A thunderstorm surrounds us this late afternoon, just as the one we experienced in Murwillimbah all these months ago. Then we were in a caldera, now the geology is similar, and we are not really that far away. The sun is setting and the sky is dramatic, but then here in Australia, it so often is.
We have returned from a wonderful day, tikki-touring up and around this Scenic Rim. We woke late, the rain having spent itself after twelve hours and the grounds were awash with puddles.
Once our lunch was packed, we headed off SSW back in to the Main Range National Park. The road passed through beautiful cattle country, then steeply up a sealed road which was forbidden to trucks, buses and caravans. We noted on our map that we travelled several kilometres just skimming the state border. This was highlighted by signs on the tracks up to farms. It must be quite bothersome to live so close to the border and have to deal with differing agricultural and bio-security laws.
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| Queen Mary Falls |
Once we reached the summit, the views both north and south west were spectacular. What a lovely country this is, not the barren dry brown country with a perimeter of surf beaches, not a country of abos playing didgeridoos on Uluru Rock or yobbos hanging about pubs or beach cafes or 5 star restaurants. It has all of these for sure, but they are not the essential Australia. This country sells itself short by portraying itself in films such as the Thornbirds, Australia and McLeod’s Daughters. It is as varied and beautiful as New Zealand.
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| Curious cattle |
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| Lake Muggerah |
Enough of that! We stopped and took the obligatory photos, some of which are shared here, and proceeded to the Queen Mary Falls, the Spring Creek’s forty metre plunge before it continues on to join the Condamine River’s upper reaches, just 64 kilometres from Boonah. After walking the circuit down and then up to the top again, we had lunch, and were joined in conversation by retired teachers from Victoria who had wonderful travelling tales to tell. Finally they left, heading toward Boonah at our suggestion, and we followed suit returning by the same route as far as the foot of the Rim.
We then turned north west to skirt around the eastern shore of Lake Muggerah, a water reservoir constructed in the very early 1960s. The reserves developed for public use on the shores of this lake are truly delightful, and we agreed that this was one of the most beautiful man made lakes we had ever visited. It did not take us long to travel on to Boonah, call in to buy some excellent local carrots but alas no newspaper, since they were sold out, and return to our camp. The aromas of dinner cooking in the crock pot met us when we opened up, and we were settled back in for what might well be another wet night before the thunder and lightening started.
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