Back on the road

Well, here I am under a cloudy sky in Moss Vale, up in the Southern Highlands.  I have spent the second half of December and almost all of January in Sydney, so have only been back on the road since 29 January, heading south, aiming for the coast.  The temperatures initially have been quite high, mostly in the high thirties, but also a few days around 43 degrees.

 

Looking across the Harbour

My friends, Aenpo, Paul and Christine

My first stop & rest was at Bendeela Pondage, located in a valley not far from Kangaroo Valley.  If you expected ‘roos, I only saw one or two but instead, quite a few Wombats came out every evening feeding on the fresh green grass on the campground.  Some of these were quite large, seeming to delight in crawling under Motorhomes, rubbing their backs on the underside of my vehicle – in the process rocking the whole rig while I am inside watching TV.

Morning fog rising at Bendeela

A Wombat being padded by a girl

It is a really great spot where I spent 4 nights before moving on, driving further south to the town of Nowra with the intention to have my fuel injection inspected which seems to cause the engine to go into what they call ‘Limp Mode’.  Ford Service, as usual is not able to help suggesting to wait for 5 days before they are able to even look at the vehicle. (Someone ought to tell them something about what I call ‘Customer Service’)  Went to a Diesel Specialist, who unfortunately was not able to fix the problem.  I have since made an appointment with a company at Berrima who has been highly recommended, for tomorrow morning (16.2.)

My neighbor fishing in the surf at Congo Beach

To fill in time I drove further south to Pebbly Beach, then on to Congo Beach near Moruya, yet another great spot where I met a German couple from Berlin who have come there every year for the last 10 years, spending most of their time fishing.  I can report that Bernd is pretty successful and happy to share his catch, fresh fish (Atlantic Salmon) often on my menu.  I stayed there for 5 nights before making my way back to somewhere closer to Berrima.  I stopped at Shellharbour over the weekend, the weather having finally turned to showers, the temperatures again in the low 20s.

Back in New South Wales

View of coastline at South West Rocks

Ever since arriving on the East Coast the weather has become an issue I did not even have to consider travelling across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and of course, Western Queensland.  Its important to remember that on the whole I have been very fortunate, most rain when I did encounter it has been overnight. 

Sunset at Lake Keepit

For the last 4 days I have been staying on the shores of Lake Burrendong, not far from the towns of Wellington and Orange.  Great to see all the lakes in the area full, as locals tell me, many of them have been down to a capacity of only around 10%.

Looking across Lake Burrendong from Beer O'Clock seat

Naturally, on weekends these lakes become very attractive from people in nearby towns to bring their families and friends, towing motorboats for a few days water skiing or Jetboating or simply some fishing for Yellow Belly or Red Fin.  On some of the smaller lakes I have camped at, it can be quite an intrusion into the stillness of the land, to have powerful motor boats with water skiers going around in near endless circles.  Thankfully, by Sunday night all the “Razzamataz” comes to a stop, as everyone returns to their homes, having to go back to work on Monday morning.  PEACE!

A not-so-welcome visitor sitting on my blind

My neighbours, Allan and Ann, both passionate anglers, have caught quite a few fish during their stay at this lake, so I feel very lucky to get “donated” some fresh fish which I greatly enjoyed.  There is also a bit of wildlife, as each afternoon lots of Kangaroos come out of the bush for a feed of cut grass on all the lawns while we look on after beer o’clock, sitting in the shade and enjoying the view across the lake. 

Yes, I know that I am so good looking...

I feel very lucky to be where I am, to do what I do !!

On a Zig Zag tour across south eastern Queensland

 From the town of Esk I drive on to Toowoomba for a re-fuel, then on toward Ipswich and south to Lake Moogerah for a quiet night in a green landscape that looks like its been covered in the dropped blossoms from the Jacaranda trees, reminding me of a likeness to the flower girls dropping rose petals at a wedding.  Very pretty.  The lake I am told is now about 70% full, very nice when you need to remember that just a few months earlier it had been down to about 6% according to a local.  Yes, the whole countryside is green with abundant grass wherever I look, the rivers, the dams, the creeks, all flowing with plenty of water.

A regular carpet of blue

A look across the lake to the campground

A Kookaburra looking for a free feed

Naturally, the weather has been a bit of a mixed bag, heavy overcast skies one day, some quite heavy rain as well, but then this is just as often followed by a bright blue and sunny sky the next day.

Looking across Lake Moogerah from my campground

I leave the lake behind to drive on toward Darlington for a 3-day rest.  Darlington is really not much more than a dot on the map or, as we say in Australia, "..you will miss it if you blink.."  Dave the Ranger does a magnificent job looking after the grounds and I am glad to see him again after a bit more than a year since my last visit.

