INTO THE RANGES

27^th January, 2016

It's the day after Australia Day and we are on the move again. We've had a thoroughly enjoyable and restful time at Tina and Paul's and got to spend some time with our grandchildren. Josh did well with his first semester at Uni, Shakiah obtained a sports scholarship to Nambour High School and commences today and Talia moves up to Grade 4. They are growing up fast. A new subdivision not far away had an opening day so we took the girls down for a look see. As well as stalls with local builders handing out plans for houses there was a jumping castle, sausage sizzle, coffee/soft drinks and a lady doing face painting. The girls were quick to take advantage of all that was on offer and convinced the face painting lady that painted arms were just as good as painted faces.

Shakiah

Talia

We're going to make our way down to Newcastle but this time we are going to go via a very different route. We plan on slowly criss-crossing back and forth across the Great Dividing Range starting at the Queensland/New South Wales border. Our path takes us south of Brisbane through Beaudesert and up into the border ranges where we accidentally took a different road than we had planned on. It turned out to be a lovely picturesque country road winding up the valleys into the hills and just before the state border we found a nice camp spot for the night beside a creek.

Our campsite for the night

In the morning we continued on our accidental road into New South Wales driving through mountain rainforest down to the village of Kyogle. From there we headed south through cattle country and the towns of Casino and Grafton before heading west to the ranges once again. We had only gone about 30 klms when we came upon a lollipop man who was pulling up vehicles. Most of the vehicles were turning around and heading back the way we had come. A few had pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. The lollipop man advised us that there had been an accident just up ahead and no vehicles were being allowed through. Apparently a prison van transporting men from a correctional facility near Glen Innes to the courthouse in Grafton had overturned onto its side and ambulance, police and fire trucks were at the scene extricating the injured. He could give us no indication of how long we would have to wait before we were allowed through but as we weren't in a hurry we decided to pull over off the road and wait. We did after all have a perfectly good caravan to camp in if it became necessary to remain overnight. We put the jug on and made coffee which we also offered to the lollipop man. He declined the coffee but a truck driver transporting bees took us up on the offer. No traffic was coming through from the other way except for the odd police car and ambulance. After an hour or so the traffic started to move. The lollipop man said we had better hurry up if we wanted to get through as a forensic team was on its way and as soon as they got here the road would be closed again. We quickly packed up and waved goodbye to the lollipop man. Sure enough – just around the next bend was the prison van lying on its side with the windscreen pushed out to allow access inside. The ambulances were gone but the place was swarming with police cars and a couple of fire trucks. We learned later that not long after we got through the forensic team arrived and closed the road off for a number of hours. Amazingly no-one had been seriously hurt – a broken arm being the severest of the injuries with lots of scrapes and bruises. Surprisingly not one of the prisoners tried to escape – instead tending and helping with the wounded. Kind of restores your faith in man's kindness to his fellow man.

As it was now late in the afternoon we started looking for a place to camp and about twenty kilometres further on we came to Mann River Rest Area. There were already a couple of caravans set up but there was plenty of room so we pulled in and camped for the night. In the morning we continued westward up into the mountains stopping to take in the views from a lookout in the Gibraltar Range National Park.

Gibraltar Range National Park

This area was accessed by the timber getters in the 1800's and beside the lookout is the stump of a large tree with its tell-tale cuts in the trunk to provide slots for the boards that the timber getters used to climb the tree.

Wok beside the stump

We followed the Gwydir Highway west arriving at Glen Innes Showground in time to set up camp before a massive thunderstorm rolled in. We are going to base ourselves here for a few days while we explore the area. It never fails to amuse us as to what might wander past your door when you are camped.

Hmmm ... turkey for dinner tonight ... maybe not

We were fascinated by the markings on this chook

and while trying to get a better camera shot this 'photo bombing' rooster showed up.

Oh for pete's sake - get out of the way you silly chook ... !

Glen Innes' first settler was a Scottish barrister in 1838 and many other Scottish settlers followed. In May each year the Australian Celtic Festival is held here and on a hill overlooking the town this proud heritage is immortalised in the Australian Standing Stones – a national monument to all Australia's Celtic pioneers.

Robyn explores the Standing Stones at Glen Innes

This is granite country around here and large round boulders dot the landscape. We take a drive through prime New England pasture known for beef cattle, fine wool sheep and seasonal crops. Our path takes us across Reddestone Creek where prized blue sapphires and the tusks of a giant Diprotodon were discovered. Over 50% of the world's quality sapphires still come from the Glen Innes area. Fossickers can also find topaz and emerald. At the small village of Emmaville we stop to look in the museum. It is an amazing place stocked with rock and mineral collections from around the area and other far flung places. The mining history of tin and valuable gems is displayed along with the history of the town. Out behind the main museum are buildings that were once occupied by the town's merchants along with machinery used at the mines. For a $2 per person admittance fee it is terrific value.

Foley's General Store at Emmaville Museum

North of Emmaville a road winds through the rocky hills to the early mining village of Torrington. We stop for a picnic lunch in the State Conservation Area before embarking on a hike to Thunderbolt's Lookout (the camp site from where the notorious bushranger evaded police) in the 1800's. There are many granite boulders here with this one catching our eye.

Balancing granite boulder on way to Thunderbolt's Lookout

It is amazing where some trees have grown – bending themselves around the boulder to reach the sunlight. We managed to startle a couple of kangaroos that were happily minding their own business as we walked along. The track to Thunderbolt's Lookout is about one kilometre. The only downside is that it is all uphill with the last hundred metres climbing up into a granite outcrop.

Not far now - should be just up through these boulders

We thought that we would be at the top after the first climb through the boulders but we were mistaken – there was another outcrop to climb.

Oh good grief!  More boulders to climb ... !

At the base of this outcrop was a large overhang (much like a cave) where Thunderbolt made his camp. The passageway between and under the boulders was very squeezy which would have made it easy for the bushranger to defend if any pursuer managed to find a way through the maze of rocks. It was easy to see why Thunderbolt chose this place for a lookout when we reached the top of the outcrop. Anyone approaching the outcrop would be seen and/or heard long before they got anywhere near.

The view from the lookout.
Of course the wooden deck and balustrade are recent additions.

After enjoying the scenery we carefully climbed back down and then enjoyed the downhill hike back to the jeep. We continued the loop drive joining up with the New England Highway and then heading south to Glen Innes. It has been an interesting and enjoyable trip so far. We're looking forward to discovering more hidden gems in the Ranges ...