Flexibility Is The Key

Saturday night at Cania Gorge was fairly brisk and it took a while for things to get moving on the Sunday morning.  But, we had plans to move on.

Initially, we had thought about checking out Lake Callide, twelve klms east of Biloela and about 90 klms north of Cania.  The reports that we had heard from fellow travellers was not too inspiring - lots of muddy water, not a lot of fish, the access to it was closed and that you couldn't camp at the lake.  Twelve klms back and forth to a caravan park in town tends to put you off.

Because of these reasonably negative responses, we loaded Tuf Tinnie on top of the trailer and put The Rav into her travelling position in the trailer for a longish haul through to Rockhampton and thence onto Mackay.  So, by this time, we had warmed up considerably as it is not just a five minute task.

Team Turtle decided to stop at Biloela for lunch and to purchase groceries etc.  Whilst there, we called into the Visitors Info Centre and what great information they gave us.  The Captain enquired about Lake Callide and camping facilities and was informed that yes, the road was open and yes, there were camp spots along the edge of the lake - the locals camp there all of the time!

There is a coalmine and power station on the northern shores of Callide as the waters from the lake are used as cooling waters for the power station.  Therefore, we didn't have any worries as far as the condition of the road - one of the best roads so far.

Team Turtle headed out to the dam and even though there were numerous signs warning against camping, we ventured on.  Found a nice little road that headed towards the lake and as we came around the bend we noticed that there were another four camps in the bushes.  So much for no camping!!

This was where we were going to stay for a few days.  We then had to take Tuf Tinnie and The Rav off the trailer and organise ourselves for another few days.  If only we had known earlier....

Further Back From The Water This Time

After setting up camp and relaxing with a refreshing drink, we went out for a little exploration on the lake.  Took the Redclaw traps with us and found a nice spot to put them in.  Had a little bit of a fish but this lake was not going to be the same as the last one!

We had an early start the next morning just in case those elusive fish were on the bite.  Well, at least the sunrise was very promising.

Our First Sunrise At Lake Callide

Fishing expedition - not very good.  Redclaw expedition - more in our first overnight traps than we had caught in the previous couple of weeks.  Over the last few days, we have had to actually freeze the cooked redclaw we have caught so many of them.  We only had five traps out but one of the other camps have had forty traps set and they check them three times a day.  Now that is an awful lot of redclaw!!

Some of the ones that we caught were nearly the size of small lobsters - which is good as it makes it easier for The Captain to peel them.

Not Going Anywhere But The Pot

After checking our traps on Tuesday morning we decided to go out and do some sightseeing.  The major attraction for us was about 15 minutes south of Biloela, at a rock formation called Mount Scoria.  After all it was a great day for a walk.

From The Start Of The Walk

The Special Formations

Wednesday morning and we had one more shot at the fishing.  All those fish must have definitely gone over the wall at this dam and even some of the wildlife looked like they weren't fishing either.

Enjoying The Early Morning

Today has been a sort of relaxing and starting to pack up day as we are moving on again tomorrow.  Possibly heading to a place near Blackwater (yes, it is a town) but we will see how we go!

Success At Last

Last Saturday morning dawned clear and bright.  Team Turtle was aware of this as we were also up and at it although maybe not quite as clear and bright as the dawn.  Final preparations for a day of fishing were completed and we set off to Cania Dam - a short ten klms way.  We weren't the only ones that were up bright and early as there were already four trailers at the boat ramp by the time that we had arrived.

Just Waiting For The Crew

Once on the water, there was only one false start - we headed off into what we thought was the main channel - but the combined efforts of both The Captain and The Deckie took us the correct way.  We followed the old creek bed upstream and found what looked like a lovely fishing spot. And yes, it was!!

Within minutes of casting our first lures, The Captain caught his first fish - a nice little Bass.

First Proper Fish Of Our Expedition!

Not to be outdone, The Deckie then caught her first fish - another Bass and a bit bigger than The Captain's.

The Deckie's First Fish

The Captain then felt that the pressure was on and he had to maintain his fish catching dignity - so he caught a bigger Bass..

Getting Bigger

The Deckie had obviously been making the correct observations as she then caught herself another Bass that was even bigger than The Captain's.

and bigger!!