The bridge into Darlington Park

When I leave Darlington, its back to Beaudesert, some shopping, then on to the cute historic town of Canungra, where I spend one night at the Recreation Ground by the river, in the company of an Iranian family by a nice campfire.  I really enjoyed their company.  They leave the following morning and I decide to drive to O'Reilly's Plateau high in the Green Mountains with the intention to spend the night there - unfortunately, being Sunday it's full of holiday makers and also rather cold at the much higher altitude.

A great view from 1000m toward the Eastcoast

I find another nice campground by the river for a few more days, with daly excursions up th e steep and very wing roads to Springbrook with lots of fabulous lookouts.  Again, quite cool up there and I drive back to the coast and spend a night at Burleigh Heads, a very busy coastal town, with Surfing a major attraction.  Yes, its nice and warm but also quite hectic, lots of people.

A quick trip takes me across the border into NSW to Murwillumbah and from there back across the mountains to my campspot by the river.  Two days later I am at the door of my newly found family, John and Michelle.  I am made very welcome as I feel very much at home on their beautiful property.

Prenzlau, Minden, Marburg...

Well, you might think I am back in Germany, not so, instead I find myself southwest of Brisbane, in beautiful rolling hill country that has been settled by Germans, back in the 1870s.  These are all small townships with populations of a few hundred each, a highway passing through some of them.
Map in Marburg area....

Des, the man that comes around in the afternoon to collect the site fees at Marburg Sportsground, tells me that he is 100% of German heritage, both his parents, grand parents etc. are all of German descent and Des, with his bright blue eyes does look very German even though he is a dinky-dye Aussie. 

I had a great drive yesterday from the town of Esk, about 130km west of Brisbane, through the city of Toowoomba, finally arriving at Marburg.  Esk is a quaint small town to the west of Lake Wivenhoe which is hidden behind a range of mountains.  I did like the setting there, the weather sunny, a few small shops selling Antiques, others selling Motorbike gear and one shop with what I call Hippiegear, the smell of incence aesily identifyable a few shops away.  There were also, what must have been well over a hundred Bikies with their heavy motorbikes rolling into the parking lot of the local Pub and I am told, its a popular stop for the biking community.  I stayed for 2 nights.

Note that the State of Queensland has buit a whole lot of artificial lakes to provide water for the various communities.  They can be found to the West of the Eastcoast from about Bundaberg all the way to the border to New Sout Wales.  Many provide great locations and facilities for people in Caravans etc.

Since my last blog entry I have been travelling to yet another lake, Lake Monduran, just to the West of Bundaberg, through Biggenden, then on to the really beautiful area around Maleny, located in the Highlands, west of Noosa Heads.  The countryside a bright green after all the rain in previous days.  I really enjoyed being there, also catching up with 'old' friends, Babs and Klaus who have been running a great Bavarian Restaurant at Maleny for many years, called "King Ludwigs" .  I very much enjoyed their company and hospitality, allowing me to camp at their hillside property.

View from the Bunya Mountains

From Maleny I travelled a little further west to check out the Bunya Mountains which rise to about 1000m above sea level.  I did not put into practice my original intention to stay up there as I found it too cold, so, instead I stopped at Kumbia.  The next day I travelled back to the coast, spending the night at Tewantin, just to the north of Noosa Heads.

Chilling out at Lake Lenthall

Built in 1984, Lenthalls Dam was named after the pioneering family in the district, the waters created by the dam are called Lake Lenthall.  The lake has a relatively small surface area of 400ha, an average depth of 3.9 meters and holds some 28 000 ML of water at full supply level.
It's main purpose is for town water supply for Hervey Bay City Council.
Lake Lenthall is situated approximately half way between Maryborough and Torbanlea along the Bruce highway. A further 7 km off the highway along a gravel road will find you at the lake.

View across the lake from my spot

Map of Lake Lenthall 

 I kind of discovered this place by accident, having checked my maps and then following my GPS at first, down some rather ordinary tracks which turned out to become undriveable for my Motorhome, endig in a rather boggy creek crossing I decided not to drive through, turning around instead.

They have RED dragon flies here

I finally did find a dirt road that led to the lake.  What a lovely and peaceful spot!  Apart from myself, there is only one caravan on this site, no generators anywhere and my Solar System is now working perfectly to supply power for all my appliances without any fuss.  What is even more surprising is that I can receive a whole lot of TV channels, both analog and digital, not that I watch a lot of TV, but this morning it was nice to listen to the news of Deutsche Welle, transmitted by SBS.


It is wonderful to spend my day surrounded by nature, sitting in the shade listening to the sound of birds all around me.  I feel very relaxed....