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