Today we continue about 420km west on the Capricorn Highway to Barcaldine. Just outside Emerald, Sulphur-crested cockatoos were foraging through the last of a sunflower crop. Brekkie over, time for a squark. The Big Gem at Anakie – an addition to our multi-faceted day. Also at Anakie is this sculpture celebrating the colours and facets … More The Big Backyard – Western Queensland 2024 – Day 4 – The Central West

Springsure is 68km south of Emerald. Melaleucas lined the road near Gindie Road train with cattle on the Emerald-Springsure Rd Agriculture north of Springsure Superb blue wren foraging on the ground…and in a tree. Zebra finch Minerva Hills NP protects an area west of Springsure with a volcanic past. Virgin Rock on the eastern side … More The Big Backyard – Western Queensland 2024 – Day 3 – Springsure

Our travels over the past three months. A beautiful morning at Yamba as we reach the Pacific Ocean. Yamba Lighthouse is a long way from Cape Leeuwin. Sandstone rocks at Yamba Tea-tree oil plantation near Maclean. Sugar cane at Harwood The Clarence River bridges – it is nice they have kept and integrated the old … More Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 93 – Transcontinental

We add an extra day by going directly east in the hope of seeing flowering waratahs at Gibraltar Range National Park. We travel the Gwydir Highway from Moree to Grafton which will take us from the western plains and across the New England Tableland and Great Dividing Range to the Pacific coast. The highway is … More Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 92 – The Gwydir

Today is 620km east then north along familar roads but we started the day at Newey Reservoir at Cobar in showery conditions. Someone found joy in the rain. Fairy martins were fascinating to watch as they took to the air in synchronised feeding and all returned together. Fairy martins on the bank. Glossy ibis and … More Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 91 – Cobar to Moree

A morning visit from Broken Hill to the Pinnacles, then 456km east to Cobar. The Pinnacles are a feature of the Broken Hill landscape so we went for a morning drive to see the area where ancestor Joe Matthews wandered and fossicked with his father in the 1880’s and 1890’s. Extract from Settlers Came (family … More Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 90 – Pinnacles and the way east

One of the delights of returning to places on the road is that there is always something new to see or missed on previous journeys. Leaving Port Augusta, we follow the coastal plain and ascend the range through Horrocks Pass. We take a detour to the top of the Southern Flinders Ranges east of Wilmington … More Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 89 – Magnetic Attractions

The Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden is just 3km from the outskirts of Port Augusta. It is located on the shores of Upper Spencer Gulf with views to the ancient Flinders Ranges and north into the interior (above). There is a natural area and a garden that showcases a diverse collection of Australian arid zone … More Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 88 – Port Augusta

It is 346km northwards along the western side of Spencer Gulf from Port Lincoln to Port Augusta. Silo art at Tumby Bay show two boys jumping off the Tumby Bay Jetty Tumby Bay was named by Matthew Flinders in 1802 after a parish in Lincolnshire, England, just north of where he lived in his youth. … More Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 87 – Spencer Gulf

Lincoln National Park overlooks Boston Bay, the largest natural harbour in Australia, with granite headlands, sheltered bays and scenic offshore islands. On the southern side of the park are the massive, wind-formed sand dunes and the pounding surf of the Southern Ocean. But first a quick look around town. The port above… …the grain silos…. … More Way Away in WA 2023 – Day 85 – Lincoln National Park