Goshen and Herbert River Falls

Sitting around the campfire last night we made plans for today.  Some wanted to go fishing and some wanted to go bushwalking.  We did the latter.  Our day started early with a hearty feed of sausages and eggs washed down with a lovely cup of strong coffee.  We packed a "picnic lunch" with no idea where we might be eating it.  We had a rough idea to go into each of the Goshen campsites to see what they offered and then head over to the Herbert River Falls that are also on Goshen Station.

We got away by 8am and made our way in and out of the various campsites.  They all had different appeals.  One was good for launching a boat whereas the next would be great for canoeing.  Another you could walk quite a distance along the riverbank the next you would be confined to the campsite. 

Our second choice for campsite

Can you spot the croc? (Bottom middle)

They are all lovely but we picked our favourite as being "Kucha".  One of the "Survivor" series was filmed here at Goshen several years ago and I understand one of the "tribes" was called Kucha hence the name of the campsite.

"Kucha"

"Kucha"

"Kucha"

Goshen Station is a working cattle station and while we were visiting one of the campsites a chopper was mustering some strays out of the heavy scrub.  We were, apparently, in his way and he did let us know in no uncertain terms.  We do wish that the owners had said to us to keep away from this particular area that they were mustering!

After we had visited twelve of the fifteen campsites, we made our way to the Herbert River Falls.  We were astounded at the number of kangaroos and how very quiet they were.  I guess because of the number of vehicles travelling around each and every day.  

We also came across a colony of flying foxes and were very pleased that the colony was quite a distance from our camp.

We reached the Herbert River Falls in time for a late lunch and then started our trek around the gorge.  The falls, what little you can see of them without risking your life, are spectacular but there is no way of seeing them properly unless you where in a helicopter.  Philip and Joan did try and get to the edge of them but the sheer height frightened both of them.  

The gorge is so deep that I had a giddy spell.  The GPS said 512 metres and it is everyone of them I can assure you.  It reminds me of photos that I have seen of the Grand Canyon!  

Looking to the top of the falls

I had to hold onto a tree and learn out across the gorge to get this photo so please appreciate the effort!

Another view of the falls that tumble 100's of metres.  Its very hard to photograph depth.

The size of the trees at the top of the gorge give you some idea of the depth - over 500 metres

After we had a good look around the falls we jumped back into the car and decided to take another track that we had seen earlier.  Our camping companions were at this spot trying to catch black bream but unfortunately the fish weren't biting.

Can you spot Joan and Philip? They blend in very well.

The clouds had been threatening rain all day so we decided it was time to head back to the camp.  We had been driving/bushwalking for 8 hours and we were all a bit tired but it was so worth the effort.

Some photos of our camp.

Herbert River Camping

We have just arrived home from five glorious days camping on the Herbert River.  They say camping is good for the soul and I would agree.  There is nothing like waking up to the sound of the birds chirping in the trees above you or the smell of timber burning on a campfire or sitting around that same fire at night just shooting the breeze.

We read about the Kirrama Range Road in one of the four wheel drive magazines and knew that we wanted to travel this road.  The drive, for us, started at Mount Garnet and ended at Kennedy (just north of Cardwell).  The road was badly damaged by Cyclone Larry in 2006 and completely destroyed by Cyclone Yasi in 2011.  The Kirrima Range Road was reopened on 6 December 2014 after nearly a decade of being closed to the public. The road winds its way through stunning World Heritage rainforest and eucalypt woodland leading to the the impressive Blencoe Falls and Herbert River Gorge.
Day 1 - Julatten to Goshen Station
Nine of us set off on Day 1, but not all together.  We met Joan at Mount Garnet and travelled with her.  Joan led the way down the Gunnawarra Road that would take us to the junction of the Cashmere-Kirrama Road.  We stopped many times along the way to photograph the flowering black orchids (that are not really black but a very dark orange/yellow) and marvelled at their beauty.

The road we drove on was very good gravel that was well maintained by the Tablelands Regional Council.

We passed some strange things along the road like this hanging rock.  Joan said we should have set up our tables and chairs beside it and we could have said that we had a "Picnic at Hanging Rock"........

We decided to stop at Cashmere Crossing for lunch and very pleased that we did. This is the site of the Atkinson families "Wairuna" homestead and cemetery.  The homestead was badly damaged by Cyclone Yasi and then burnt to the ground a few years ago.  It was a magnificent homestead in its day.  The cemetery is heritage listed.

Cashmere Crossing

The only remains of the homestead

While we were walking around the old homestead site we came across this bower bird nest.  It was a "walk-through" and decorated with snail shells.  They are remarkable birds.