Unfortunately, it was at that stage that The Deckie became too cocky about her fish catching skills and fell in a heap.  Did not catch another fish all day.  The Captain, however, managed to catch several more Bass of varying size, then caught a Yellowbelly (a Golden Perch)

The Good Sized Yellowbelly

And then, to top it off, The Captain caught a Southern Saratoga.  His first ever!!  At first he thought it was a Barramundi it was fighting that hard and leaping out of the water as Barra tend to do when hooked.  All good fun and very exciting as well.

First Southern Saratoga

After that effort, we pulled over in the shade of some trees for a rest and some lunch and it was at that time that the fish also stopped for the day.  Not a nibble or a nudge at the lures.  Fortunately, it wasn't just us as the other fishing people that we nearby had also fell into the doldrums after having a great morning.  Not to worry as it had been a great morning.

Tired but happy, we made our way back to camp to start preparing for our next part of the journey.

Cruising Into Cania

Our little convoy headed north (once more) with our planned stop being Cania Gorge and Cania Dam just north-west of Monto.  Had to spend a few hours in Monto as a lot of our supplies had run short.  Gas bottle refill was number one on the list, then some wine for The Captain (and not too much of it either as it is a little bit more expensive up here), fuel for Tuf Tinnie and the generator, oh, and then some actual food!  Although there was a nice little fruit and vegie stall just out of town that had some great (and very fresh) stuff for sale.

Onto the Gorge.  Team Turtle actually had to stay in a caravan park as there was no camping at the dam or in the National Park.  The one we chose was a very nice one - just to the south of the Park Entrance and closest to all of the walks!

Next morning we were up and at it reasonably early.  A nice drive to the Dam to check out the boating facilities and then onto some of the walks that are scattered throughout the National Park.

Cania Dam and Castle Mountain

The walks took in a wide range of lengths and difficulties.  Top of the range was a 22 klm return walk with an expected time of 7-8 hours.  We did not do that one!!  Our first walk (a short one) was to an old gold mining area - we didn't find any gold but it was interesting as to how they mined the gold in the area during the late 1800's.

Waiting To Find Gold

After a sumptuous picnic lunch (whipped up by The Deckie) we started out on our longest hike for the weekend - to the Dragon Cave, Bloodwood Cave and the Gorge Lookout.  Estimated hiking time - 1 hour.

First off, The Captain felt like he wanted to wait for the wheelchair that the sign had on offer

Its Not All That Far!

A short stroll along the track and we came to our next small problem

A Small Bit Of Flood Damage

 But help was at hand as the National Parks people had put a temporary crossing in so that we wouldn't get our feet wet.

The Temporary Creek Crossing

Onwards we trekked and hoping to make it to the top of the escarpment

Our Destination

Before we reached the top, there was a small detour to what is known as the Dragon Cave.  There was some fairly impressive markings and water carvings but we couldn't see what was supposed to be a dragon's face.

The Dragon's Cave

To alleviate that little hiccup, The Deckie took a pic of a pic that was outside the Caravan Park's Office.

Looks More Like A Monkey Than A Dragon

A further (and rather steep) climb to us right to the top of the escarpment.  Not a bad view and once more, they have let the trees grow right near the lookout.  Something about "not being able to see the forest for the trees" comes to mind.

Made It To The Top

On the way back down the escarpment, we found this rock formation which we both thought looked more like a mythical creature than the dragon rock.

Captured In Time

And just a short stroll from the Caravan Park there was the last of special rock formations that we were going to look at for the weekend.  It was called 'Big Foot' - not the Yowie like monster but someone's footprint in the sandstone.

'Big Foot' Rock

And after all of that rock climbing in one day, The Captain and The Deckie had a very early night in anticipation of a pleasant day on Lake Cania.

Wandering About Wuruma

After our overnight stopover in Eidsvold, Team Turtle headed out to Wuruma Dam about 50 klms away.  Lovely road - although a little bit on the rough side - and at least it was bitumen except for the last two klms!

Sunwater (the Queensland Government body that looks after a lot of the dams) has been very considerate and has provided several large areas for camping and toilets at no cost to the campers.  Wonderful people!!

We found ourselves a nice little spot - on a bit of a hill - and once more set up camp for a little while.

