3 June 2011 - Cruice Park, near Woodford, Queensland

One of the clearest sunniest days greeted us this morning, after a relatively mild night. We packed up, hitched up and headed away from Ipswich. Despite the bad rap I seem to have given Ipswich, I remarked to Chris that I would not be averse to returning sometime. We had enjoyed good accommodation facilities, received excellent service from everyone, and there were many tourist attractions that had not had an opportunity to shine through the other little frustrations we had encountered.

After filling with fuel, and pleasantly finding the price, with Coles discount, down to $1.43 a litre, we joined the Warrego Highway heading initially west toward Toowoomba before turning north on to the Brisbane Valley Highway. It was a bit of a shock to the system, jostling for position on a busy motorway. For so long we seem to have travelled on nothing but quieter roads.

We stopped at Ferndale and picked up more detailed maps from the Information Centre, then proceeded on to the Wivenhoe Dam. This is the dam that is now hugely infamous in this part of the world, nearly as infamous as the operators of the sluice gates who procrastinated in the rains on about 10 January until the dam was in danger of bursting and then released so much water that Brisbane flooded and people lost so much property, including us, our first vehicle. However unlike us who were fortunate to have ours replaced so easily, there are those still living in temporary accommodation, businesses that have had to fold, and employees now without employment. Even now the official inquiry in to the floods is ongoing, as are the disputes with insurance companies who are disputing the definition of flood versus storm water. We were keen to see the source of this disaster. The recreation grounds near the sluice gates are still closed because the damage was so extensive, and so we had to satisfy ourselves with calling in to very attractive picnic grounds on the side of the lake.

While this lake is not as lovely as the Moogerah whose praises we were singing just less than a week ago, it is still very attractive and it made for a pleasant drive, as we followed the western shore north, arriving soon at Esk.

Bridge across Brisbane River

We were in Esk on about 15 February when the flood damage was still raw. Then we witnessed the armed forces trying to restore some order to the town. Today we noted that all businesses appear to be operational, however the trees that were uprooted by the raging waters are still either lying prone where they fell or are in piles for burning. It will be a year or so before the parks that were once there for the public are restored to their former glory.

Lake Somerset

We lunched at the park in the middle of the town, just as we had before, and then pressed on further north, turning east a few kilometres out of Esk toward the Somerset Dam. We travelled around the north end of Lake Wivenhoe, cross the Brisbane River where it enters the lake, and then after pastoral vistas, came to a valley across which the Somerset Dam is built. The lake is narrower than its sister further south, shaped like a ragged sided hour-glass. Closer to Kilkoy we found new residential or lifestyle developments situated on the shore.

Reaching Kilkoy and joining the d’Aigular Highway on which we had travelled on our maiden voyage, we stopped for a walk and an ice-cream, before pressing on a further twenty or so kilometres to this road side rest area where we also parked last time through this way. This time it is lovelier with the sun shining on the gums, and the farmland around. The road is still noisy but will become less so as the sun sets. It has been a beautiful day, another day in this lovely country.