving back to Bowenville to collect the van we spent two days driving home to Port Macquarie, We will move back into our house after having rented it out for the last three & Half years. It will be so good to be home again after so long away travelling.
The world has changed so much for everyone in that time, we lost our French dream of travelling the French Canals but are still grateful for what we have been able to experience here in Australia.
No more blogs for now!!!
Trip Summary.
Total distance travelled, 35,000 kilometres, through South Australia, NSW & Queensland.
South Australia:
Highlights
Approx 5 months were spent here in SA
1/ the stunning coastal scenery, at times very rugged.
2/ The peninsulas allowed for setting up the van in one of two locations and spending our time of day trips in different directions
3/ We were amazed at the number of wineries here in SA.
Downsides
The wind!!!
covid lockdowns affecting our travel plans
and health issues around the Adelaide hills.
New South Wales:
Highlights
A very short few weeks and mainly used to travel from SA to Qld.
1/ Spending time with Paul in Cobar
2/ relaxing by the lake
Downsides
Rain in Lightening ridge preventing us travelling to the outlying areas.
Queensland:
A total of 6 months with a mixture of coast and inland. Leaving a lot more to be explored on the coast and in the outback on our next trip north with the new off road van.
Highlights were
1/ the warm weather
2/snorkelling on the barrier reef
3/ Airlie beach, can’t wait to return there with our new boat to the marina next August.
4/ the diversity of the country side
5/ stunning gorges and scenery
6/ great water holes
Down side, the qld roads!!!! and the mould in the far North queensland humidity, that grew daily in the caravan.
Till next time !
