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Becca and I finally went camping! Proper camping, not just in the backyard. Shane and I picked Becca up from the train station on the way home. Going home to get my car meant we could put the cold stuff in the esky from the fridge at the last minute. We took the back roads there, which was a lot quieter. It was also prettier going through different areas. I tried pulling over to let people past when I got someone behind me. I hate having people behind me! I still get very nervous driving, but the anticipation of it is worse than actually doing it. One of the ranges reminded us a bit of the Herberton range…but had comforting guardrails all the way along it. We pulled into camp, and discovered someone had already set up in the site we had booked-they claimed to have booked it too. We chose a different spot, and rebooked that online (so we knew we weren’t taking someone elses). The new site was actually better anyway-very large and flat, and Qld Parks refunded the original site fee, so it worked out for the best. There were a few other campers set up, but we were able to tune them out. Well we were after we blocked our area off with a table and chairs so the kid from the next camp couldn’t keep riding through our site saying “hello” We ignored him so as not to encourage interaction haha There was a friendly hippy couple camping a bit away-they offered Becca their fan when she was fanning the fire with a newspaper. They also said we were welcome to use their gas cooker if we wanted, and they gave us an unopened carton of water when they were leaving….so Becca was able to attempt a cold shower in the canvas shower on site. My tent went up in a matter of moments…Becca’s took a bit longer. After all her rude comments about my style of tent, she tried it out and is now considering getting one. We had potatoes cooked on the fire with flavoured butter Becca had made for dinner that night. The sites had wood BBQ’s there to use, we just had to bring our own timber. Shane cut us some from home, and packed us 2 bags. We didn’t end up using most of it, so I stacked it by the BBQ when we were leaving…discovering 3 teeny mice had moved into the bags. I went and shook them into the grass….we do not need more mice at home! As the sun went down a chorus of frogs started up-i made a video to capture the noise…and then on playback the next day realised my phone doesn't capture noise with tape all over the screen. So I have a delightful video clip of blackness and static noise hahaha I didn’t sleep great that night-the pillow I had brought was too flat-and it got really cold during the night and my blankets (which I discovered on unpacking were the monsters blankets and still smelt like them…ahhh like having them there) weren’t quite warm enough. There was a possum snuffling around outside the tents-Becca said she’d woken to something breathing through her tent right where her head was. I was up at first light on Saturday, as soon as the birds started up my body clock went *zing* I went to wake Becca up, but she decided to sleep for a bit longer. So I went for a bit of an explore. When Becca got up we had brekky..I attempted to get the kettle hot without building a proper fire….it did not go well, mmmmm tepid tasty tea. We set off into the park-native verbena was growing on the walk between the campsite and the park-making a purple carpet. No one else was out and about yet, so it was nice and peaceful. We did the longest route first, up to the lookout-a fair few stairs on the trip. It was nice, looking over a canyon. While at the lookout we had an eagle fly past being chased by grey miner birds. There were loads of birds about on our walks, wrens-really vivid blue, firetail finches, leatherheads, little yellow creeper birds. There were loads of lovely natives growing and interesting bugs too. We went to the waterfall next, not a lot of water there-so more a water trickle, but the waterhole beneath was pretty and there was a turtle swimming around. Next we went on the swimming hole circuit deciding where we’d wallow. There were lots of interesting wildflowers around the first place-Bottle Brush Pool. Including native violets-just like the sort you sent me from Snows Place Nana. Becca took off her shoes and dipped her feet in the water, thinking it was a nice place to swim. But I was keen to look at the next area, as I had heard water there earlier in the day but hadn’t been in to investigate. We found a place tucked in behind some rocks on all sides with a little waterfall and a sandy beach. I left Becca there and went back to camp to make us lunch. Salad and Nutella rolls….on separate rolls, not together. We were starving by the time I got back. After lunch we wallowed in the water, looking at the dragonfly’s and little fish and teeny shells. There were waterlilies with catkins on them and some skinks with really long tails. A family climbed down the waterfall and walked past while we were swimming-we muttered and gave them accusing glances till they were gone. After our swim we sat on a towel to dry off for a bit, and then decided to go back to camp because we were soooo sleepy and the spot was a bit sunny. One of the parks Brush Tailed Wallabies was resting on a rock and as we were walking past we saw it had a little joey in its pouch-small head and huge ears. The lighting was a bit dark to get a clear photo. I had draped the towel we’d been sitting on over my neck on the walk back….and discovered this was a perfect way to stay cool. So ‘Towely’ as it came to be known, stayed with me the rest of the afternoon keeping me cool…..my precious. It even made a delightful turban later in the day to keep the sun from my head. Back at camp we moved our table and chairs into the shade, and Becca discovered some unhatched cidadas that needed rescuing from ants. We then found there were cicadas hatching out of their shells all around the camp….which explained all the holes in the ground we’d been seeing. We enjoyed getting photos of them, and watching them emerge and change colours as they dried out. Remember those photos you took of cicadas hatching Nana? We went for another walk to the closest swimming hole-but it was still quite hot and there were people about so we didn’t stay out long. Back at camp, we had potatoes for dinner again, made them into a bit of a salad. We watched a show on Beccas ipad and she pulled out the glow sticks she had….ooooh light! They were good to put under the tent pegs to avoid the ropes at night…well that was the theory, I must be part insect because I felt myself being drawn towards the lights (and ropes) instead. We went to bed early. I slept much better as I had put all my clothes under my mattress to boost my pillow, and it wasn’t as cold. We packed up the camp the next morning when it wasn't too early to wake everyone. Setting it up is certainly more fun then having to pack away. Getting things to fit back in their bags is a challenge!
On the way home we went into Cressbrook Dam to see what it was like-as they offer camping there. It was nice…though my little car struggled a bit with the steep hill coming out. Not to the point that Becca was giggling uncontrollably like in Montville. So we’ll try that spot after the Christmas break. We decided to ignore the gps on a road home because we thought it was taking us the wrong way…bad move….we ended up on all these little back roads near home. I was a bit of a grumpy guts cause I was over driving-and busting to pee….and wasn’t sure where we were! haha We eventually found our way to Lowood for a loo break and drinks before carrying on to the train station. |
"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." William Shakespeare Archives
February 2017
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