Week Seventeen: Gympie Muster 2018

Rugged up and ready to rock the night away at the 2018 Gympie Muster!

One of our main aims for this trip was to attend the Gympie Muster once again. We went in 2012 and had an absolute ball so we were keen to relive all the fun we had way back then. The Muster did not disappoint. We leapt headlong into everything it had on offer and had a fantastic time from line dancing for me, bush poets for GK, listening to the amazing talented country singers and marvelling at the up and coming new talent. There was something for everyone. The festival ran over four days with the gates opening at 8:30am each morning and closing when the last cowboys stumbled out of the Crow Bar in the early hours of the morning. 

No fear of losing one of their gang in these costumes. 

One word to sum up the Muster is “Happy”. Everyone was so friendly and there were no fights or agro. People had travelled from all over Australia to see their favourite artists, to sit back and enjoy the whole spectacle or just camp along the banks of the Amamoor River and 'chillax' with family and friends. The Gympie Muster is Australia’s longest running charity festival and has raised over $15,000.000 over 37 years. It is run by over 1,700 volunteers, working 15,000 hours from local schools, sporting clubs and service organizations with all money going back into the community. It is a mighty effort from a small band of hard working Aussies who work tirelessly for months to present the Muster every year. Their efforts were well rewarded with this years Muster raising $153,000 and over 22,000 people attending the festival. Well done! 

Picturesque Amamoor State Forest

We heard that the mornings were very cold at the Muster site so after buying much needed hot water bottles in Gympie we travelled out through the picturesque Amamoor State Forest to Poulsen’s Paddock on the banks of the Amamoor River to set up camp. We were guided in by local volunteers from the Lions Club and were relieved that we had a flat site to park the van. Our neighbours were from all over Queensland and we soon became good mates and shared their fire most nights after the concert. One night they offered GK a ‘cigarette’ that he declined and when I said later that it was a joint he said “No!” though he couldn’t explain why three people were smoking it. Whatever floats your boat.

Facing the wrong way but having fun!

It was hard to climb out of bed when the temperature was minus four but it was worth it to join the other enthusiastic line dancers at 8:30am each morning. Although I felt very uncoordinated tapping, scooting and twisting and turning to Boot Scootin’ Boogie it was lots of fun and we soon worked up a sweat over the next hour. 

Margie Clegg! Are these yours?!

GK dropped me off each morning and rushed to get his seat at the Muster Club to listen to the hilarious bush poets. The Marquee was packed everyday as everyone thoroughly enjoyed watching the pros and amateur comedians go through their paces. There is so much raw talent that we don’t know about or get to see. People are very witty and clever and the jokes and one-liners were flying thick and fast everyday. It was a great way to start the morning with a good belly laugh. Should be more of it.

Old mates catching up

We purchased an excellent programme of events for $2.00 that covered the whole four days of the festival, listing all the artists, times and venues. GK was thrilled to see an old rugby mate from the eighties was performing at the Blues Bar on Thursday night so we made sure we were front and centre to watch his performance. Queenslander Pop Standen played for North Beach in its winning 1980 Grand Final and made a lot of lifelong friends at the Club. We managed to catch his eye after his session and he was just as happy as GK to catch up. The boys had a quick beer before Pop had to pack up all his gear and drive two hours to Gayndah for another gig the next day. He looks great and is now living at Airlie Beach with a new partner, Kate. Such a small world.

 

Pop Standen singing the blues at Gympie 

Jeff, Annie and son Mitchell from Coffs Harbour

Speaking of ‘small worlds’ we spotted Narrogin plates a few vans along from ours and it turned out that – wait for it – we know this can be monotonous if you don’t know who we are talking about – but our new neighbours, Graeme and Kaylene Wilson, know friends of ours from Narrogin, Maureen and Terry Park and they bought their caravan from Ian and Louise Lewis formerly from Moora! Their travelling companions, Doug and Kaye Berry, live in Duncraig next-door to our great mates Chris and Gary Holbrook and they were on a cruise last year with other great mates Jan and Dion Bromilow. Phew! Did you get all that? Wait – there is more. When we were waiting outside the Muster Club one night we ran into a couple we met in Alice Springs last year who we got on really well with. We palled up again and sat with them most nights to watch the concert. That’s it. No more coincidences until the next stop. Tee Hee.

The Blue Team. Doug, Kaye, Graeme and Dolly (Kaylene)

True Blue John Williamson

All four nights were amazing but Friday night was an absolute standout. The mosh pit went off with performances by Tania Kernaghan, the Wolfe Brothers, John Williamson, Travis Collins and the superstar of country music, Lee Kernaghan. It was very poignant as they all dedicated most of their songs to those suffering from the drought in Western Queensland and New South Wales. They would preface their songs with words like “We’re with you”, “We’ve got your back” and “Hang in there, mate, you’ll get through this.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when John Williamson sang ‘True Blue’ and Lee sang ‘The Spirit of the Anzacs’. I was blubbering one minute and then on my feet stomping along with ‘Boys From the Bush’ the next. The night bought all Aussies together under a cloudless starry sky as the music rang out through the forest. It was one of those feel good moments and one of the happiest in my life. 

Unbeatable Lee Kernaghan

A blurry Greg Champion

The drought broke on Sunday morning with mixed emotions. Absolute elation for the farmers and disappointment for the Muster organizers as the dusty paddocks turned to slippery mud and some events had to be cancelled. We soldiered on and warily crossed the churned up tracks to enjoy the last day of the festival. The teeming rain didn’t dampen our spirits as we watched the finals of the Bush Poets and Greg Champion of ‘Could Have Been Champions’ fame. He was hilarious and had the audience in stitches with his banter, anecdotes and satirical songs. We met him after the show and he is a very genuine bloke and was keen to hear how the Eagles had got on the night before. We couldn’t help him, as we didn’t know ourselves at that time. He posed for a very blurry photo with GK that I will post anyway. (GK wasn’t impressed with my stuff up – too bad, too sad).

