Today we headed east on the Barrier and Mitchell and Oxley Highways before heading north on the Newell. Cobar is the home of the Wongaibon people (within the Ngiyampaa group associated with the arid plains and rocky hill country bordered by the Lachlan, Darling-Barwon and Bogan rivers). The name ‘Cobar’ is derived from a Ngiyampaa word kubbur … More There and Back Again 2022 – Day 4 – Four Highways

Today we travelled through Kamilaroi country and then Ngiyampaa country further west from Bourke to Cobar. Good awning, Grey Nomad! Just outside Dirranbandi, we saw this spoonbill – our ornithological experts informed me that this is a very pale form of the Yellow-billed Spoonbill. Thanks JG. Hebel is just 4km north of the Qld/NSW border. … More There and Back Again 2022 – Day 3 – Kamilaroi and Ngiyampaa country

We started the day by following the Moonie Highway for 290km from Dalby to St George. Cactoblastis Cairn in Dalby commemorates the successful biological control agent – the Cactoblastis Moth that helped to end the scourge of the cactus that heavily infested this area. Cactus infested fifty million acres of land in Queensland by 1925, … More There and Back Again 2022 – Day 2 – The Balonne

Agnes Water and Town of 1770 are between Gladstone and Bundaberg. Agnes Water coastline is noted for being the most northerly proper surf beach on the Queensland coast receiving oceanic swells north of Fraser Island but south of the Great Barrier Reef. The Town of 1770 was named after a stopover point from Cook’s Voyage … More Central Qld 2021 – Day 5 – Town of 1770, home of the original poor bustard

Mount Archer is a 604 metre mountain that is a backdrop to Rockhampton. A steep road from Frenchville leads to the national park at the summit. This is the view west over town with the Fitzroy River on the left of the image. The view north east towards the mountains of Shoalwater Bay. Volcanic plugs … More Central Qld 2021 – Day 4 – Mount Archer, Murray Lagoon and Port Curtis

The Capricorn Coast looking south from Yeppoon Double Head at Rosslyn Bay is a remnant of past volcanic activity. Columnar jointing on the western side of Double Head. The trachyte plugs are between 73 and 79 million years old. Kemp Beach and Bluff Point The track to the top of the southern plug through vine … More Central Qld 2021 – Day 3 – Capricorn Coast National Park

A fine morning in Rockhampton. Check this guy out! Unbelieva-bull. I thought taking a photo was free but there were hidden charges. Hill Street in Yeppoon – family ancestors home in the early 1940s. Supplies from Yeppoon – a french bakery where the pain is real. Waterpark Creek at Byfield The Bowenia Rainforest Circuit features … More Central Qld 2021 – Day 3 – Byfield National Park

The area east of Biloela has plateaus derived from past volcanic activity dominated by the Broad-leaved bottle tree (Brachychiton australe) and the Bottle Tree (Brachychiton rupestris). Broad-leaved bottle trees A massive Bottle tree off the Burnett Highway near Yaparabah School Road. Kroombit Tops is in the distance. Native Cassia Mount Scoria is a volcanic remnant … More Central Qld 2021 – Day 2 – Mount Scoria

A wet morning at Biloela but it was fine by lunchtime on our day trip to Cania Gorge. The Big Director’s Chair at Biloela – Bille Brown was an actor and director of stage plays in Australia and Great Britain working at times with his friend Geoffrey Rush. He also worked in film and television … More Central Qld 2021 – Day 2 – Cania Gorge

Today we set out from Bundaberg and drove west through Gin Gin, Mount Perry and Eidsvold to Cania Gorge. Nour Nour National Park is south west of Mount Perry. It protects a vulnerable ironbark species Eucalyptus virens as well as dry vine thickets in its northern section. Eucalyptus virens is only found in five small … More Central Qld 2021 – Day 1 – The Upper Burnett

Our last morning – on the road from Moree to Goondiwindi The Goondiwindi Library has a large display of memorabilia of the heroics of Gunsynd – The Goondiwindi Grey – champion race horse from the 1970s. WS Cox Plate from 1972 Silo art at Yelarbon Lake Coolmunda’s level had dropped hugely since our last visit … More South Australia 2019 – Day 22 – Cunningham Highway