Emerald - Blackwater - Baralaba

Leaving Sapphire and joining the Capricorn Highway it is an easy run into Emerald, the largest town in Queensland’s central highlands. We have visited Emerald a few times in the past and we are always surprised at how much more development has taken place. This time we were on a mission. For those of you who have been following this blog you will know the frustration we have had in trying to find tyres for our van. Well, this time we were determined to give it our best shot and armed with the names and addresses of every tyre dealer in the district we began our search. We came upon a tyre service on the approach to town that was not on our list, so we stopped and made enquiries. To our complete amazement they had the tyres we needed and at a cheaper price than we had been quoted previously. The friendly proprietor said, “Bring her in” and we had the tyres fitted and on our way again in less than an hour – you beaut! Emerald has several large supermarkets and lots of other shops so we stocked up on essential supplies and headed for the free camp outside the botanic gardens for a night.

Sunset Over Bedford Weir

Next morning our journey continued eastwards on the Capricorn Hwy. to Blackwater and then 26 Km’s out to Bedford Weir. What a great place this is, with hot showers and flush loos, and you can stay for free for up to seven days. They have a small shop staffed by the helpful caretaker and twice a week the caretaker’s wife puts on a soup and damper night for a very reasonable price – just great. The only thing not available at Bedford weir is drinking water, so, if you are thinking of going there make sure you have plenty of good water with you.

The Weir Wall

Waiting for a Fish

During our stay at Bedford weir we took a daytrip to Blackdown Tableland National Park. After negotiating the very steep access road you find yourself on top of a plateau many hundreds of metres above the surrounding plains. We walked to Horseshoe lookout and then 2 Km to the nearby falls and back before driving through the park to do the Rainbow Falls walk. 2 Km’s each way and mostly steep but very rewarding with a magnificent waterfall into the valley. It was great to see up-close two very distinctive plants that grow only here and nowhere else. One is a Grevillia and the other a Wattle. We really enjoyed our day out with the invigorating walks, the only thing we did not think of was the lower temperature at this higher altitude. With a reasonably strong breeze blowing from the S.E. we certainly wished we had taken a long sleeved shirt or light jacket, but never mind it just made us walk faster.

 

Horseshoe Lookout

Falls near Horseshoe Lookout

Rainbow Falls

Blackdown Grevillia

Blackdown wattle

Leaving Blackwater and travelling further east we overnighted in Duaringa before turning south to Baralaba and a great camp spot at Neville Hewitt Weir. Similar to Bedford Weir without the caretaker and the hot showers this free campground has abundant fresh drinking water on tap and is situated virtually at the end of the main street, making it quite easy to stroll into town for any thing you need. To our great delight we were able to catch up with our good, long time friends, Larry and Laurelle for a couple of nights camping. Even though we were both many miles from home at this great little camping area, you have to ask, what are the chances? of catching up like this, but we are glad we did.

Old Friends and New at Baralaba

Clermont and The Gemfields

Following the Gregory Development Road from Cape River we reached the town of Clermont by early afternoon. The town is a mix of new and old buildings and is a commercial service centre for the nearby mining industry. Our destination was Theresa Creek dam 22 Km out of town. This picturesque camping area is set along the shore near the dam wall and costs just $10 per night. There is a small shop and café where you check in and there are hot showers and flush toilets at several locations around this very large open camping area.

Theresa Creek Dam Sunset

After 4 nights at this pleasant location we headed off along, the now sealed, back road to Rubyvale in the Gemfields for a night in the neat and tidy caravan park. A walk around town lead us to some rather quirky shops, most of which were selling gemstones in various states. There are, of course, several up-market gemstone galleries where you can purchase sapphires and rubies cut and set in very attractive pieces of jewellery. We certainly did learn a lot about sapphires, not the least of which is their value. We inspected many lovely pieces valued well into the tens of thousands of dollars. Here’s a bit of trivia for you – sapphires come in almost any colour except red. The red ones are a ruby. The most common colour is blue and the most valuable is yellow. Some of the most valuable are called a ‘parti’ which is generally yellow with small evenly spaced specs of other colours, most usually blue or red.

The next day was a very long drive to the town of Sapphire, a trip of just over 6 Km’s. Of course we arrived early, which gave us most of the morning to wander through the Sunday market at the football ground. Then it was time to set up in the free camping area, would you believe, right in the middle of town. This handy location made it easy for us to walk to the shops and gem galleries, and in the evening to the local RSL. This small club has a Sunday roast for just $12 and a beer or a very full glass of wine will cost you just $3. We really did enjoy the hospitality of the friendly locals and also some fellow campers we sat with for the delicious meal.

Heading Inland

Having now had disappointment three times with getting tyres for our van the decision was made to venture away from the coast. The school holidays had begun and understandably the coastal areas are quite popular and busy. From Townsville we travelled west over Herveys Range to intersect the Gregory Development Road where we turned south for our next stop at Fletcher Creek approximately 42 Km north of Charters Towers. This is a large and open camping area stretching along the creek on both sides of the road with a third area on the other side of the creek where the amenities, with showers and toilets, are located. Fletcher Creek was very popular at the time of our visit, presumably because of the school holidays, but it was never what you would call crowded. During our stay of two nights we visited the adjacent Dalrymple National Park along the banks of the Burdekin River. On the morning of our departure I decided to have a walk around the entire camping area just to count how many sets of campers there were – would you believe the total was 99? Camps ranged from small hatchbacks with tiny tents, right up to the largest motorhome but, the majority, of course were caravans of every make, model and size. It seems many people have caught the free camping bug!

A Misty Morning - Fletcher Creek

It's not crowded

Enjoying the Campfire at Fletcher Creek

Around 22 Km east of Charters Towers is Macrossan Park, another great free camping area. Situated on the upper banks of the Burdekin River the camping area lies between the road and rail bridges across the river, however from the centre of the area it is about 1 Km to either. The two rail bridges (one old, one new) dominate the scenery, with the old bridge (disused since the 1960’s) very photogenic, particularly in the late afternoon light. Macrossan Park was nowhere near as popular with between 30 and 40 campers on each of the two nights we spent there. Back into Charters Towers to stock up on some provisions, and yet another (futile) attempt to locate tyres for the van, before heading southward on the Gregory Development Road for an overnight stop at the small Cape River rest area.

Camped at Macrossan Park

New Rail Bridge on left - Old on right

Campers on the Burdekin

The charm of the old bridge

Birdlife on the Burdekin