Queensland holiday - part 2

In Part 1 we had made it to Lake Coolmunda, Queensland. Our next destination was Lake Broadwater. To get there we traveled west to Goondiwindi, north to Moonie and then took the road north-east towards Dalby. We did a little shopping in Goondiwindi to stock up our food supplies before hitting the road again. The town of Moonie was the only place on the map between Goondiwindi and Dalby so we figured we would stop there for lunch. Of course, when we got there we realised town was a bit of an exaggeration. Moonie had one place to eat - the roadhouse. Not exactly a salubrious establishment but we were hungry so it had to do. After lunch we were back on the road to Lake Broadwater where we would spend the next two nights. The campground is right on the shore of the lake and there was tons of room so we sorted out our campsite before having a look around. Camping here cost us just over $20 / night (and there were hot showers!).

Here's our campsite and our kitchen / dining room

We got to see loads of kangaroos close to the lake. The first photo shows a mum with a joey's legs and tail hanging out of her pouch. Looks pretty uncomfortable for both of them.

On the second day at the lake we thought we'd go for a walk. There was a walk described in the brochure that sounded interesting and it mentioned a 1.5 km distance. Not too challenging. Sadly the instructions weren't quite right so we walked a distance of around 8 kms. We were all rather hot and tired when we got back to the campsite. On the walk we spotted one snake - we didn't get a good picture of it but it was fat and black from what we could see. Interestingly the track we were on was sandy and was crisscrossed with many snake trails - skinny ones and thicker ones. So I think the area was pretty much teeming with snakes.

We got chatting to a bloke who told us that the lake had been dry for 12 years up until the previous year when they had massive floods. It's funny. In New Zealand if we decided to go camping at a lake we would expect there to be water in it. I guess it's not a given in Australia.

The following photo is of my lovely cousin Leonore and myself by the lake. Leonore drove several hours from the town of Surat to come spend the afternoon with us. It was great to catch up with her as we hadn't seen each other since we were kids (which is a few years ago now).

The next day it was time to pack up and start heading north-east with the intention of being able to easily get back to the coast the following day. This day took us through Dalby then Kingaroy. We stopped at a pub for lunch in Kingaroy - and to pick up more supplies (the all important cider was on the list of things to get). After lunch we headed to Lake Barambah for a bit of a swim before driving through to Glastonbury State Forest. Leonore had mentioned that we would be able to camp in the forest so we took a road into the forest, then another side road and set up camp.

Campsite for the night

Me in the kitchen (cider in hand)

We didn't bother using the fly over the tent so it was glorious night with a clear sky and lots of stars. The next morning we headed into Gympie to a park to have breakfast.

View from our breakfast spot in Gympie

And then it was on to the coast. We had picked the Inskip Peninsula as the spot where we would spend a week. I'll create another post for that one!