There and Back Again 2022 – Day 1

As before, we have some rough plans but in this crazy world we are unsure how far we will get on our shortened vacation.

We stopped in Brisbane for brekkie and found this Big Garlic at West End – we asked at a local cafe if they had garlic bread but they had naan.

It rained most of the way to Cunninghams Gap – the usual spectaular views of the Main Range replaced by a thick fog as we drove into the clouds. Goodbye views – you were mist.

The Main Range

Warwick Town Hall – Warwick markets itself as the Rose City. I suspect that Guns and Roses are popular here. Might even be a few axles.

Roses line the main street – with Warwick being the Rose City and Toowoomba having the State Rose Garden, we are unsure who arose as horticultural victors – it is a bit of a thorny issue.

There are some lovely heritage buildings in Warwick – this is the Post Office.

Wildflowers between Warwick and Inglewood. Purple hovea

Wattle beside the Cunningham Highway

We were welcomed into Inglewood by the local bat colony hanging out together. They were very acro-batic.

Stranger Things Season 5

The ABC recently asked viewers/listeners to vote for their favourite Australian native tree – the bottle tree should get plenty of votes – this one is a triple treat.

Inglewood main street – more dates than a whole season of The Batchelor.

Inglewood is now an olive growing district although it once grew a lot of tobacco. There is a heritage centre called The Golden Leaf celebrating the industry that was very prosperous before it went up in smoke in the 1980s. We managed to leave town in the nicotime.

Yelarbon Silo Art – the mural concept titled ‘When the rain comes’ depicts a young boy at play, cooling off in the Yelarbon Lagoon. In his hand is a paper boat that floats across the Yelarbon lagoon. The young fella on the two larger silos is very competent in the water – he’s a good buoy.

Yelarbon Lagoon on which the silo art is based.

Dingo Fence Memorial – An old strainer post in Yelarbon now marks the end of the original route and a replica of the traditional fence to keep dingoes out. At 8,320 km, the Dingo Barrier Fence was the longest manmade fence in the world when it was constructed. Starting at the Great Australian Bight in the south-west of South Australia, the fence ran across to the north-west New South Wales border then into Queensland and up to Cloncurry before starting south, where it terminated at Yelarbon. There are a few holes in the fence – authorities are looking into it. The investigation dingo well.