On the road again - Capella

21 - 22 October 2016

We’re on the road again, and by coincidence it is exactly one year ago to the day since we picked up our Cub camper trailer and camped  in it for the first time. This time we set off from home in Townsville bound for Carnarvon Gorge and beyond. Mick wanted to go into Central Australia but I was worried about the weather being too hot, and as the days wore on before our departure, he realised I was right (for once) so we headed south instead.

We managed to set off early – just after 8:00 am – and made our first stop for coffee in Charters Towers. From there it was on the Belyando Crossing for a picnic lunch. We drove through Clermont and on to Capella. Because of the heat we had been experiencing we decided to seek out a caravan park with a swimming pool and the one in Capella fitted the bill. We set up camp and spent a pleasant while in the pool cooling off from the day’s drive. It was very refreshing, if a little cooler than we would have liked. We then joined the friendly locals and other visitors for happy hour.

As luck would have it, we spotted a garage sale as we were driving out of town on Saturday morning. so I was able to stock up on books at $1 each – bargain!

Eungella

23 - 26 June

To celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary we decided on a short break to another of our favourite spots. Eungella is in the Mackay hinterland about 5 ½ hours from Townsville. It's often cold and wet so we headed to the Broken River Mountain Resort where we have stayed a number of times. The resort has self contained cabins and is just a short walk from the National Park platypus viewing platforms and walks.

View of the Pioneer Valley from the lookout at Eungella.

As usual we managed to drag the drive out to about 7 hours with stops for some op-shopping and lunch. We found a nice park in Proserpine just as you turn off the highway. The drive through the Pioneer Valley is pleasant and the steep climb up the range to Eungella is windy but the road is wide, and only about 5 kilometres. 

According to a couple of web sites, Eungella is an aboriginal word meaning 'mountains of mist' or 'land of clouds', same thing really... anyway you get the idea, it can get wet. It can also get very cold. This mountain catches the moisture gathered over the ocean by the prevailing south east winds. That's why there is a rainforest here. The forecast indicated that the mountain would live up to its name during our visit but we decided to book anyway. We'd take a chance that the weather would allow us to venture outside some of the time. Lucky we did, it was close to perfect!

This area is the northern range limit for the Regent Bowerbird (seen last visit) and southern limit for the Lesser Sooty Owl. Although the big draw card for birders is the Eungella Honeyeater there are plenty of other highlights. On the way back from seeing the Honeyeater, we spotted three Grey Goshawks! Eastern Yellow Robins are everywhere, Little and Grey Shrike-thrush are common, you could see Noisy Pitta or Bassian Thrush. Mick.
 

Christie spotted this young Noisy Pitta.

Lewin's Honeyeater

A pair of Eastern Yellow Robins have a tub.

Little Shrike-thrush

Dusky Moorhen

Once we had settled in to our cabin we went down for a walk to see the platypus. Platypus are supposed to be nocturnal but we have seen them here at all times of day. This trip was no exception. Within a few minutes we had spotted our first platypus. Visitors are almost guaranteed a sighting. Over the course of our visit we saw playtpus every time we walked to the river.

Top platypus viewing area.

Panorama from the bottom viewing area.

There are two viewing platforms, a spot under the bridge as well as from on the bridge that all allow good opportunities to see this unique creature. It's not so easy to photograph them as they don't stay on the surface for long, and there is often glare on the water. 

One of the stars of the Broken River show.

A pair of Azure Kingfishers patrolled the river and were seen regularly.

A tortoise catches some rays.

We spent Wednesday visiting the platypus and walking close to the resort. A small cafe attached to the visitor centre serves coffee, cake and meals. We enjoyed a coffee and chat with the new owner. 

There is a new National Park "bush camping" site just across the road from the resort. This would be a beautiful spot to camp as you can sit on the riverbank and watch the wildlife. As yet there are no toilet facilities at the campsite. Campers must walk the 200 metres across the bridge to the visitor centre. This didn't seem a problem for those who had set up camp there.

Around the edge of the day use area is a great place to look for birds.

New signage and art installations were being completed. These are scattered along the riverside walkways. The park is certainly looking good. Well done Queensland National Parks.

Red-browed Finch

Brown Thornbill

We splashed out and had dinner at the resort restaurant on Wednesday night. The meals were generously sized and the service good. Possums are fed out on the deck and happily posed for photos.

We headed out on Thursday morning to drive to the edge of the national park to a birding hotspot. The end of Chelman's Road is known to be a good spot for Eungella Honeyeaters. The road is mostly unsealed but in reasonable condition for most of the way. We stayed for most of the morning and Mick was rewarded with some good photos.

Eungella Honeyeater.

The ubiquitous Eastern Yellow Robin.

Eastern Whipbird having a sunbake.

Heading home on Friday we stopped in Proserpine and enjoyed lunch at the Cane Cutter Bistro in the Metropole Hotel .What a find! Lunch specials ranging from $8 to $14, as well as a regular menu. Meals were enormous and very tasty. Think we might make this a regular stop when travelling this way.

Lake Maraboon - Fairbairn Dam (near Emerald Qld)

23 - 24 February 2015

The Lake

We had been planning this trip for some time with our main destination Tasmania. Our eldest daughter has just moved to Devonport and the plan is to be there in time to celebrate her 21st birthday. We're still tent camping but have bought a new car - a Toyota Prado so we have 4WD to be able to do some more serious (but not extreme) exploring. We considered all the things we wanted to do along the way, organised friends to look after the house and picked our departure date - and then along came Cyclone Marcia which crossed the coast near Yeppoon on Friday 20 February. That in itself was not a problem for us - but the resulting flooding south of Rockhampton and the significant areas affected by cyclone damage (including loss of power and telecommunications) meant that we had to revise our plans.

So... we headed from Townsville on Monday morning, taking the inland route through Charters Towers, Belyando Crossing and Clermont. The weather was horrendous - a legacy of the cyclonic activity creating a "doldrum" of extremely high temperatures. We decided to go as far as we could on the first day in the hope that the further south we went, the cooler it would get - but we were wrong! As we drove through Emerald at 4.30pm the temperature was 40 degrees (Celcius) - there would be no camping tonight! We made our way out to Lake Maraboon (Fairbairn Dam) and checked into a cabin at the caravan park. The air conditioner struggled to lower the inside temperature so we adjourned for a late afternoon swim in the pool which was, thankfully, cooler than we had expected.

Apostlebird, hoping for a hand out on the cabin deck.

Laughing Kookaburra

One of many Rainbow Lorikeets on the railing of the deck.

There were lots of birds around and at one stage 10 rainbow lorikeets landed on the verandah at once - quite a sight. Before we left, we drove down to the lake front to have a look around - it looks like a nice spot and one for a future, longer visit.