After several road trips south and west, we thought we should have a look in our own backyard in Queensland. And what a big backyard it is! Queensland is the second largest state in Australia. With an area of 1,723,030 square kilometres there is a lot to explore over the next couple of weeks. As usual, if anyone tires of natural history, bad puns or casual observations of country towns, please let me know and I can take you off the mailing list. I will be providing the commentary and my lovely wife helping with the photography.

First day – an easy drive up the Bruce Highway to Bundaberg.

Day 2 – Yes, today is as easy as following the yellow brick roads of the Bruce and Capricorn Highways to the metropolis of Emerald. Lines, tyres and beers. Oh my!

Whistling kite near Miriam Vale

The Big Magpie and Nest at Miriam Vale at Gary Larson Oval. I assume this is the Far Side of town. Actually this Gary Larson was a Queensland State of Origin Rugby League legend and local boy.

The Big Donut – holey moley! Are these healthy eating? They are holefoods.

Also at Miriam Vale is the Big Crab. This crustacean didn’t cross the road to get here – it used the sidewalk.

The local hangout in Miriam Vale

The Big Giraffe at its cafe in Bororen. No short order cooks here, only tall ones. If the meal is not satisfactory, the giraffe never apologizes. It takes them too long to swallow their pride. Next door a Bundy Bear look-a-like is pretty cool and never frets (just like his guitar).

The Big Hands at Benaraby. The hands were having an argument. After a while, the left hand realised the other guy was right.

A short diversion off the highway along the Old Bruce Highway to the Calliope River.

Looks serene, but…..

Little black cormorant

White-faced heron and Maned duck (wood duck) at Calliope River

Rockhampton is the beef capital of Australia. The toilet block at Mount Larcom lets you know you are in cattle country. An udderly compelling teste-ment to our bovine friends.

Bajool Wetland – sometimes a birding hotspot. We saw many many water birds and a whistling kite circling overhead.

Magpie geese

Water-lily

Plumed whistling ducks

Another water lily species

Darter, Royal spoonbill and Great egret

Dragonflies at Bajool Wetland

Camels at Gracemere

After years of searching, we finally found the G Spot! Outside Rockhampton at the Gracemere Industrial Park – 5000kg of steel – gee whiz! G definitely marks the spot! After some intial enthusiasm, the experience was a bit of an anticlimax.

From here, we turn west along the Capricorn Highway.

We are in coal country. The railway line runs parallel to the highway and there is a near constant stream of rail traffic in both directions.

Someone tried to bluff a grazier here once but all he did was raise the steaks. It is actually named after Arthur’s Bluff, a prominent local mountain.

Comet – site of the Leichhardt Dig Tree Memorial. Explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, along with his party, travelled though the Comet district in 1845 on his way to Port Essington in the Northern Territory. As the party travelled through this area, Leichhardt named the creek where they camped, Comet Creek, after seeing Comet Wilmot in the night sky.

Leichhardt blazed a huge coolabah tree with the Letters DIG L and a downward pointing arrow. A powder canister containing letters to family and friends was buried at the base of the tree. Replica and actual remains above.

More feathered friends near Emerald. Do you want to hear a bird pun? ..no? Well this is hawkward.

We have seen many bottle trees in the scrub today. Here is a magnificent one at a property entrance between Comet and Emerald.

And we finally made it to Emerald City! Thought for the day: Toto couldn’t care less about the colourised version of the Wizard of Oz.