Chinchilla

 6 - 8 March 2025

We had an early start at Myall Park Botanic Gardens so Mick could have a session at the bird hide before we set off again. Once more we checked the BoM app for the progress of Cyclone Alfred and confirmed our decision to stay at Chinchilla. There would probably be some rain, but nothing too drastic.

After a rest stop and cuppa in Condamine we continued on to Rubern Lagoons in Chinchilla - a place we had stayed at before, and enjoyed the bush like setting on the lagoon. We took the same sit as we had last time which meant we were looking towards the bush instead of a neighbour's caravan. 

Our site had a great outlook

We took the time to do a couple of jobs and to get a couple of loads of washing done before the rain set in. Late in the afternoon there was a very heavy, windy downpour and then a few lighter showers but not the massive deluges that were beginning to occur in the SE corner as the cyclone approached.

We did some shopping and were surprised to see empty shelves this far from the expected cyclone impact zone. There was no fresh fruit or vegetables, no chicken, no milk - fresh or UHT, no bottled water - it seems panic buying is still alive and kicking.

We packed up on Saturday morning still not sure where we would end up - maybe Childers or Moore Park Beach.

Chinchilla

11 – 13 October 2024

We decided to stay in Chinchilla for no other reason than we had never stayed there before. We had made a visit to the Emergency Department of the local hospital in 2015 when Mick cut his finger very badly, but had chosen to keep moving on that time. We chose a caravan park at Rubern Lagoons that we had seen on YouTube and which looked a bit more to our liking than the caravan parks in towns. On arrival we called the caretaker as required and were shown to a great spot right by the water. There was even a firepit!

A quiet spot not far from town

Across the lake we could see the preparations being made for a function the following evening. Despite this we decided to stay for two nights anyway. We spent some time on Saturday exploring the area but mostly we relaxed – and Mick took photos of the birds that hung around the water.

The function on Saturday night was a ladies only fundraiser for the local kindy. Although we could hear all the announcements, music and laughter, we didn't find it intrusive at all. Judging by what we heard of the auction, a huge amount of money was raised. I’m fairly certain the early start – 2pm – and a very busy bar, helped considerably. I imagine there might have been a few sore heads in the morning too.

We left on Sunday morning, heading for another birding spot Mick had been told about, with a stop at Jondaryan for lunch and more birding.

Miles (Qld)

24 - 25 February 2015

We left Lake Maraboon and decided to again see how far we could get before we stopped for the night. Our first pit-stop was Springsure for fuel, then morning tea at Rolleston and lunch at Injune. We continued on towards Roma and then turned off at Yuleba to check out a camp spot we had read about - Judd's Lagoon. Just out of town, it looked like a nice spot but we decided not to stay as it was still early and very hot. We pushed on and called into the Tourist Information Centre in Miles. The knowledgeable local provided information on a couple of nice places to stay and we decided on Columboola Country Caravan and Camping Park - about 30 km out of town.

On our arrival we were greeted by a very friendly host who informed us that we could camp anywhere we wanted (great) and suggested a spot by the creek (even better) and that we were the only ones camping there that night (fantastic). We usually set up a fairly extensive camp, with tables, chairs, tent, awning and lots of other stuff, but this time we tried a minimalist approach - tent, chairs and make use of the shade from the trees and the picnic table near our camp spot.

View from camp.

Water reflects rock, rock reflects water.

After dinner we walked up to the recreation room and watched some television - a bit of a treat when you are camping. Even though it had been in the mid-thirties all day, the temperature was much milder overnight.

Up early for breakfast and we began to pack up the camp - and then our day became very interesting. Mick yelled some obscenities and held up his hand while he applied pressure to his middle finger - he had dropped the brand new, very sharp knife while washing up, and had instinctively reached out to catch it. Very bad move! He had taken quite a slice along the length of the top half of his finger. I'm a teacher not a medico but even I could see that he needed medical attention so I packed up the rest of the camp (it was then I discovered I could pull down, and pack up, the tent on my own), loaded the car and we headed off to the next town - Chinchilla.

Apostlebird taken with injured right hand. I couldn't leave with no pics!

The staff at the hospital were great and 12 stitches and a tetanus injection later, and we were ready to hit the road again. Now, it was fairly obvious that this injury to the middle finger on the right hand of a right-handed man was going to cause some serious difficulty when setting up, and packing up camp so we made the decision to forego our planned visit to Bunya Mountains National Park, and head straight to O'Reilly's near Lamington National Park. We had planned to stay there anyway so it seemed sensible to head there at this point in time.

The finger ten days later as I wait to have the stitches removed.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in Dalby and rang ahead to book a room - securing a very good "Summer Sale" deal.