Burrum Heads, Qld

Stunning cloud formations as the sun sets at Burrum Heads, a sleepy fishing village on the Fraser Coast.

Ratings: CP ** Surroundings ***

Pelicans and silver gulls come for a chat at low tide.

A stop for lunch on the Esplanade in the town of Hervey Bay. We walked the Urangan Pier (868 metres) and discovered that the original pier was 1124 metres long. It was built in 1917 for a steam train to carry sugar, coal and timber to ships for export around the world but exporting ceased in 1980.  Regular ferries leave the port at Hervey Bay for Fraser Island.

Silhouettes on the bay as the rising sun farewells us on our final morning at Burrum Heads.

Benaraby, Qld

Sleepless in Benaraby...thanks to trucks thundering past on the Bruce Highway throughout the night during our overnight stay!

Ratings: CP *-Surroundings *

Duaringa, Qld

An overnight stay without power and water spent in a rest area with about thirty other caravans and motor-homes where only a donation to the historical and cultural information centre was requested.

Ratings: CP * Surroundings *

Anakie, Qld

Rainbow lorikeets find a comfortable perch while others enjoy some seed.

Ratings: CP ** Surroundings **

A lesson in panning for sapphires!

A focused and determined fossicker! Sapphires were first reported in the Gemfields in the 1870's and commercial mining had begun by 1890. It declined after 1935 but the 1960's began a new phase with tourism, recreational mining and fossicking becoming popular.

Torchlight emphasizes the myriad of sapphire colours found!

Barcaldine, Qld

Morning light across the showgrounds where we had an overnight stop. The Tree of Knowledge (a 200 year old ghost gum) at Barcaldine is regarded as the birthplace of the Australian Labour Party as  it was the headquarters of the 1891 Australian shearers strike. An act of vandalism poisoned the tree with glyphosphate and it was declared dead in 2006. Several cuttings propagated from the tree before it died grow in the town
Ratings CP ** Surroundings *-

Winton, Qld

Ratings: CP ** Surroundings ****

Vast and ancient landscapes of the Outback ....how small we seem!  Amazing to think that around 100 million years ago, this was an inland sea surrounded by forests of enormous trees and dinosaurs roaming the land.  We visited the Australian Age of Dinosaurs  near Winton and learnt about Banjo, a carnivorous theropod and Matilda, a giant plant-eating sauropod.

For further information visit:

http://australianageofdinosaurs.com/

No, I wasn't putting my arm down Banjo's throat....merely patting him!  He is Winton's most famous dinosaur and is the largest predatory animal ever discovered in Australia.  All the animals displayed at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs lived around 100 million years ago and we were fortunate to have enthusiastic young paleontologists providing us with information about the dinosaurs and taking us on a tour of the laboratory and collection centre.

Banjo's remains were discovered in this area and after the difficult and painstaking work involved in excavating, storing, preserving, retrieving and piecing together bones, these specimens are on display for visitors to see.

Matilda's larger and heavier bones were discovered next to Banjo's and theories abound of  how this happened as Matilda was a sauropod (a plant eating dinosaur) weighing about 25 tons.

These are fossils of dinosaur bones which have been excavated in the Winton area and stored until the scientists can start working with them. There are currently 63 excavating sites in this area. The scientists say that they have at least 15 years of work due to the large number of fossils being uncovered from the digging sites.

Hughenden, Qld

First stop on the dinosaur trail and 'hello' to the plant eating dinosaur, Muttaburrasaurus, (a Sauropod) found at Muttaburra. Affectionately known as "Mutta", this is a full skeletal replica of the ancient animal. There were also marine fossils from the times of an ancient inland sea in the area. The area is drought stricken and the longest river in Queensland, the Flinders River, had not a trickle of water as I walked along the dry river bed in Hughenden.

Rating: CP ** Surroundings ***

Searching for fossils in a dry creek. Belemnites have been found here but we weren't that lucky!. They were marine animals and their still living relatives are the squid and cuttlefish. They first appeared on Earth some 208 million years ago and apparently became extinct at about the same time that the majority of the dinosaurs disappeared which is thought to be about 65 million years ago.

A primeval landscape...Porcupine Gorge is a canyon hidden away near Hughenden with virtually no water, except for the occasional pools, due to the drought. The soft colours of sandstone cliffs  tower above the now dry creek.

Charters Towers, Qld

Ratings: CP ** Surroundings *

After a brief overnight stay in Charters Towers, we head into the Queensland Outback along Flinders Highway only to be overtaken by this empty three trailer road train travelling at a fair pace....with many more to come, some 50 metres long consisting of four trailers!

Taylors Beach, Qld

It's high tide at Taylors Beach as morning breaks. Hopeful fishermen have launched their 'tinnies' (Australian for light aluminium fishing boats with small motors) in search of whiting, barramundi and flathead.

Ratings: CP * Surroundings ***

Afternoon light across sandbars and channels at low tide when the ocean drops approximately 2.5

metres before the tide turns. We watched in awe as the waters rushed back and covered these sandbars. The yacht beached on the other side is a reminder of the havoc caused by Cyclone Yasi in February 2011. It has never been claimed.

A solitary figure crosses the sandbars  .... a stroll at low tide enabled me to reach the furthermost point looking across the inlet before the tide rushed back in.

After the sugar cane has been harvested and the land ploughed, these brolga stroll along feeding on tasty morsels.

Millaa Millaa, Qld

Also known as the Village in the Mist, Millaa Millaa is 850 metres above sea level and nestled among emerald hills. It is surrounded by majestic rain forests and cascading waterfalls while dairy cattle graze in lush pastures. The town was named after the Milay Milay vine and the area is home to the Mamu people, some of whom work as rangers in the Wooroonoon National Park.

Ratings: CP *** Surroundings ****

Malanda Falls, Malanda

Souita Falls, Millaa Millaa

Pepina Falls, Millaa Millaa

Millstream Falls, Ravenshoe

Millaa Millaa Falls, Millaa Millaa

Zillie Falls, Millaa Millaa

Elinjaa Falls, Millaa Millaa

Mungalli Falls, Millaa Millaa

Lake Eacham, Qld

The duck pond and gardens at our Lake Eacham caravan park where thoughts were interrupted only by the quacking and slashing of contented ducks feeding in the pond.

Lake Eacham is a Maar which is a volcanic crater formed as a result of two massive underground explosions from super-heating of the groundwater. After the eruptions, the ground water filled the crater forming Lake Eacham. Studies of the organic sediment from the lake has shown that the crater formed around 10 000 years ago and pollen studies indicate that at that time, the vegetation was dry forest as described in the Aboriginal story of the creation of the lake. It is now tropical wet rain forest.

Ratings: CP ** Surroundings **** 

Strangler fig trees and buttressed giants can be seen in the rain forest along the edges of the lake.

Photograph taken by Gillian with her mobile

I was lucky to see saw-shelled adult and baby turtles during a late afternoon walk around the lake. Children nearby were amused to hear that the turtles can stay under water for prolonged periods as they obtain oxygen from the water through their "bottoms" ie: cloaca in addition to through their skin and mouths!

Lake Barrine where cruises are offered to spot wildlife and Devonshire teas can be enjoyed at the 80 year old tea house.

Baskets of flowers line the wide streets and lanes of the picturesque Tablelands village of Yungaburra. It was established in 1890 and with 18 heritage listed buildings, is the largest National Trust village in Queensland.