We packed up in a rather leisurely fashion and waved goodbye to Wazza and his (invisible) platypuses at about 10am. Within 40 minutes times tables and spelling lists were complete and we all settled back for a good session of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Audiobook.
We had a quick stop for lunch in the dusty coal mining town of Moranbah. Established in 1969 specifically for miners and their families, Moranbah is one of the youngest towns in Queensland. I've got to admit that the scenery of piles and piles of multi-coloured dirt is a far cry from the beauty of the Daintree!
Nevertheless, we pushed on through the small town of Nebo and on to Clermont, where we stopped for supplies. Originally established as a gold mining town in 1861, it is an agricultural town and a major hub for the large coal mines in the region. Check out the cool murals painted on the side of a train in the main street!
The boys made the most out of the playground while Bruce and
I set ourselves up, met the neighbours and checked the place out a bit. It’s a very picturesque campground that
seems popular with both the tourists and the locals.
We all had great fun feeding the rainbow lorikeets. We started off throwing out a few crumbs for
a couple of birds, and in a few moments had dozens of them eating from our
hands, arms, legs, shoulders and heads!
The camp fires were lit by late afternoon and we enjoyed their warmth along with a cold beer/lemonade. Jarrah whipped up a gourmet pre-dinner cheese platter while Jack was responsible for the damper supper.
Come evening the possums came out and we all enjoyed music
by the camp fire. All the instruments
came out too, although with cameras flashing madly Fletch got his first ever
bout of stage fright and couldn’t perform with his harmonica!
Jarrah came to the rescue with a great rendition of
“Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree” on his guitar and Bruce showed off his new didgeridoo!
It was a late night and a cold morning and so it was great to snuggle in with the ‘night walkers’ until well after 8.30 this morning!
After a BBQ brunch we indulged in coffee and ice creams at the Dam Good Kiosk before a family game of cricket.
That didn’t quite wear them out enough, so it was off for a
walk along the dam wall before lunch.
The dam was pretty and full of lily pads, pelicans and cows (yup, cows
that liked eating the lily pads) and we spotted a turtle, an eagle and a rock
wallaby.
The lee side of the dam was a bit sad, however, with the water low and stagnant and lots of dead turtles everywhere. The boys made the best of it and souvenired some shells.
After a very late lunch (that involved no bread as this was all being saved to feed the lorikeets) the boys did some school work while Bruce and I basked in the glorious sunshine reading and Fletch got friendly with the red claws from the dam.
A family game of soccer was followed up by more feeding of
the lorikeets.
It seems that both the kids and the lorikeets are getting braver and braver each day! Our happy day ended with pre-dinner drinks by the campfire, Dinner Winner and toasted marshmallows for supper!
The
Stink Rat crashed out by the campfire for the fourth night running…
You know Bruce's childhood nickname was "Skunk"...like father like son!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the AB/CD t shirt is still going. Xxxx
Fletcher looks so old! I won't be able to recognise him when you come home! 😊 xxx
ReplyDelete