Team Turtle's Newest Campsite

All was going well until about midnight.  Not sure what woke us up but the three little lights on the front f our fridge were in the wrong spot.  Now what?  Yep, the gas bottle had decided to run out in the middle of the night!  Oh well, not a big worry - The Captain can deal with that in the morning.

The Captain dealt with that small problem but The Deckie noticed that the fridge wasn't getting as cold as it should.  Must be her imagination!  During the next day, The Captain noticed that his refreshments were not as cold as they should have been which was something that The Deckie had been trying to tell him!  The problem turned out to be that The Turtle was not completely level.  You will notice in the above pic that The Turtle is on a little bit of a slope.  Not normally a big worry but it upset the fridge.  A few minor adjustments (digging holes for the front wheels and more leveling blocks for back wheels) and the fridge started working properly within minutes!

Once more, the water was that muddy we couldn't find any fish but we were able to get another few meals from the redclaw traps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Day's Results

 

 

We soon fell into a very nice quiet routine.  Out in the boat first thing for a bit of fishing and checking the traps, back to The Turtle for a few hours and then out again in the afternoon.  Spent some time chatting to the neighbours and when things were very quiet, we watched the Snake Bird (Darter) and the Tortoises fighting over a rock!

The Fight For The Rock

The next day, Team Turtle even had some visitors, although The Rav wasn't too keen about the close proximity of them!

The Girls Came For Morning Tea

During our stay at Wuruma, we had a vast range of weather conditions.  From beautiful sunsets

At The End Of A Happy Hour

And reasonably nice days, even if they were a bit cloudy

The Start Of Another Nice Day

 To nasty thunderstorms - in which we nearly got caught in out on the water.  It is amazing how fast a 30 hp 2 Stroke Motor goes when its flat out and the thunderstorm had snuck up behind you!

Big Black Storm Clouds

And then to a foggy morning.  We had gone out early (again) and The Captain (?) felt that we should have turned in a particular direction - yes, we had to turn in that direction but not at the time he wanted to.  If it wasn't for the skill and expertise of The Deckie/Navigator we would probably have run aground on the nearby island.

The Quiet Of The Morning

Peace was restored to the vessel and its occupants and the rest of the fishing/redclaw trip went well.  Except we didn't catch any fish!

After a lovely week, Team Turtle sort of packed up to head further north.  As it was only going to be a short trip to our next destination of Cania Gorge, The Captain felt it prudent for The Deckie to drive The Rav and he would tow The Trailer with Tuf Tinnie.  And that way, it would also save a lot of time with our packing up.

When the little convoy was ready with The Deckie and The Rav leading the way Team Turtle sallied forth once more.

Further Into The Wild West

After a leisurely start, we headed out of Lake Boondooma and back into reasonable civilisation.  A lunch and restocking stop at Murgon and then further north to our overnight stop at Gayndah.  Gayndah is a large citrus producing area on the upper reaches of the Burnett River - mainly oranges and quite a few mandarins.  We had an idea that oranges were produced in the area when we were greeted by this small icon on the southern side of town..

The Big Orange

We set up camp at the boat ramp/rest area just north of town.  All good until the fruit pickers had finished for the day and the rest area was inundated with a myriad of suspect station wagons and campervans.  Oh, the Roads and Traffic people would have a field day if they were serious about unroadworthy vehicles.  There must have been at least four people in each vehicle along with all of their camping gear.  They only partied until about 1am and then some of them headed off to work at about 5.30am - not much sleep that night!

The Burnett River is the one that inundated Bundaberg a few months ago and the consequences of its early rush to the coast can be seen as far upstream as Gayndah - although the town itself was spared from its waters.

Towards The Bridge

Downstream of The Bridge

And then had a huge day driving - eighty kilometres - to Eidsvold, an old gold mining town.  But not much of anything now!  Just a rest day to recharge all of our batteries with 240 volt but, once more, a nasty squally storm descended on us in the afternoon.  It must be our magnetism or something like that as we can't seem to get away from them.

Hoping that the water at Wuruma Dam (our next port of call) has cleared a bit and that the roads into the place aren't too bad.

Will let you know once we are in mobile phone service.

Meantime, we hope that everyone stays healthy and well..

Lake Boondooma

After our overnight stay at Kingaroy, Team Turtle headed, once more, into the mountains and to Lake Boondooma.  Another beautiful spot and supposedly a great Bass fishing Lake - along with several other species of fish.