At Cashmere Crossing we ran into one of the other couples that we were to be camping with so all three vehicles then made the journey on to Goshen Station.  The Herbert River runs through Goshen and the owners have set up a number of private campsites along the riverbank.  Access can only be made through a locked gate after you have paid your camping fees.....$50 per vehicle and $10 per night.  To us it was worth every cent as it was a truly lovely spot. 

After a bit of map reading to find our campsite we finally reached our day one destination.  The other two couples had arrived earlier and had already set up their campsite but it wasn't long before we were all set up.  I was a bit surprised to find this freshie sunning himself on the opposite bank.  Was not expecting that at all but he/she never worried us.

The embers of a fire were still smouldering from the campers who had vacated this particular campsite so it didn't take long for us to get a fire going.  Nothing like sitting around a campfire at the end of a lovely day.

Grey Nomad - Final Chapter

After our very cold morning at Nuga Nuga the warmth of the tropics is calling.  We gave ourselves two days to get home.  From Nuga Nuga we turned back on to the Arcadia Valley Road.  We stopped and took photos of the thousands of acres of some sort of crop that had been planted. We have to find out what it is. We arrived back on the Dawson Highway and then headed north on the Rolleston-Blackwater road.  We hadn't travelled this one before and Hema maps showed that it was a gravel road but fortunately for us the road was in the process of being sealed so it was a good run for us.  The road ran parallel to one of the large coal mines south of Blackwater.  Huge mountains of man-made dirt lined the road for many kilometres.  We watched the massive dump trucks being loaded by a drag line.....just one bucket filled the truck!

Our camp tonight was the same place that we had stayed at before (rest stop between the Belyando and Charters Towers).  The rest area is well kept and clean and we had a very peaceful sleep.  It was still quite cool the next morning and we were looking forward to home.  We had decided to take the Hervey Range Road the time.  We turned off the Lynd Highway north of Charters Towers and started down the road that would bring us out just north of Townsville.  The road is a magnificent highway that runs slap bang through the Army Training base.  Signs every 100m warned the public that it is a private area and "to keep out"!

We stopped for smoko at a small park that had some very good information about Hervey Range Road.   It was, in fact, the main road west from Townsville to Charters Towers for many years.

As we forged our way north we stopped at Cardwell Range lookout for lunch.  The lookout had a re-vamp when the new road was made and I must say they did a great job on it. 

Well our road trip has come to an end and we are once again home and pleased to be. We just love love love our little slide-on camper and are already planning our next trip away.  Blencoe Falls here we come!

Thousands and thousands of acres of ploughed and planted country through the Arcadia Valley

The coal mines are really changing the landscape around the Blackall area.

Smoko stop

A  very good interpretive centre explaining the development of Hervey Range Road

Hervey Range Road looking east from the lookout

Lunch stop at the Cardwell Range lookout

Grey Nomad Chapter Eight

Days 9 and 10 - Nuga Nuga National Park

On advice from our good friend Joan we booked into Nuga Nuga National Park for an overnight stay.  Nuga Nuga is in the Carnarvon region due east from Carnarvon Gorge.  To get there we re-traced our path back to Injune and about 20km out of Injune we took the Arcadia Valley Road.
Acadia Valley is prime grazing country but now, sadly, it seems to be overtaken with gas fields. We had never driven down this road before and found it a lovely drive.  The cattle we saw were fat and it was the first green grass we had seen.  In this area, frosts seems to wipe out most of the grasses in winter.
We had a slow trip to Nuga Nuga stopping regularly for photo shots and meal/snack breaks.  In hindsight we should probably have given ourselves a bit more time (or hurried a bit more) because we didn't reach Nuga Nuga until 5.00pm.  The whole point of coming here was to photograph the amazing sunsets.  Fortunately we did arrive in time....just...
Finding a campsite was a bit hard. We didn't really expect anyone to be there but there were four other campers set-up for the night.  The place where I would have liked to have set up camp to photograph both sunrise and sunset was taken but the site we chose did give us a remarkable sunset.
We sat outside for hours watching as the sun slowly sank and night slowly filled the sky with a most glorious milky way. I set up the camera on the tripod and was not disappointed in the photos that I took.
The next morning we awoke to wind and cold.....really cold......almost frost cold.  I wanted to get a couple of sunrise photos but I quickly rushed back to the warmth of our little camper.  We had a leisurely breakfast and were packed and ready to leave by 8am.  We did a bit of a drive around Lake Nuga Nuga, stopping to take photos of the remarkable lake and the wildlife.  This is definitely a place we want to return to.

