From the hinterland to the coast.

We left Carnarvon NP & travelled 250 km through the small towns of Springsure & Rolleston to Emerald. We actually stayed at Lake Maraboon which is 20 km out of Emerald near the Fairburn Dam. We had a great caravan site right next to the pool & adjacent to the bar. There was quite a bit of birdlife around the park.

Emerald is very important town in central Queensland as a major gateway to the outback. It services the mining & agricultural sectors. Not far from Emerald are the gem fields which we visited one day. We had lunch at Rubyvale & also visited the towns of Anackie & Sapphire. Cheryl couldn’t help herself & made a small purchase.

On departing Lake Maraboon where we spent 5 nights we headed to Theodore via Moura observing much evidence of the huge coal mining enterprises based here in central Queensland. We free camped at Theodore by the junction of the Dawson River & Castle Creek. Theodore is small & a cotton area as well as a producer of dryland crops such as sorghum & mung beans. It also produces a range of cattle & has a sawmill.

After a pleasant night in Theodore by the creek we continued our journey to the town of Cracow. Cracow is a small town with a goldmine. Here is a useless piece of trivia. The first shares I ever purchased were in Cracow Gold. Regrettably. they are long sold. Nothing was open in Cracow ….. not even the pub!

From Cracow we travelled across to Eidsvold. Eidsvold was once a bustling gold mine town supporting a population of 2,000 & 15 hotels for the thirsty diggers. The area is now a hub for citrus, agriculture, timber & cattle. We had lunch at a café which was named after Chezza!!!!

We then travelled north of Eidsvold to Lake Wuruma where we free camped for two nights. It is a beautiful bush setting & popular fishing spot. Whist here we celebrated our 4 th wedding anniversary & enjoyed a beautiful camp oven roast lamb & a damper.

After reluctantly leaving Lake Wuruma we travelled through Gayndah (Queensland’s second oldest town) known for its citrus production.

After Gayndah a further hours drive found us at Childers on the Bruce Highway.  We lunched, refuelled & stocked up before travelling a further 40 km to Woodgate a small beachside settlement where we are to spend the next 5 nights.