Team Turtle got itself organised and before we long our camp was set up, Tuf Tinnie was in the water and we were ready to get into the fishing.  Well, the next day anyway!

Our Camp on Lake Boondooma

Once more, the fishing gods had taken a bit of a break and all of the fish had swum off and hidden in the murky brown remnants of Queensland's recent floods.  Or that the raging torrents of floodwater had dragged them over the spillway of the dam.

The staff at the Lake told us that our camp would have been about half a metre under water during the height of the floods!!  And that is a lot of water.

The upside of no fish was that the Red Claw were very prolific in the Dam.  Well, that would be an alternative so we hauled the Red Claw traps out of The Trailer, set them with apples and potatoes and found some appropriate spots for them.  After setting the traps, we attempted to do some fishing.  No luck so we headed back to camp.  On the way we decided to check the traps and found that we had actually caught some.  Wow!!  And only after about an hour - how good were we!

First Little Red Claw

Dinner!!

We had reset the Red Claw traps and so the next day we went back out to check them.  Lo and behold, on that outing we caught a fish.  Well, it wasn't a very big fish and it was caught in the Red Claw trap but it was a fish!!

The Captain - Not Happy.  The Fish - Very Happy

The other traps were very productive as far as Red Claw went and we took home a very good feed that night.

Relaxing at Sunset

The next morning was looking good so we set off again to check the traps and recovered another reasonable feed (no, we are not turning into shellfish).  Reset the traps and went back to camp for lunch.  As it was our last full day at Boondooma, we decided to head out in the afternoon and try our luck, once more, with the fishing.  Found what looked like a nice spot and started trolling.  The Deckie looked up from her task and saw a beautiful rainbow on the other side of the lake.  Very nice except for the rain laden clouds that were just in front of it and heading our way...

The Rainbow and The Rain Clouds

We hauled our fishing lines in as The Captain felt it prudent to try and find a little bit of shelter - which we did and waited out the storm.  Couldn't believe that we waited nearly all day to go out fishing (afternoon is sometimes best) just to be caught in a storm!

Gave up on the fishing, checked our traps and then headed back to camp.

We were up bright and early on Tuesday morning, went and brought another lot of Red Claw in and then packed up our camp for our next part of the journey.

Toonumbar (Again) and Woodenbong

Back to Toonumbar - well, not really!  Just thought we would share another Turtle that we met whilst camped there.  This little creature was actually hidden by our neighbours and only revealed properly when they had departed.  Poor old thing had a bit of a deformed shell but we still thought it was cute that he was there for us.

The Deckie and The Other Turtle

Now, back to Woodenbong.  Nice little town with a nice little caravan park (flushing toilets and hot water - yay) and, apparently, Yowie sightings.  Also, lots of great mountains that are leftovers from some local volcanic activity.  What more would you want!

We didn't manage to see any Yowies but still spent a nice day touring the countryside.  Nearby Toolum Falls and the surrounding area were impressive.

Looking Into Queensland

Toolum Falls

After being all refreshed and relaxed we packed up the entire team properly and headed north west towards the Queensland border.  In hindsight, we should have taken a lot more notice of the sign that mentioned "that the local council was awaiting Federal Government funding to repair the flood damaged road".  Most councils have those sort of signs so Team Turtle pressed on regardless!  Well, the road was absolutely deplorable - in fact, The Captain did mention (through gritted teeth) that he had driven on better dirt/gravel roads than this main road.  Lots and lots of potholes, broken asphalt and crumbling edges.  And the outcome?  Tuf Tinnie's trailer broke one of her legs!!

The very badly broken leg

Fortunately, The Captain was able to effect repairs without too much cursing and swearing and after a short sojourn on the side of a narrow road we were once more heading into Queensland which was just over another lot of mountains.

We were never so happy than to be in Queensland (this time) as the road conditions improved considerably!  A lunch stop at  Killarney and then we headed to our overnight stop of Allora.

Team Turtle managed to procure a spot in a nice little free camp down by the river and just a short walk from the town.  We made enquiries as to a suitable replacement for the shredded tyre - no joy there - so we returned to our camp to hunker down.  And hunker down we did as not long after our return, the big, black thunderclouds that had been threatening the area all afternoon released their anger onto us.  It rained but there was lumps in that rain!!  Only small lumps and the lumps only lasted for about ten minutes but it was a little scary for a while.  The rain continued for some hours and the only worry was the river flowing quite rapidly beside us.

