Bollon and St George (Natural Sciences Loop)

Friday 8 April 2017 – 168 ??? - 35°C

The campsite was very pretty as well as peaceful.  There is a nice breeze that keeps the fly numbers down.  We had a sponge bath again today, we definitely need to find a shower or pool today! After packing up, we went for a walk along Walam Creek where we had camped.  It is very pretty and there were hundreds of small birds flitting around in the early morning light.  We drove to Bollon, a small friendly town.

Next stop, St George.  We filled up on fuel and paid to use the showers at the caravan park.  We all feel and smell so much better!! We found ourselves a country café and had great hamburgers for lunch. 

We then visited the library to check our emails and Hayden got to read a book.  We drove to Dalby Tourist Park and set up for the night here once again.

Saturday 9 April – 168 756 – 169 114

Last night was a much cooler night, I even needed my sleeping bag.  We all enjoyed a sleep in and were packed down and away by 10am.  We headed for Jandowae to see the Dingo Fence, but, it turned out to be 110km further away along dirt roads and 4WD tracks, so we decided against this. We drove back to the coast via Bell and Kaimkillenbun, where we stopped for lunch.  We drove through areas of cotton and then grain, before arriving home to give everything a clean.

Total Distance 2767km

Eulo and Cunnamulla (Natural Sciences Loop)

Thursday 7 April 2017 – 168 070 - 37°C

We all slept in until 6:30am.  The stars in the middle of the night were truly amazing! I spent some time photographing along the Paroo River. After a cooked breakfast, we packed up and headed off about 10am.

Stop 1 – Eulo Mud Springs.  These were the original release valves for the Great Artesian Basin pressure prior to bores.  There were three of these, each 3 to 3.5m high and 7 to 10m round.  When Hayden jumped on the top you could see the top moving and Drew and I could feel it through our feet.

  Then Drew jumped on it!  It jiggled like jelly!  The mud itself rubs into the skin, and doesn’t feel “grubby”.  Hayden poked a stick into the surface and found a fissure below the surface which opened into a large underground hole – presumably this is where the mud would flow to the surface.

https://www.outbackqueensland.com.au/attractions/mud-springs/

Stop 2 – Eulo Megafauna.  We stopped to see the megafauna statue in Eulo.  This area is where the majority of megafauna fossils are found.

Stop 3 – Cunnamulla. We topped up on bread and salad ingredients, and checked our emails at the Cunnamulla Fella Visitor Centre. The Artesian Time Tunnel had an excellent video on the Artesian Basin.  The actual display however was disappointing, I felt more pictorial information would have been helpful. 

www.paroo.qld.gov.au/artesian-time-tunnel

The Cunnamulla Fella centre also had a quite good museum with the items well labelled and set out logically. They also had two large detailed models; one of a shearing shed and pens, and the other of stockmen’s’ quarter.

https://www.paroo.info/Information/CunnamullaFellaCentre.aspx

Stop 4 – Cunnamulla Sand Dunes. There is a large sand dune directly behind the town, and in complete contrast to the surrounding

countryside.  We had not seen any other sand since leaving the coast.
https://www.paroo.info/Attractions/Cunnamulla-Sandhills-Walking-Tracks.aspx

We decided to drive on to Bollon.  We should have got fuel in Cunnamulla as we took the gauge down to touching the “E”.  We put in 50L to get us through to St George in the morning.  We have camped at the Yumbai Creek Donation Camp Area – it looks pretty but we didn’t see much before it got dark.

www.balonne.qld.gov.au/camping