Well! are you looking for cheap diesel, I found it in Moonie and if you're interested in huge wild boar heads, there is a large display mounted on the walls of the garage. This large garage / diner is on the cross roads of Miles to Goondiwindi and Dalby to St George. There is an information centre with a camping area behind it directly across the road from the garage but that's all there is.
Arrived at the border town of Goondiwindi, a very large busy town and found......
Hmm! I remember this race horse, a Melbourne cup winner?
Saying goodbye to Queensland, saddened to leave and happy to be back in my home state.
Continuing on toward Moree and remembering the showground situation last time, I looked up Wikicamp and found a free camp beside the Tarran Creek 5 kl before the town, its a truck stop with room enough to park off to the side and soon enough I was joined by another free camper parked just up from me. I had a happy evening snapping the last blue moon as it rose up, which wont be seen again until 2017. Why are they called blue moons when they are not blue, you might ask? It is the occurrence of a second moon rising in a single month, has nothing to do with the colour.
I captured a speeding car passing my camera, I thought that was pretty special.
Moree completes my 2 month travel loop, passing through here on June 5th, its now August 1st.
I passed through Taroom where the Leichhardt Tree stands proudly in the main street. In 1844 Ludwig leichhardt's overland journey took him from Jimbour Queensland to Port Essington Northern Territory, marking this tree on route.
Passing this old Queenslander I couldn't help but stop and turn around to take a few photos. The owner lives in a home further back from the road with his family.
He happily came to greet me and hung on to the gate post to give me a run down of the history of the place. The house was built in the 1930's and was his fathers childhood home. It was transported to this spot when his father bought this first few acres here and his father very much liked to sleep on the veranda and all his children were raised in this home. The farmer whom I spoke, being one who stayed on to continue the cattle farming life now owns 7000 acres reaching all the way back to the mountain range in the far distance.
On to Wandoan, what a surprise to find a fabulous free camp called Waterloo Plain, with new hot showers and toilets, an open space beside a lovely small lake and in walking distance to the town.
I was not alone here, there were a couple of other caravan's spread around in secluded spots enjoying this terrific park.
I would have loved to stay here longer, only time was running out, well the end of the month of July was coming to an end and I felt like I was rushing toward the end of my holiday with only 1 week to go.
The next day I drove through Miles and onto Condamine and stayed at their caravan park, $11 for one night. There was nothing here other than the local pub and garage, excepting an interestingly large flood level gauge beside the river in the park and a piece of history that tells the 1851 town was regarded as the gateway to the west, also in 1861 there was a weekly service of the Cobb & Co passing through.
And I thought I had a low rear problem, apparently its normal as there is nothing wrong here!
Arrived at Moura, the camp spot is on the Dawson River about 7 kl out of town. Firstly, I parked up the back as there were so many campers already here, at least 50 with some looking like they had been there for months. After walking around I spotted a small spot that I moved to, with water views and closer to the amenities block and picnic tables. The reverse maneuvering didn't look very professional but I backed her in tight to the fence line and put the ramps under the front tires to level her. I was set for the next few days.
Solo Steve arrived in his coaster, Steve is a local from Corlette NSW not far from where I live, it was really good to see him with his new set of dentures and lovely smile to boot. He is on his way north to catch up with two female nomads camping at Sapphire and will continue on his solo journey enjoying his nomad lifestyle.
I surprised him and myself by cooking my first cake on the fire,
with a dollop of cream on top, I knocked on his door to present him with a taste test and he agreed it was pretty good for a first timer.
I drove thru Moura on my way south and was surprised to see a busy bustling town. Not realizing there are Coal mines in the district till I took the short cut thru Kianga to Leichhardt Hwy and onto the town of Theodore, seeing the mines looking very much like Muswellbrook NSW.
Leaving Springsure after a snack at the local coffee shop I hit the road and before long I was about to decent into the valley below. I stopped to check out the camp spot seen on wikicamp, it was a large area perched on the edge of the down hill run to the valley floor. There were remains of many camp fire and a grand lookout across the valley. The spot was recommended on wiki due to its view to the east where unlimited views of the sunrise could be had. It was way to early for camp so continued south,east on the Dawson Hwy.
I decided to pull over at a truck stop that was 5kl before Rolleston, not stopping on the gravel but much further over on the cut grass out of the way of any trucks that decide to pull in. I watched a fabulous sunset, taking more photos than usual just in case I miss the best shot.
This is my first solo camp stop on this trip and can see my nearest farming neighbor way across his fields in the distance. This is a perfect spot to camp, much better than the gravel pit I passed earlier where caravan and motorhomes had pulled over for the night, I even had excellent TV reception so...its footy night tonight.
You can see forever no matter what direction you look. A shame about the moon getting brighter now or I would be out shooting the milky way or capturing star trails.
The night passed quietly with only 4 cattle trucks stopping together around 6pm so the drivers could have their meal. Other than that it was a really peaceful night with a fabulous sunrise to top it off.
I felt safe and secure at my camp even though I was very alone and exposed in all directions with minimal, if not no traffic passing till morning and being Sunday, not one store was open. The local park had toilets, fresh water and a dump point for the traveler.
Tucked in behind the shops in Rolleston was this beautiful home.
I'm finding a lot of name plates that are in reference to Astronomy like Meotor, Canopus (a star) Asteroid, I'm not sure why?
Came across my first cattle drive, interestingly horses are driven in front with mares and colts taking up the rear after the cattle. Maybe they keep the cattle calm or in line.
I really hope these cattle didn't come from the above station! Only joking....this bought tears to my eyes, most of these droving cattle were so skinny, some were healthy but most were in a sad state, maybe they have been rounded up and saved from desolate areas and are now being driven to greener pastures, ti's what I hope anyway.
You might notice my late postings, yes I am way behind by a few months but what a way to re-live my holiday!
