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| Mount Lindesay |
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| Woodenbong Police Station |
Fortunately we had a couple of nice weather days just before the New Year. We took advantage of the excellent weather, it had been raining for the past week and half straight, and began on our 1400 kilometer (870 miles) road trip through the countryside to the west and south of the Gold Coast where we live. First we headed west to Beaudesert where we stopped and picked up groceries. Then we drove southwest on the Mount Lindesay Highway through Rathdowney. On they way we stopped to take a few photos including Mount Lindesay which we had been driving by for hours, the police station in the small town of Woodenbong, and the Killarney Hotel in Killarney.
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| Killarney Hotel |
We stopped for our picnic lunch along the river at a park in Killarney. This area had recently had a lot of rain and we could see signs that the river had been much higher and flooded the park where we had stopped. We continued our drive to Warwick and then headed south on the New England Highway to Stanthorpe.
On our way into Stanthorpe we got off on the fruit run through Applethorpe. The area around Stanthorpe is at a higher elevation, 1000-1200 meters and posts some of the coldest temperatures in Queensland. Surprisingly it can even freeze here during winter. It is located within a region referred to as the Granite Belt for all the large granite boulders. This area is very agricultural and the primary non-tropical fruit growing region in Queensland. Stanthorpe is full of vineyards, wineries, as well as fields of strawberries and orchards with apples, apricots, peaches, and nectarines. Strawberries and stone fruits were in season during our visit. We stopped at a few fruit stands to see what was available and prices. In town we took some photos of the Target country store, post office (complete with English crest) and went to the visitor center. This Princeton sized town of 4300 residents is a popular place for tourists.
Unfortunately we only had enough time to make it to a strawberry farm due to our late arrival in town and businesses closing by 5pm. We stopped and purchased a kilo (2.2 pound) package of fresh strawberries and headed on the road to our campsite at the remote Sundown National Park. I had made reservations online for our campsite, only $10. We knew we had to hurry so we could setup our tent before dark.
On the drive to the park we had a kangaroo run out in front of us but luckily there was enough distance between us. It was the first live kangaroo I had seen since arriving in Australia. The only kangaroos I saw before were dead on the side of the road. David had seen kangaroos on a couple of occasions on his drives in the country for work. I was surprised by how fast and graceful it was able to hop by us. It took us nearly 90 minutes to reach the park, all was sealed road but the last few miles being rough gravel with large rocks. David drove quite slowly and on our way into the park I spotted a kangaroo, and then another. We stopped and watched the pair a bit. As we got further into the park there were kangaroos everywhere on both sides of the road. We stopped several times and watched them. I would agree with David's description of kangaroos having a dog like face and ears kind of like a rabbit that can stand up. The kangaroos were very aware of our presence and watched us while they ate grass. They would only hop away if someone got out of the vehicle or if startled by our driving. There were hundreds of kangaroos in the area (a large group of kangaroos is a mob) and we spotted around 50 close to us. The young kangaroos, joeys, were with their mothers. Most joeys were fairly grown in size but we did spot one in the pouch. As it was getting dark we proceeded on to our campsite. On the way we spotted kangaroos eating grass in one of the camp sites. Considering the remoteness and the rough road to get there we were surprised to find people in at least four of the other campsites. When we got out of the car the sound of cicadas was deafening and we hoped it would not last all night. Luckily as it got darker the noise died down and stopped completely. We setup camp and then walked around exploring the campground a bit more walking out to the nearby river. Since there weren't any picnic tables and we didn't even have camp chairs we ended up just eating cold food in the car. There were fire rings but they were out of firewood that they usually supply and we hadn't picked up any on the way. Later we laid out on a blanket and stared up at the clear moonless sky. I don't know if I have ever seen so many stars or stars so bright. The next closest star gazing experience I had was at my Aunt Sharon's farm near Mille Lacs lake starring up at the milky way. The one familiar constellation was Orion which we could see in much greater detail. As it got later we could begin to see the Southern Cross constellation rising above the trees. Like any summer camping experience there were of course mosquitoes. The first day of our road trip adventure had come to a close under the starry Australian sky.
On the drive to the park we had a kangaroo run out in front of us but luckily there was enough distance between us. It was the first live kangaroo I had seen since arriving in Australia. The only kangaroos I saw before were dead on the side of the road. David had seen kangaroos on a couple of occasions on his drives in the country for work. I was surprised by how fast and graceful it was able to hop by us. It took us nearly 90 minutes to reach the park, all was sealed road but the last few miles being rough gravel with large rocks. David drove quite slowly and on our way into the park I spotted a kangaroo, and then another. We stopped and watched the pair a bit. As we got further into the park there were kangaroos everywhere on both sides of the road. We stopped several times and watched them. I would agree with David's description of kangaroos having a dog like face and ears kind of like a rabbit that can stand up. The kangaroos were very aware of our presence and watched us while they ate grass. They would only hop away if someone got out of the vehicle or if startled by our driving. There were hundreds of kangaroos in the area (a large group of kangaroos is a mob) and we spotted around 50 close to us. The young kangaroos, joeys, were with their mothers. Most joeys were fairly grown in size but we did spot one in the pouch. As it was getting dark we proceeded on to our campsite. On the way we spotted kangaroos eating grass in one of the camp sites. Considering the remoteness and the rough road to get there we were surprised to find people in at least four of the other campsites. When we got out of the car the sound of cicadas was deafening and we hoped it would not last all night. Luckily as it got darker the noise died down and stopped completely. We setup camp and then walked around exploring the campground a bit more walking out to the nearby river. Since there weren't any picnic tables and we didn't even have camp chairs we ended up just eating cold food in the car. There were fire rings but they were out of firewood that they usually supply and we hadn't picked up any on the way. Later we laid out on a blanket and stared up at the clear moonless sky. I don't know if I have ever seen so many stars or stars so bright. The next closest star gazing experience I had was at my Aunt Sharon's farm near Mille Lacs lake starring up at the milky way. The one familiar constellation was Orion which we could see in much greater detail. As it got later we could begin to see the Southern Cross constellation rising above the trees. Like any summer camping experience there were of course mosquitoes. The first day of our road trip adventure had come to a close under the starry Australian sky.
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