I'm way behind on keeping up with this blog....
That might have something to do with lack of internet access for the time we were away..
Still like all other holidays I do want to have a record of our latest caravaning adventure....
This was the first trip for our good friends Ian and Kathy who only acquired their van a couple of months ago. They are planning on doing a big trip with us in the next couple of years so this one was one of the practice runs we are having. Hopefully we will have a few of these before we take off for any extended time....
Ian and Kathy arrived at our place a couple of days before we started our holidays. It was great for them because it gave them a chance to explore some old stomping grounds from their past...
We left Rocky bright and early around 8.30am on Saturday 19th September and headed west...
Our destination for the night was to be Anakie... on the Gemfields, about 50km the other side of Emerald...
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| All packed, hitched, and ready to head off.... |
It was with lots of excitement we left here....
We had a pretty good run through to Duaringa where we had a toilet stop at "Mackenzie Park", Great little spot, pretty green, there were a few caravans parked there and we soon found out why. Free camping. There are toilets and showers here so makes it an ideal spot to spend a night or two... Always handy to know for future reference...
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| Mackenzie Park in Duaringa |
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| Impressed to find that there are not only toilets but showers there for free camping also. |
From here we headed through to Dingo where we checked tyres and that everything was still OK with the van. It was a perfect day, and I was say one of the highlights of the day for me were the amazing cloud formations that we saw along our way...
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| Really enjoying the different clouds in the sky today.. |
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| It's the clouds - just amazed at their beauty today. |
Not long after Dingo, we passed the turnoff to Blackdown Tablelands. It has been a while since we have been into the tablelands but we have some awesome memories of family camping trips there...
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| Turnoff into Blackdown Tablelands |
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| A view of the tablelands from the highway.. |
Our aim was to get through to Emerald to have lunch, visit with my good friend Karen Bray and checkout the Vincent Van Gogh Easel and mosaic walk in the park there.
By the time we got to Emerald, Karen and her boys were already at the park we agreed to meet in. What a beautiful surprise for us, she had a lovely picnic table all set up for us with gorgeous orange fresh roses on the picnic table. It was a lovely gesture and made even more lovely in that the flowers were for us to take with us.
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| Lunch with Karen, Harrison and Matty Bray. |
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| Lovely bunch of roses on our table and which continued the journey with us. |
We had a lovely time together.. Lots of laughs and Karen and Matty even came walking through the park with us. So good to catch up with these guys...
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| A lovely lunch all together... |
We have been to Emerald on numerous ocassions but had never stopped to see the big easel and mosaic pathway. It was well worth stopping to have a look at...
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| We have an artist in our midst.... |
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| This is huge.... but it is situated in a beautiful park. |
The mosaic pathway leads from the historical village to the base of the easel and it tells the story of Emerald... It is very well done, beginning with Creation to life in Emerald today and the future....
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| The story of Creation... |
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Next came the the mosaics of the Aboriginals in the area..
Then we had the early settlers...
Then the early days of settlement...
The Settlement - opening the railway line and the other things needed to set up a new community...
The Post War years..
Then looking to the future....
These mosaics were really well done and led us right up to the base of the easel....
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| The large Van Gogh in Emerald |
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| Standing under the Painting... |
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| It was really good to catch up with these guys.... |
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| Lovely time in Emerald... |
We went for a quick wander around the park before heading to the cars and leaving Karen...
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| Flame tree... Loved the carpet of red flowers under the tree... |
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| The tree was covered in these magnificent blooms... |
Time to leave this lovely spot..
Ian and Kathy heading back to their van...
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| Picnic gear all packed and heading back to the car... |
By this stage it was around 2pm, so we figured we were going to be getting into Anakie a little later than we planned. We decided to ring ahead and book a couple of spots at the Anakie Gemfields Caravan Park. It was pretty cheap, $25 a night so we were not really expecting much at all.
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| Arriving at Anakie... |
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| The big sapphire was located out the front of our caravan park. |
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| It is all about fossiking for gems out here... |
We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived...
The caravan park was really quite nice and we were directed to a lovely grassed area near the amenities block.
The actual Caravan Park sign really amused us though...
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| This sign advertised Luxury Waterfront Cabins... |
We found this quite amusing because the only water here was a little dam at the back of the Park.
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| This was the waterfront views... |
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| These were the luxury units overlooking the water.... |
Still it was a lovely area and we found a friendly peacock who put on a wonderful display for us by fanning her feathers... Pity I couldn't get my camera out in time to photograph it out in all it's splendor.
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| The Peacock in the park. |
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| Pretty impressed with how tame this bird was... |
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| He just wandered around the park... didn't seem to shy of humans at all. |
This was the little dam or lagoon the cabins were built around...
It seemed a little cheeky to say luxury cabins with waterfront views, but sitll it was a pretty area...
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| Looking across the lake.. |
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| Enjoying the serenity... |
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| Folks camped around the water's edge... |
We finished the afternoon by sitting and watching the sun set over the lagoon...
It was a pretty special time. We also enjoyed our evening meal out under the stars...
It was a beautiful clear night and we could see way more stars than we would see at home.
We were still pretty excited as this was technically our first night on the road together...
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| Enjoying the company of these wonderful folk... |
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| Enjoying watching the sunset together... |
We enjoyed watching the sun set over the water...
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| Lovely way to end the day... |
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| Got to have a quick Facetime with Pete sitting her also... |
It was a lovely first day on the road....
It was going to be an early start in the morning so we retired to our own vans around 9.30pm....
Some of the highlights of my day were:
1. Beautiful cloud formations in the sky... The contrast of the fluffy white clouds and the clear blue sky.
2. Meeting good friends on the highway who bring gifts of hot chocolates, cappuccinos.
3. Beauty of the silvery parched land against the green trees.
4. Being surprised by receiving a lovely bunch of rose buds gracing our lunch table....
5. Our caravan Park...an oasis in a barren landscape and a seeing a fully displayed peacock with it;s beautiful rich coloured feathers...
6. Sitting under a starlit sky with good friends and admiring the heavens...
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