GRANITE GORGE and FLEETWOOD MAC

6^th October, 2015

Time to pack up and move on. We've had a nice restful couple of months at Walkamin Caravan Park but before we head south we are going to spend a couple of nights at Granite Gorge – a small gorge about 30 kilometres away. We pull into the caravan park and set up camp. It's not long before we are visited by one of the resident peacocks intent on trying to attract one or more of the peahens.

Peacock on display at Granite Gorge Caravan Park

The caravan park and gorge are on privately owned land and a fee is payable by day visitors if they wish to access the gorge. Our camping fees allow us access to the gorge any time we wish and there are different grades of track that can be hiked. The main tourist season is over so there are only a few other campers in the park – just the way we like it. We set off to tackle one of the less difficult tracks

Wok on the trail at Granite Gorge

which takes us to the dam above the gorge.

Wok checks out the turtles in the dam

We then follow a trail along the top of the gorge

View over part of the gorge

before making our way down the steep boulders bordering the water course.

Walking amongst the boulders

Along the way we run into the inhabitants of the gorge – they blend in well to this rocky landscape.

Spot the rock wallabies ....

The rock wallabies are one of the main reasons people come to the gorge and they are very used to people. Food for feeding the wallabies can be bought at reception and it doesn't take long for them to come around once they see the paper bag in your hands.

This adult rock wallaby was keen for a feed

The wallabies aren't very big but they can certainly get very demanding and pushy when it comes to getting a handout. There were a few juveniles around and this little tyke was hard to resist.

My what a long tail you have .... !

You can see how small he is by comparing him to Wok's hand.

This little guy is just way 'TOO CUTE'

We spent a very pleasant couple of days at the gorge. Because it is off the beaten track there is no traffic noise – just the sounds of the bush.

It was time to head south following the inland road through Charters Towers, Clermont and Gayndah before stopping in at the Sunshine Coast to get the car and caravan serviced. Then it was further south to Newcastle where we caught up with some friends and rellies before pulling up and freecamping in the reserve beside our son Trent's home at Lake Munmorah. We had a specific reason for being here. Our son was treating us to a live Fleetwood Mac concert at Hope Estate in the Hunter Valley. We have never been to such an event before and all we can say is that it was an experience we will long remember. Along with thousands of enthusiastic Fleetwood Mac devotees we arrived at the open air venue which is set amongst the vineyards of the Hunter Valley.

Monster stage at  Hope Estate for Fleetwood Mac

The weather was not co-operating at all and the previous night's performance had been plagued with rain. We had come prepared though – with ponchos at the ready. Our seats were not far from the stage and we had a great view of the performers.  Luckily the rain stayed away for most of the night – just a slight drizzle about two thirds the way through. Nobody seemed to mind though with everyone singing and moving to the music. The members of Fleetwood Mac may be getting a tad old now but they can still put on a performance that some younger bands would find hard to keep up with.

Fleetwood Mac rocks the stage

We had an awesome time and didn't even mind having to wash all the mud off our shoes the next day. After visiting with Trent we returned to the Sunshine Coast where we will be spending Xmas with our daughter and her family. We're camped in Tina and Paul's backyard where we have lots of company – the alpaccas, chooks, ducks and lots of native birds. We hope everyone has a safe and merry Xmas and finish this year's blog with a Granite Gorge 'photo bombing' rock wallaby. See you all in 2016 …. !