Surat

I was up early this morning and decided to go for a brisk walk to try to warm up.   I tried my luck at the platypus pool.  To my surprise there were two platypus in full view.  I watched them, mesmerised, for about 20 minutes.  Of course it was Murphy’s Law that this was the only time I’d come out without my camera.   I popped back to the van to get the camera and Jack (the only one awake) came back with me to check out the platypus.  He got a brief glimpse before a couple of noisy kids came by and scared them both away.

After a hot breakfast and some hot milo to thaw us out, we packed up and headed toward Surat.  It seems it was too cold to brush our hair this morning...

With a stop at Roma for fuel and lunch on the road, it was a pretty uneventful trip.  We arrived at our bush camp on the banks of the Balonne River in Surat at about 2pm.  After unpacking we rode our bikes into town for a look around.

 

The Visitor Information Centre is housed in the original Cobb & Co Changing Station, and the building also houses a regional art gallery, social history museum, 25 000 litre freshwater aquarium and public library.  The last Cobb & Co coach service in Australia ran from Surat to Yuleba on 14^th August 1924.

After supporting the local community by spending up on coffee, cake and icecreams at the Wagon Wheel Café, and meeting an ‘interesting’ local character named Tom, we headed home to light the campfire (yup, it’s freezing again!) and finish off some leftovers for dinner.

Tonight we roasted spuds on the fire and finished up with milo and Tim Tams.  Now for the thermals…

Carnarvon Gorge

Yesterday morning we farewelled Theresa Creek Dam and continued our adventure through the Queensland outback.  After completing the obligatory times tables and spelling lists and a quick stop for fuel (diesel and donuts) at Emerald we settled in for a few more chapters of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

We arrived at Takarakka Bush Retreat by about 3pm and I could already feel the chill in the air.  We soaked up the last of the sun’s rays at happy hour before heading to the Takarakka deck for a briefing on the local walks and tours.  At dusk we checked out the platypus pool but those sneaky little beggars were hiding again!

We cold drove us back to the caravan for some hot soup for dinner.  Discovering that the forecast was for a minimum of 2 degrees made us question our choice of an unpowered site, but the decision was made.  Instead we steeled ourselves to enjoy both of those degrees as much as we could!

We huddled around a very small campfire until the kids had toasted and eaten their nightly allocation of marshmallows, then it was back to the caravan.  Holy cow it was cold!  Keysbrook cold!  We couldn’t bear to get undressed so slept fully clothed, complete with jumpers, socks and beanies!  Brrrrrrrrr.

We were up early this morning for our walk through the beautiful Carnarvon Gorge National Park.  Carnarvon Gorge features over 30 kms of dramatic sandstone cliffs sculpted by Carnarvon Creek over a period of some 26 million years.  The white sandstone cliffs of the steep sided gorge, the narrow, vibrantly coloured and lush side-gorges, the pebbly creek crossings and the remnant rainforest plants made for a picturesque and fun nature walk.

We headed up the main track which crosses the Carnarvon Creek many times.  We had a quick stop for breakfast in the sun before taking a side track to the Moss Garden.  Here water drips constantly from the sandstone walls, supporting a lush carpet of mosses, ferns and liverworts.  Beneath tree ferns straining for sunlight a small waterfall tumbles over a rock ledge into an icy pool.

Next it was off to the Ampitheatre.  Hidden inside of the gorge here is a 60m deep chamber, gouged from the rock by running water.  The towering stone walls create an awe-inspiring atmosphere within.  The Johnston boys found the towering stone walls made a great slide…

From there we walked on a little further to check out Ward’s Canyon.  Ward’s Canyon is a small side gorge that is home to the world’s largest fern, the King Fern.  A short, steep track winds through spotted gums and around a small waterfall.

We stopped for a picnic lunch on a rock in the Carnarvon Creek.  We enjoyed soaking up the sun’s rays and took our jumpers off for the first time all day!

Our final side-track was to the Art Gallery.  Here over 2000 engravings, ochre stencils and free hand paintings adorn the 62 metre long sandstone walls of this significant Aboriginal site.  The Art Gallery contains one of the best examples of stencil art in Australia.

