COLLINSVILLE & EUNGELLA, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

After a week or two in Bowen our friends Neil and Sue arrived from South Australia. They bought our first Bushtracker so of course we had to take them to see around our neighbourhood. First we headed toward Collinsville and then on to Bowen River. Before we got to the pub we stopped to check out Strathmore homestead which was a very grand place in its heyday but is a bit sad these days. The property was once very big into breeding horses but is now mainly cattle, although we did see a large herd of deer which surprised us.

Strathmore homestead today.



The deer are well camouflaged. Can you see them?



Our next stop was Bowen River Hotel where we enjoyed taking a look through all the memorabilia before a lovely lunch on the verandah, accompanied by the local butcher birds.

The historic Bowen River Pub, built from raw cut timber slabs.

Chris, Hope and John

Inside the pub.

John and I had been up this way a couple of times before so we knew the best spot on the river to camp. We spent two great days there fishing, bird watching and enjoying the beautiful weather etc.

Our lovely camp on the Bowen River.

John keeps an eye open for crocs. They frequent these waters.

What ya doing Poppy?

Catchin' fish darlin'!

The next part of our trip took us back past Strathmore and on to Collinsville and roads which were completely new to us. We headed south on the Mt Coolon Road then turned east just past Birralee and headed through the hinterland toward Eungella. There are several river crossings with potential good camps but most were somewhat washed out from the recent rains. We eventually found a lovely little spot after we had turned off the Nebo road and followed the water pipeline toward Eungella Dam. Again, it was lovely to be able to sit out in the bush beside a campfire and enjoy the company of good friends.

The countryside west of Eungella - rolling green hills after a good rainy season.

Continuing on toward Eungella it was only a short time before we arrived at Eungella Dam. The campground here is very extensive and includes toilets and a cold shower. The fees are very cheap and the fishing must be OK as several other groups arrived on the Friday with tinnies etc. obviously looking forward to a weekend on the water. We spent two nights at the Dam, where there were heaps of water birds to be seen as well as some friendly local livestock. It was a good base from which to drive in to Broken River and Eungella for an initial look around.

Eungella Dam

Hope and her best mate.

 

Another visitor enjoyed bread, carrots etc.

Do I really have to wear this  Hope?

At Broken River Neil and I got distracted from the platypus viewing by the abundance of birds so we missed the appearance of a platypus who hung around on the surface for several minutes. Fortunately, Sue, John and Hope all got to see it so we were pretty chuffed.

 

A fig at Broken River has almost engulfed its host tree.

Broken River tortoise.

We then took a drive into Eungella itself and had a drink at the Chalet, taking in the magnificent views down the Pioneer Valley.

The view from Eungella Chalet.

From the Dam we towed the vans into Eungella and set up at the local caravan park which sits right on the top of the escarpment. The views here are probably some of the most spectacular you will find from the window of your van.

Eungella Caravan Park - not a place to be wandering around in the dark!

There were beautiful fungi in abundance up here.

 

Unfortunately, the weather was not too kind, with scuds of rain passing through but we still enjoyed a drive along Dalrymple Road to another family friend’s place. Again the birdlife was abundant and the scenery impressive.

Pioneer Valley from Dalrymple Road.

That afternoon Neil, Sue and I took a stroll on the rainforest walk from the Sky Window car park back to Eungella village. There weren’t too many birds to be seen inside the forest, although we could hear whipbirds, wampoo pigeons and lots of others calling all around us. Unfortunately we didn’t get a glimpse of the elusive Eungella honeyeater, but we did get to see lots of others at Broken River in particular.

Fig trees and fungi seen on our rainforest walk.

 

We walked across to the Chalet that night for dinner which was nothing special but pleasant enough. Next day, after a visit to the local markets,  we headed down the eastern escarpment and along the Pioneer Valley to Pinnacle where we treated ourselves to one of the famous Pinnacle Pub pies.

Chris, Hope, John Neil and Sue at Pinnacle Pub.

The Pinnacle Pie - yum!!

We also visited a very interesting little second-hand shop in Gargett which has an amazing range of old and not so old second-hand goods for sale. We continued on toward Calen, intending to stay at a lovely little spot called Boulder Creek. John and I had spent a night here after we picked Hope up. It was very disappointing however to discover the campground chocker-block full with other vans etc. – a result no doubt of this spot being listed in the Camps book. While the book is very useful, it is also causing lots of the camps to be “loved to death”. We continued on and had a look at the campground where the locally famous Winter Moon Festival is held but it wasn’t really appealing to us so we drove on to Calen and after showing Neil and Sue through the wonderful old general store at Calen (a must if you like looking in shops which stock absolutely everything from Volley tennis shoes to the classic old hand-style beef mincers). They have stock there in the original boxes which date back to the fifties.

From Calen, Neil and Sue continued north and we went south across the bridge over the St Helens river and booked into the caravan park at Kolijo for a couple of days so that we could take Hope home without towing the van for miles more. It is a particularly pleasant caravan park and the facilities were very good for $25 a night. This little add on trip was really great for us as we got to see some really lovely parts of our own backyard which we hadn’t seen before and with great company to boot. Thanks Neil and Sue!