One of the lookouts on the Arcadia Valley Road.  The sandstone range in the background is stunning

We had some visitors come to say g'day as we set up camp!

We made our way up the hill behind our camp to get a birds eye view of the sunset.

The sun slowly sinking

The sunset colours are glorious

Twilight

Sunrise with the Carnarvon Gorge in the background

The lake was very low and the waterline on the trees is very clear.

Grey Nomad Chapter Seven

Day 7 and 8 - Toowoomba

As soon as we received the invitation to the wedding in Roma I organised to make the extra trip to Toowoomba to stay with mum and to catch up with my two sisters.  It all fell into place for us.  Kathy came to stay one night and Robyn stayed the next so I had plenty of time to catch up with all my sisters' news.  Mum's health has improved beyond belief and it was great to see her get out and about. It was Carnival of Flowers in Toowoomba while we were there so on Monday morning mum took us to visit two of the wonderful gardens.  The prize winning garden was very small but a credit to the owners that they could fit so much into such a small place without it feeling cramped.  The next garden we visited was exactly the opposite.  It was acreage that the owners had planted thoughtfully and as we wandered through the enormous garden you could imagine yourself living there.
Our stay with mum ended all too quickly but we new it was time to start heading north.  It turned quite chilly while we were in Toowoomba so we were looking for the warmth of the tropics.  

Mum and daughters

My dream garden.....full of colour

A garden on acreage making good use of the area.

Grey Nomad Chapter Six

Day Seven - The Wedding

We booked into a caravan park in Roma called the Big Rig.  It was really pleasant despite a lot of negative comments on WikiCamps.  We had a lovely grassed area under the shade of a large tree.  What more could you ask for.  It was right beside the Bungil Creek Motor Inn where most of the wedding guests were staying.  Very convenient for us.  We caught up with most of our friends at dinner the night before the wedding at BC Bar and Grill and I give it five stars.  The food was yummy.
The day of the wedding Philip and I did a bit of housekeeping.....washing mostly.....and then ironed the clothes that we were to be wearing to the wedding.  As you can imagine in our little camper there is no hanging space so everything gets laid flat.
At 3pm we all made our way to the church where the service was to be held.  It was a beautiful service and so much love in the vows Scott and Cara made to each other.
After the service most of us went to the Irish Pub to have a drink while we waited for the buses to pick us up and take us to the reception that was about 15km outside Roma.
The reception venue was extraordinarily lovely.  The owners had renovated the old homestead and turned it into a beautiful venue.  We were allowed to wander inside the house to have a look at how life was at the turn of the century.
The canapé reception was fantastic and the music played by a local band got everyone up dancing.  What a great night.  At the end of the evening the buses returned to take us all back into town and dropped us off at our various accommodations.  It turned rather cool towards the end of the night so I was very pleased to lay my head down in our lovely warm camper.

Father of the groom and his lovely sister (and my best friend) 

The groom with his gorgeous little girl Sophia

Cara made such a lovely bride and I LOVED her dress

The cake(s) made by the mother of the groom 

Lovely way to decorate the tables

Guests mingling before the sun set

Heartfelt speeches by the Bride and Groom

Grey Nomad Chapter Five

Day 5 - Carnarvon - Roma

We had decided the night before to do one more short walk before we left our friends and headed in different directions.  We had not yet been into Mickey Gorge and it apparently was worth visiting. We woke early and packed the camper.  It took us about an hour to pack everything away into the camper but by the end of our trip we could pack in 30 minutes!  I don't think that I mentioned that there is no camping at the entrance to the National Park except for school holidays.  Even then you require a permit and there are no facilities. The drive from were we were staying at Takarakka to the park entrance is about 5 kilometres.  A bit too far to walk so we drove there each day.
The walk into Mickey Gorge was pleasant and we passed through some lovely rainforest.  We were forever on the look out for orchids and because this walk was short we really stopped and looked and actually found quite a few, but none flowering.  The towering sandstone cliffs were absolutely amazing here and I just loved the colours.  Mickey Gorge is really lovely with lots of tree ferns and a babbling brook running through the narrow gorge.
After the walk we sadly said goodbye to our friends and the Carnarvons.  It was time to once more head south to Roma where we would catch up with our friends for the wedding. As we drove away from the Gorge there was a sign saying "Carnarvon Gorge....easy on the soul.....hard on the feet!" So true.

Just love the colours in this towering sandstone wall

The kangaroos were extremely quiet

My husband the photographer....who would have thought!

Goodbye Takarakka Bush Resort