On the road again - Caliguel Lagoon near Condamine, Dalby and Bunya Mountains

Caliguel Lagoon near Condamine

26 – 27 October

We stopped at the visitor centre in Injune and enjoyed a free cuppa while we looked at some tourist brochures. We were tossing up between Condamine and Surat. We decided on Surat and set off again. We stopped for fuel and lunch in Roma and while there made the decision to go to Caliguel Lagoon near Condamine instead. Surat will have to wait for another time. We picked up some groceries in Miles and arrived at the lagoon early afternoon.

Our camp by the lagoon.

In a bush near our camp, lots of Caper White Butterflies were emerging from their pupae. These occur mainly west of the Great Dividing Range and migrate north in late spring. The front of our car is now encrusted with thousands of their tiny corpses suggesting that this was a very good season. For some.

This is a free camp and has toilets and barbecues – bring your own firewood. There were only two others there – a caravan and a campervan. We chose a spot with a water view and settled in for a relaxing afternoon, spoiled only by the number of flies, which were replaced by mosquitoes at dusk. Oh well, that's camping in Australia for you.

A pelican glides past in the late afternoon.

We made this a quick camp – not unhitching the camper trailer and not using the awning so we were able to be away early in the morning.

Dalby

27 - 29 October

We headed off to Dalby through Kogan, arriving in time for coffee at Macca’s before making our way to the caravan park that promised a short walk into town and the creek adjacent. We selected an ensuite site that had some shade and was quite private. After setting up the camper trailer we headed off for the short walk into town across the creek. We managed to find a couple of op shops and located the supermarket. We returned to the caravan park for lunch then drove back down towards the Visitor Information Centre. We stopped on the way at the camping store to pick up a few things. At the visitor centre we obtained information on the Bunya Mountains. All the information we had read indicated that you couldn’t get there with a caravan or camper trailer and the ladies there confirmed that. They suggested a town nearby that would be a good spot to camp for a day trip. We continued with some more shopping and returned to our little camp.

The caravan park is right across the street from the 2016 winning House Rules house.

We consulted some maps and realised that we weren’t really that far from the Bunya Mountains where we were so we decided to stay an extra night and visit the Bunya Mountains for the day. We walked the short distance to the pub – right next door actually – for a very nice, reasonably priced feed for dinner.

We set off early on Friday morning for the 52km drive up to the mountains. The road towards the end is very steep, windy and narrow – definitely not suitable for towing. When we arrived at the top we stopped into the National Parks office for walking track maps. We noticed there was a caravan and a camper trailer in the camp ground. The ranger confirmed that there is a way that is used by trucks to deliver goods but that it is still not recommended.

We headed down the road to have coffee at one of the cafes before setting off on a walk. We chose the Scenic Circuit – about 4kms and a grade 3 track. We had only gone about 20 metres when we came across one of the locals – a large python who didn’t seem to mind us getting close to have a good look and to take some photos. The walk was very pleasant but with a few uphill sections and steps. We stopped a lot to enjoy the view and to look for birds.

Python

Eye to eye with a Bunya Mountains python.

On the walk.

Paradise Riflebird. My second lifer for the Bunya outing. The first was a Black-breasted Button Quail (no photo).

Russet-tailed Thrush. Not a great shot but a nice record.

We returned to the picnic area in time for lunch, which turned into a bit of a comedy thanks to more friendly locals. The Australian King parrots showed a bit of interest in us from the moment we sat down. Actually, not just a bit, quite a lot. Once we took the food out of the bag we were joined by a few birds who obviously hadn’t read the “do not feed the wildlife” signs. They attempted to help themselves which made for an interesting time trying to hide food and get it into your mouth before your feathered friend took hold of it. We couldn’t resist taking lots of photos but definitely did not let the birds get any of the food.

Christie used the phone to take some pics of the cheeky Australian King-parrots.

I think this is a juvenile on my head.

Eating was a challenge with the hungry audience.

Male Australian King-parrot.

Juvenile

Brush Turkey. There is always some of these around.

After lunch we drove over to another spot the ranger had told us might be good for birding. A number of walks leave from Westcott. We started to walk along the Koondaii Circuit but realised very quickly why it is rated a grade 4 – we could see how it doubled back on itself very steeply. We opted to return to the picnic and camping area and spent some time enjoying the surroundings. From there we walked about 800 metres along the Westcott to Paradise track before turning around and heading back to the car.

Eastern Whipbird. The rainforest throws up many challenges to a photographer, low light and abundant obstacles being the main ones. There is a very out of focus leaf in front of the bottom half of this bird.

Young Red-necked pademelon. There are plenty of these about.

We decided to return to Dalby via a different route – through Bell. Again the road was steep, windy and narrow in parts. We were glad we had heeded the advice and not gone up with the camper trailer in tow. It was a very pleasant, but much longer at about 96km, drive home.

Again we were packed up early ready to move on.