The rain did stop at some stage thru the night and the morning was bright and breezy.  Our next job was to get into Toowoomba (the next major town/city) to a) get the tyre replaced and b) buy a new battery for The Turtle's 12 volt system.  The original one had decided to "pack it in" which meant that our alternative power system was non existent.  Not a good thing when we are not always in a position to hook up to 240v power!

First stop was Battery World at South Toowoomba - great service and a brand new battery sorted out very quickly.  Then around the corner to Beaurepairs.  Once more, great service and a new tyre (as there were no secondhand ones) was on the rim and we were ready to go.  Hmmm, well the lovely man, Ray, mentioned that he had been following us down the road when we were on the way to Battery World and had noticed that parts of The Trailer were moving when they shouldn't have been.  Oh dear!!  On inspection it was noticed that a design fault had occurred and that two welds had broken.  Yes, they were significant types of weld which could have created a fair bit of mayhem at sometime in the future.

Ray was able to ring a mate, John The Panel Beater, who was just around the corner and within less than an hour we had The Trailer mended.  A quick stop up the road at a park for coffee and we were once more on our way albeit with lighter wallets after a reasonably expensive morning!

Dalby was our lunch and shopping stop and Kingaroy Showgrounds our stop for the night.

Leaving Coffs Harbour

Sunday, 24 March 2013

Mid morning and after the day had dawned bright and sunny, Team Turtle was packed and raring to go.  All was good, the tyres were pumped and the tank was full and we turned right and headed north.  Through beautiful downtown Grafton, along the Summerland Way, through Casino and into Kyogle.  The plans had been to stop at Kyogle for the night, take The Rav off and drive it out to Toonumbar Dam mainly to see what the road was like as we had been informed that it may not be suitable for our Rig.  These misgivings were allayed by the friendly gentleman at the Information Centre in Kyogle.

So off we went to Toonumbar Dam.  The first hurdle was the railway bridge - the height above the roadway was only 3.3 metres.  All very well and good except that The Turtle is also 3.3 metres high - not much leeway.  Fortunately, The Deckie (who is also The Navigator) noticed that there was a track to the side of the road which gave a clearance of 4.5 metres.  Quick directions to The Captain (who actually listened) and we were able to avoid the roof being peeled off!

Hurdle number two - a reasonable intersection with no signs pointing the way to the Dam.  A quick look at a map mentioned that it didn't really matter as there were two roads leading to the same place.  We went left which then led us to hurdle number three - a bridge that only had a load limit of two tonnes.  Yep, Team Turtle is 6.5 tonnes!!  The Captain made a spur of the moment decision, put the pedal to the metal and we literally flew across the decking.  A glance in the rear vision mirrors assured us that we had not left a trail of death and destruction behind us!

Onto the camping area of the Dam.  We found a great spot - not too far from the water's edge and away from the main camps.  Unhooked the trailer, parked The Turtle and the first of a couple of thunderstorms descended on us.

One must remember that camping on the sides of dams can be fraught with danger - mainly that they can have a reasonable incline.  This being the case with our spot.  The rains came and...

Our Own Little Waterfall...

Leading To The Dam

Not the best start for our trip!

A little while later, the skies cleared and we were able to finish unpacking - getting The Rav off the trailer, putting Tuf Tinnie into the water and so all was well.

The Proud Captain and Tuf Tinnie at The Boat Ramp

Taking Tuf Tinnie To Our Camp Spot

The Turtle's Camp Spot

Unfortunately, the fishing at Toonumbar was woeful.  Probably had something to do with all of the extra water that had been flowing through the area.  In fact, there was only about three other people that were camped there that had any luck at all and we were not one of them.  We did, however, have some very nice neighbours for most of the time we were there which helped while away the non-productive hours.

We drove back into Kyogle (using The Rav) just before Easter for extra supplies and this time we took the correct road.  And it was a much better road than the one we used the first time and no bridges either!

 

Easter Monday and we decided that it was time we headed off.  To save a bit of time and effort, The Captain drove The Turtle and The Deckie drove The Rav and our next stop was Woodenbong near the Queensland border.