Myall Park Botanic Gardens

 5 - 6 March 2025

We left Armidale with the GPS set for Goondiwindi - back into Queensland. Our first stop was in Guyra for morning tea and a look around. We bought sandwiches, something we rarely do, but aware that it could be a hot, wet, windy day so a ready made lunch would make things easier. On the way to Inverell we made a brief stop at a lagoon at Gilgai that Mick had visited with birding friend Ian.

We made it to Inverell in time for lunch in the park then set off towards the Queensland border - and a change of time zones. We'd gain an hour leaving daylight savings behind. When we arrived in Goondiwindi it was only 1:00pm and 35 degrees so we made a quick decision to keep on travelling - perhaps to Miles or Chinchilla. 

Mick drove for a while and I had another look at the map and realised it wouldn't be much of a detour to go back to Myall Park Botanic Gardens for a night. This lovely spot has a bird hide, and we'd arrive late enough that the heat would have started to wane. We called ahead and were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find we were the only ones camped there, or maybe we were the only ones silly enough to be camping in this weather.

A well-earned drink after a long day

We did a quick set up - no awning - and Mick headed off to the bird hide until dusk. He enjoyed the session while I enjoyed the peace and quiet. He returned the next morning and then we packed up ready to move on to Chinchilla.

Glenmorgan – Myall Park Botanic Gardens

7 – 11 October 2024

After leaving Carnarvon Gorge we finally decided that our next few nights would be at Myall Park Botanic Gardens in the Western Downs region. I had stumbled across it on WikiCamps some time ago and marked it as a possibility, and Mick had been told about it by a birding friend. We called ahead and spoke to the Caretaker, Jeff. He told us to call when we arrived, which we did.

We were both quite surprised at the great set-up at Myall Park. Jeff met us at the visitor centre/office and told us about the two sections of campground, and the facilities available. We chose where we would like to be and he took us over to find a site that would be right for us – as much shade as possible as some quiet warm days were forecast. There is an eco-toilet in this section, and it’s only a short walk to the main toilet/shower block adjacent to the "caravan" section.

Myall Park turned out to be a fabulous spot and we extended our planned 2 nights to four. There were some fellow birders camped nearby who just happened to know the friend who had put us onto this place. Birding really is small world!

Mick enjoyed mornings and afternoons at the bird hide, and despite the heat and a big storm, we had a great time. This is another place that was quite a surprise, and one we will likely return to at some stage.

We could see the storm approach
and were able to prepare

Needing to keep moving on, we set off for another spot we had heard about, this time in Chinchilla.