We have guests staying at Rainforest Estate for a few weeks so we've taken the opportunity to take our caravan to Bushtracker in Maroochydore for a service and "health check". We've been lucky enough to dodge the bullet that was Cyclone Debbie (the caravan was in Townsville at the time). The resulting "tropical low" has caused mayhem as it travelled south with storms, rain and flooding. Some of the roads are still closed as we travel south and road trains are taking alternate routes as they try to get through to the major cities of Mackay and Rockhampton and smaller towns along the coastal strip.
It's great to be back into the red dirt and we're passing through many of our favourite places as we drive west from Townsville, through Charters Towers where we turn south onto the Gregory Development Road towards Emerald. We had a brief stop at Capella with its street art and bottle trees before continuing on to Emerald, Roma, Miles and Kingaroy before arriving in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. We had to take the "scenic route" due to road closures east of Emerald.
The Emerald Dragon was sculpted from recycled metals by artist Jase Moore.
After dipping our toes into the big smoke and commercialisation of the Sunshine Coast, we aimed our vehicle north-west. We're heading to Winton in Central Queensland - about as central as you can get - for the opening of the new Dinosaur Canyon at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum in a week's time. I'll cover that in a separate post. Meanwhile we're back on the road travelling northwards through Eidsvold, home of the JM Williams Learning Centre, to Moura where we camped on the banks of the Dawson River which was still pretty full from the floods.
Then it was on to Rolleston and Springsure and then to Tambo, home of the Tambo Teddies (made from Aussie wool, by local Aussies).
The road from Springsure to Tambo took us through spectacular scenery along the northern side of the Carnarvon Range. We have often travelled along the eastern side and into the national park, but this was a first for us and although it's a dirt road it's highly recommended if you have a 4WD vehicle and robust caravan.
From Tambo we travelled through Blackall towards Barcaldine, birthplace of the Australian Labor Party. About 25km south of Barcaldine we turned off the road into the Lara Wetlands Station. This campground came highly recommended and we can only say we'll definitely be back!!
What a beautiful, peaceful place to spend a few days. Plenty of birdlife and lots of space to just relax. A bonus is the therapeutic hot pool which is fed from the Great Artesian Basin. At about 40C it's just like a huge hot bath.
After we left Lara it was about 300km to Winton where we had booked in to the Tattersalls Hotel Caravan Park for 3 days. A good opportunity to stock up the fridge and do the washing.
From Winton we aimed east towards Townsville. About halfway we camped overnight at the Prairie Pub Campground. It's worth visiting the pub with its quirky decor. Tom and Andrea are great hosts. Their pet is very friendly too.
The blade diameter of the Comet Windmill at Prairie is 34feet (about 10 m).
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