By this stage the troops were flailing, so we boosted their morale with M&Ms and powered back to the car.  All up we walked 14 kms, most of it with Fletcher being carried in the backpack.  We were all pretty worn out by the time we got back home about 3pm.  We had certainly earned our beer and chocolate Butternut Snap afternoon tea!

Soon enough the cold descended again and we found ourselves once more huddled around the campfire with a damper baking in the coals.  The boys had a talc war and Bruce entertained a dozen or so grey nomads with some tunes on the guitar.

He played a few requests and we all enjoyed a bit of a sing-a-long.  It seems that Cows With Guns is fast becoming the Johnstonstouraus theme song!  The other campers must have been impressed because they even paid Bruce in cash at the end of the night! 

Eventually the cold drove us to bed.  And oh Lordy was it cold!  I can’t remember ever sleeping in so many clothes – beanie, scarf, gloves, shirt, jumper, tracksuit pants with PJ pants over the top and socks.  Under a doona and a blanket AND a night walker snuggling in and I WAS STILL COLD!!!!!

Theresa Creek Dam

Yesterday morning it was pretty cold again, so while we all waited for it to warm up a bit, Fletcher created his own special winter outfit! 

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!

At last we arrived at Theresa Creek Dam.  Theresa Creek Dam was constructed in 1983 by the Blair Athol Coal Project to supply water for the town of Clermont.  Great views of the lake, kids playground, coffee shop, grassed sites, campfires...dam perfect!

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…

Eungella National Park

It was pretty chilly this morning so it was no great surprise that Fletch came in early for a snuggle.  It was lovely to stay warm in bed while listening to the babbling brook just metres from the caravan.

This morning we set off to explore the Eungella National Park.  First we took the track to the Wheel of Fire waterfall at the Finch Hatton Creek.  It was a beautiful walk with through the rainforest with creek views and crossings at every turn.  After crossing the sunlit boulders at Callistemon Crossing, we powered on up the many stairs, enjoying the vistas of tall tulip oaks and red cedars.

The Wheel of Fire waterfall is actually named after the Queensland Firewheel trees that tower above the Finch Hatton Creek.  You would be forgiven for thinking the place should be called the Wheel of Death, however, when you read the welcome signs!

 We were safe, though, as none of us are in the ‘danger’ age category!

Jarrah won today’s bravery award for his act of courage in getting in the FREEZING COLD water.  I swear it must have been as cold as Bolindavale’s dam!!!  The look on both his and Bruce’s faces when they came up from their entry into the water was one of total shock!  I think they were both out of the water within 15 seconds!

Next we took the track to the Araluen Crystal Cascades.  We could hear the cascades long before we could see them.  Here, too, the water was cold as ice but Jarrah and Bruce once again took the plunge and enjoyed an icy swim.

 Soon enough it was time to head back for a late lunch.  It was an eventful walk back, with Bruce treading on a snake and Jack poking himself in the eye with his finger!  All’s well that ends well, though!  Overall I was really proud of the way the boys tackled the quite challenging 4.2 km walk.  Even Fletcher walked 3.5 km of it, including the 350+ stairs up to the Wheel of Fire, all with his gumboots on the wrong feet! 

We spent a lazy afternoon at home.  I got to sit in the sun and read while the boys began putting together Jack’s new nuts & bolts spider kit.  Jack and Fletch helped Bruce light the campfire while Jarrah whipped up what is fast becoming his culinary specialty – Nutella damper.

 

After the big walk I was surprised that Fletcher lasted to the end of the day.  While stargazing around the campfire, we were all thrilled to see two satellites and the best, brightest shooting star Bruce and I had ever seen!  We were not surprised, though, that Fletch fell asleep in my arms around the camp fire for the second night running.  Love the fact that he’s still small enough to do that!

Platypus Bush Camp

The Adventure Whitsunday Resort was kind enough to allow us a complimentary midday checkout so we made the most of it!  Bruce was up early and took a spin on the Bicentennial Boardwalk. 

 

The boys had a final game of putt putt and spent some more time beating up on each other on the bouncy pillow.  Then we all had a final game of Giant Chess before it was time to pack up and hit the road.

