The Road South to Sydney

Black Cockatoo

On Our Way South to Sydney

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - Mount Barney

We buttoned up the boat and left Scarborough Marina around 9:00 a.m.  Our first stop was to pick up some groceries, then make our way towards the New England Highway.  After a lovely scenic drive, we spent the night at Mt. Barney - Big Rigging Camp Park in a lovely meadow with tall gums.  Wallabies waltzed passed our camp.  We had the place to ourselves.

This would be our last stop in Queensland.  Tomorrow we would be in New South Wales.

Thursday, November 29, 2012 - Hello New South Wales

After a somewhat peaceful night (large gum crashed down somewhere near us) and the birds sang throughout the night), we took a hike to Mt. Barney's Lower Portal.

It was a warm, up and down trail through gum forests where the cicadas were so loud we wished we had ear plugs.

As we hiked through the gum forests, we were impressed with the tall grass trees many of them over 100 years old.  They only grow 2 cm, (less than 1 inch) in ten years.  It would take one of the trees 50 years to grow 1 meter.  Some of the trees were close to 200 years old.

When we reached the lower portal where the water pours from the rocks into the stream (runoff and spring), we took off our shoes and dunked our feet into the cool water.  I took off my  over shirt and dipped it into the water then put it on again for the hike out.   The water in this area is tannic brown.  Its clean and clear but brown.  I can't wrap my head around swimming in brown water.  Seems weird and unclean.

Round trip took us about 3 hours, and we were reminded that we need to start and finish these hikes before 11:00 a.m.  We didn't finish until 1:30, and it was uncomfortably warm.

We took a lovely scenic route through the mountains on Lions Road.  Turns out it was called Lions Road because the local Lions Club built and maintains this road.

We spent the night in a little town campsite called Woodenbong, just across the border from Queensland into New South Wales.

Just as the sun went down in this campground, a loud unrelenting high pitched tatter buzzed across the field.  We couldn't imagine what it was ??? chain saw, generator.  Turns out the local frogs sing for several hours as the sun sets.  Australia is not a quiet place.  The birds, cicadas, and frogs create a 24 hour symphony.

Friday, November 30, 2012 - Driving Day to Bald Rock

We spent Friday morning driving through pastoral countryside to Bald Rock National Park, and arrived early in the afternoon, but too late for hiking as the sun was beating down on us.  Lounging around in the shade, we read and relaxed in this remote and rustic campground.  Until nearly dark, we were the only campers in the park until we were joined by a German couple in a rented camper van.

Saturday, December 1, 2012 - Climb to the Top of Bald Rock

By 7:30 a.m. we were on the move and at the base of Bald Rock for our climb.  Bald rock is a huge granite, batholith extrusion, of a volcanic core.  The soil of the covering mountains, having worn away over billions of years, has disappeared exposing the extrusion and large boulders called inselbergs.

We took the direct and steep route up to the top of the rock.  White dots marked the trail.  The reflective heat from the sun off the granite was already warm at 8:00 a.m. in the morning.  We reached the top about 9:00 a.m. and enjoyed the grandeur and color of the rock and the 360 degree views of the countryside from the top.

Ribbons of Color

Always Looking for A Challenge

After a short rest and looked around, we started our descent.  This time we took the round about way through the forest and the inselberg arches. 

Enjoying the morning sun

Inselbergs

 It was an interesting trail winding through these large rocks. We returned to our campsite by 11:00 a.m. and were on our way to BooNoo BooNoo (pronounced Boona BaNew) National Park. The road into this park was about 10 kilometers of washboard hard pack dirt.  There were about 5 other camping vehicles at the site.  We found a nice site close to the river, privy, and cook shed.

Russ and I spent the afternoon playing cards in the shade and swimming in the river.  Yes, the water was brown, but it was so hot, we went in anyway. It felt wonderful to clean off, after two days without showers.

Sunday, December 2, 2012 - BooNoo BooNoo Falls

On Sunday morning, we got up early once again and headed toward BooNoo BooNoo Falls.  During the rainy season, these falls must be amazing with the water flow.  Unfortunately few people can make it out to the falls during this time because the roads are so flooded.  At this time of the year, the water is low and the water flow of the falls are not very impressive, but the granite swimming pools 

and the drop into a deep river canyon, much like the American River, is impressive.

We took a short hike to the lookout over the river, and up to the swimming pools.  It was a little too early in the morning and not hot enough to tempt us into the brown water, so we gave it a pass before heading towards Glen Innes.

Glen Innes is a mountain town nestled into a lush valley. 

It prides itself in its Celtic heritage, and is home to about 10,000 people.  Our first stop was lunch at MacDonalds followed by a trip to the grocery store.  We had eaten all of our fresh food and needed to replenish.  Once we had our meats, veggies, and wine, we headed to the caravan park, where we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon followed by an evening of thunder, lightning, and pounding rain.

Monday, December 3, 2012 - Six mile Walking Tour of Glen Innes

Fortunately, there were grey skies most of the day, left over from the rain storm the night before.  As we ate our breakfast, there was some loud screeching coming from the pine tree at the back of the campground.  A flock of silky black cockatoos was flying through and picking at the nuts in the trees.  This was the first time we have seen the black cockatoos in the wild.  Fun to watch!

 The cooler temperature made our walk around Glen Innes very enjoyable.  We made a 6 mile circuit from our campsite, up the hill to the Standing Stones Commemorative.  Stones similar to those of Stonehenge (drilled out of granite, not carved by druids) are purposefully arranged in a large meadow to mark the solstice and to commemorate the Celtic families that settled Australia. The Standing Stones and the surrounding grounds are home to the annual Celtic festival held here each year.  

After our uphill excursion, we dropped down the hill to the museum.  The "Beardie" museum, named after the many bearded Celts, is housed in the old hospital.  

The hospital building with its center court yard and long wings provides a unique venue to  house the remnants of the town's past.  Each room was thematic - war, farm, kitchen, technology, wagons, printing, parlor, family portraits, etc. Everything was well displayed and could easily be seen in about an hour.

When we were finished with the two highlighted points of interest, we simply enjoyed walking through the vibrant and prosperous little town.  It was a contrast of the old and new.  

OLD

We were surprised to see a Nuclear Energy Storefront.  Unfortunately, the shop was closed for lunch as we came through town, but it looks like the proponents of this store are working hard to collect signatures to allow uranium mining and have developed a proposal for a small nuclear power plant for the area that would take care of the power needs of the surrounding area.  Australia is trying to move forward on cleaner energy sources, taking its lead from Japan and France's breeder reactors.

NEW

Returning to the campground, we spent the afternoon doing laundry, paying bills, washing the car, and doing necessary chores. Once again, we had a thunder and lightning afterrnoon and evening.   We leave civilization tomorrow morning for more national parks.  As soon as I finish up here, we are going to take long hot showers because it might be a few days without them.  

All is Well with the 2 Land Travel R's in Waltzing Matilda