8 June 2014

Today was another long one in the car and a few stops for stretching. It started reasonably early and it was down to town to take some pictures along the river and main street. It was a great morning, beautiful weather and great sunlight. Mind I am not sure I made the best use of it, but you have to have a go don't you.Then it was on the road again with the goal of reaching Gympie for the evening, which I might add was achieved by 5 pm so not a bad run at all.

From St George to Dalby is 303km and there are only two tiny towns on the way through, Westmar and Moonie. There appeared to be not much at Westmar, a shop/fuel store/accommodation facility and a school. Moonie is slightly bigger with a much newer feel, so probably the new purpose built 24 hour fuel station with take away and dining room, not to mention the 24 hour access accommodation as well, probably helped with that feeling, some other bits there but not a whole lot.

I had a very brief walk about in Dalby and stopped into the tourist office to look at some brochures. It seem quite a deal larger than I remember and it was nice to see so many people enjoying the park on a Sunday afternoon. From there it was off again and I took the road that takes you over the Bunya Mountain, wow what a drive. You know you're in for something when there is a big sign saying not to proceed if you have a bus, truck or caravan. As a Morris Minor doesn't count as any of those I was ok to proceed. Steep it most certainly is both up and down, though I am glad I was going from Dalby side to Nanango side as I am not too sure the brakes would have held out going the other way, well I mean heat fade not total fail. Going up I was mostly in second gear as nothing else was going to cut it basically. The people at the places I passed along the way all seemed rather surprised to see a Morris going by, I guess it doesn't happen often. I did make a video of the climb, but have yet to find it, edit and convert that so will have to add it to this once it is done. Going down was not so steep for the most part, though there were a couple of sections that were third gear and stand on the brakes.

Video to come if I can find it

I must say though the Count did exceptionally well and there was never any real trouble. Mind no one signed me up for the gravel sections on the other side! I mean who has a fully sealed road with a couple of kilometres in the middle still gravel anyway. The road eventually drops you on the highway to Nanango and then through Goomeri (where they have the pumpkin rolling competition at the end of May, different) and Kilkivan. I avoided the Bruce highway all together and thus took a side route into Gympie by turning off the Wide Bay-Burnett Highway through Widgee, now that it is all sealed (though still narrow in some places) it is a much better alternative when you're heading for Southside that trying to avoid the big trucks on the Bruce. I am visiting with my dad for the next couple of nights, so tomorrow is a rest day for both myself and the Count as well, YAH!

No papmered trailer dweller here, when the Count goes somewhere it drives there.

May just need to clean the bugs out though 

 The Australian Hotel, St George

 Streetview, St George

Main Street (Victoria St), St George

The Balonne River, St George - Seems to flood a bit look at the height of the post.

Just to clarify what it says

7 June 2014

Well today was another long day on the road. Started with a random grey nomad deciding to not see the Count and turn his 4x4 and 25 foot caravan across the highway to get to the petrol station. Thankfully I managed to miss him, though not really sure how, and didn't even toot and swear at him either.

The area on the east side of Bourke is more what I expected the area on the west side to have looked like I have decided. The west side was lots of trees and vast paddocks with mostly pale green, quite long grass, which I did not expect at all. The area on the east side heading for Walgett is much more what I was expecting, still lots of trees, but everything was dry and there was almost no grass anywhere, much like this

It really is amazing how someone first  came to the area and though "Great look how barren and harsh the land is here, I know I'll buy it and raise livestock". I know I am missing something, I think it would be a hard life waiting for the rain.

Walgett was a nice looking little town, looks farly sleepy on a Saturday morning though was nice to see. Had a chat with a nice fella at the petrol station, isn't it amazing how people want to talk to you when an old car is around, about a old Hillman Hawk that he once had, which I have just looked up on the net as I didn't even realise they had made one, back in the mid 30's it seems, would certainly be a nice car to have still. He also had restored a Armstrong Siddley "Sapphire", which someone bought and exported to Belgium, so it must have been amazing.

Main Street Walgett

Then it was on to Lightening Ridge for a brief visit and look. Strange thing is that I reminded me of Byron Bay of some years back before it got mega trendy, obviously without the sea or any water for the matter really. It was very eclectic, lots of different types of people and lots of different types of building styles. Surprisingly, well to me, there were many cafes and most of them were open even on a nearly Saturday afternoon, actually the place seemed to be very busy with people everywhere, the tourist trade seems to be a big winner. Though other than the cafes and the mine tours and opal shops there didn't seem that much to do. Actually I was surprised on going to the Tourist Information office to see a brochure for Canberra in the line up. I think the pick of the place would have to have been the Waffle, Pan Cake and Ice-cream van!

Driving through Lightening Ridge

Now today I was thinking I would head for and stay at Hebel, not knowing anything about it, it just seemed like the right amount of driving for a day. Hebel is a very small town not all that far from the New South Wales border on the Castlereigh Highway. It has a population (well it and the surrounding area), according to a 2006 census of 149 people, so you get the idea of how big it is going to be., and no they don't make Hebel bricks at Hebel. Given the size of the place and that it was still relatively early in the day I opted to drive on and found myself 291 kilometres later at St George, which is really a very nice looking small town on the banks of the Balonne River, though as it was getting dark when I arrived I shall have to try and get some pictures tomorrow morning.

Main Street - Hebel

Random Pictures follow

 Looking back towards Bourke in the distance

(probably look better once it's been photoshopped)

 Is there a collective noun for a gathering of grey nomads in the middle of nowhere?

 It's art by the highway don't you know!

 This is Stanley. If you need scale for it to appreciate it, then the body of the "emu" is actually....

 a Volkswagen Beetle!

 Really does no need to "explain" art? Yes it seems!

 This may just be the turn for Lightening Ridge, just might.

Finally, just crossing the border into Queensland, only 4 kilometers until Hebel