We arrived at the Platypus Bush Camp at about 2.30pm. 

This unique nature based camp is set on 20 acres of lowland rainforest bordering on Eungella National Park.  It has a huge range of birds, bats, butterflies, rainforest fairies (fire flies), reptiles, turtles, marsupials and aquatic life, including the elusive platypus.  All the platypuses must have been hiding today…maybe tomorrow?

We still had fun despite the lack of platypuses.  We chucked rocks into the water, found a Johnston talking stick, met a sulphur crested cocky named Rocky (go figure!) and made our own Johnston rock tower.

The noise of the babbling brook is beautiful, but really loud, especially at night.  We are parked just a few feet from the creek, and it sounds like a constant, flooding rain.

 Wazza is the guy who runs the place and he’s a pretty interesting kind of character!  You get the feeling he might be a bit of hipped out mungbean from Byron Bay or the like.  But he’s built everything here and it’s all very rustic, earthy and definitely unique.  The showers, for example, are heated with a wood fire and are the ‘open air’ bush type.  Only place in the world where you can shower with a platypus I reckon!

 Places Like This Are Sanctuaries For The Soul!

Happy 9th Birthday Jack

Jack woke this morning to a caravan full of balloons and a table full of presents, cards and lollies!

His haul included a nuts n bolts spider kit, a magic kit, a block of Nestle white cookies chocolate, a large tub of Mediterranean spiced olives, a box of Weet Bix bites, a little tiger key ring with really freaky light up eyes, a book and $175 cash!!!!!  He was VERY happy and spent a lot of time counting and re-counting all his money!

After starting the day with a whole bunch of M&Ms, Jack's choice for breakfast was pancakes!  Yum.

Then it was Jack's choice for a day of birthday fun!  We started with tennis...

Instead of playing a game, we just tried to beat our best rallies.  Our record rally was 31 hits!

Next it was on to Giant Chess...

 

Jack is a great chess player and of course he reigned supreme on his birthday!  I found it a little tricky to play with Jarrah walking/sitting/lying on the board and Fletcher moving the 'dead' pieces back onto the board whenever we weren't watching!

We then moved on to the swimming pool....

And the water slides...

We even did a family train - an illegal 5 up - on the water slides!

By this stage everyone was getting hungry so it was back to the van to prepare Jack's birthday lunch.  Hot dogs, lollies, chips and lemonade were on the menu.  Jack even got a whole can of lemonade all to himself - no having to share one with his brothers on this special day!

 

Of course the birthday cake was next...

 

 

It didn't go unnoticed that this was the first time in 9 years that Bruce and I haven't been up past midnight making and decorating a birthday cake for Jack.  Jack loved the icecream cake just as much I think, especially when we produced 5 spoons and no plates.

 He almost finished it!

 

Well after all this junk food we could barely walk, but we managed to waddle down for a game of putt putt.

 

 

It really was Jack's birthday today!  He got two hole-in-ones, one of which stopped completely and then then all by itself rolled the last 30 cms into the hole!  Bizarre!

We followed up the putt putt with some fun on the swings and bouncy pillow.



 

About 4pm we managed to drag them away from the caravan park to check out the rest of Airlie Beach.  We got there only to find ourselves smack bang in the middle of a pretty awesome street parade.  The Whitsunday Reef Festival was in full swing and we all enjoyed watching the myriad of floats pass by us in the main street.  The boys particularly liked the floats that were offering lolly give-aways (like they hadn’t had enough yet today!)  Fletch loved Freddo but wasn’t too keen on the float that was shooting unsuspecting passers-by with water pistols!



 

There were lots of things to do and see along the main street, including a bit of beachside tight rope walking.

We walked along the Bicentennial Boardwalk for a bit.  The 3.7 km long boardwalk winds along Airlie’s beautiful coastline with magnificent views of the Coral Sea, along mangroves and the botanic gardens. 

We watched the sun set over the bay before heading back to the Resort for the outdoor screening of Spongebob Square Pants – Sponge out of Water and a home delivered Beagles pizza.

What a day!