Greg Champion was hilarious.

The rain stopped long enough for us to sit an enjoy the last night performances of Sara Storer, Drew McAlister, Brad Butcher and the scene stealing Beccy Cole along with many others. They sang ‘Songs I Wish I’d Written’ which was a fantastic eclectic mix of musical genres from The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and a whole list of favourites the singers themselves loved. The night finished with the whole cast returning to the stage to sing ‘Khe Sahn’. The crowd went ‘off’ and the mosh pit was a seething mass of ecstatic people celebrating the culmination of a brilliant festival. We were on our feet cheering with the rest of them. Gympie – you have done it again! Congratulations!

Grand finale to a fantastic festival! 

Feeling the cold but loving the concert.

We treaded carefully back to Poulsen’s Flat across the mud with hundreds of other happy campers to find that our new Queensland mates had packed up and gone but had left their fire pit and left over wood for us. We in turn shared it with our new mates from Narrogin and Duncraig and also shared a red and swapped yarns and told lies until the fog and cold drove us inside. With our newly purchased hot water bottles warming our numb tootsies and the steady beat of the bass from the Crow Bar pulsating through the trees lulling us off to sleep, we both agreed that we had had a fantastic four days and will never forget our second Muster. Yeehah!

With Outback Queensland, Carnarvon Gorge and Gympie Muster successfully ticked off our bucket list, this week will be hard to beat but hopefully we will have news to report as we hit the coast once again and steadily head homewards. Until next week, keep safe and love to all.  

Slip sliding away on our way out of Poulsen's Flat. Scary.

Brilliant Melbourne Ska Orchestra appeared on Saturday night

Some of the happy campers, Cubby de Wheels MK II included

Happy audience rugging up for the night's concert. Brrr.

GK at one of the many volunteer run bars. Lots of fun.

Never trust a woman in a black hat. Especially this one!

Week Sixteen: Short and Sweet

Bargara Marina

We have had what is known in the media as ‘a slow news week’. There have been no major happenings and even GK has been on his best behaviour with no incidents to report. Although he did leave the car in drive when he got out to check our caravan site in Gayndah and had to leap back in to slam on the brakes as the car and van rolled towards the embankment. He whacked his head and saw stars for a few seconds but apart from that it has been very quiet. Imagine if he hadn’t made it. I would definitely have more exciting news to relate!

After leaving Cania Gorge we travelled down ‘Australia’s Country Way’ through the townships of Biloela, Monto, Mundubbera before arriving in Gayndah where we stayed for two days. The towns have diversified from sheep and mining to citrus growing. Munduberra has a giant mandarin and Gayndah a giant orange. Tourists seem to love these ‘big’ icons like the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour and the Big Pineapple near Nambour but we think they are a bit corny and didn’t bother to jump on the bandwagon and photograph them. With hindsight maybe we should have as this week has few highlights. 

One of the advantages of fruit growing in these areas is the influx of backpackers. Munduberra alone grows over 900 tons of blueberries and needs about 500 pickers in the season to pick and pack the crop. A lot of the disused buildings have been converted to accommodation for the pickers who stay and spend money in the town. This is keeping the towns afloat which is a real lifesaver. Their future is quite bleak otherwise. 

The iconic Bundaberg Rum cool bear

That can’t be said about Bundaberg, which was heaving when we drove through on our way to Bargara on the coast. ‘Bundy’ as the locals refer to it is of course famous for its iconic Aussie rum. It is a thriving Central Queensland city with the perfect mix of coastline and country. We chose to escape the hustle and bustle of Bundy and stayed at a caravan park, which boasted ‘absolute beach frontage’. Unfortunately there is a huge stone seawall dividing the park from the water so there were no leisurely beach walks for us. Foiled again.

We did drive up the coast and called in at the beachside towns of Elliott Heads and Coral Cove. It was a glorious day and there were many families enjoying the beach and the grassed and shady picnic areas dotted along the coast. W.A. could really take a leaf out of Queensland’s book as they have made the most of their coastline.  The beaches are very ‘user friendly’ which encourages more people to spend time and picnic, even in winter. We felt a bit nostalgic watching the families with little kids having a fantastic time at the beach as it brought back wonderful memories. Feeling sentimental. Sniff.

Glorious day at Elliott Heads

Back to reality! We are now staying at the Cheery Nomad RV and Farmstay between Maryborough and Hervey Bay. It is a family owned park and we had a terrific time last night with other ‘cheery nomads’ at the bar for Happy Hour. We met some lovely people and did what we love most – swapping yarns and stories about life on the road. All we needed was a campfire and it would have been perfect.

Whale watching is Hervey Bay's major tourist attraction

Today we went into Hervey Bay for lunch. We have visited twice before so passed on the whale watching and just mosied up and down the esplanade before doing a huge ‘shop’ as we are off to Gympie tomorrow for the Muster. We have had a massive ‘cook up’ and the freezer, fridge and pantry are bulging with food for the five days we will have ‘off road’ at the festival. We are so excited and can’t wait to travel out to Amamoor Forest for the Muster. It has been six years since we visited the country and western festival where we had an absolute ball. We hope it won’t disappoint but we are going to take advantage of everything it has to offer. We love the bush poets, boot scooting and the very best of Australia’s country singers. Yeehah! We can’t wait! We will let you know all about it next week. Lots of love xxxx

GK at Hervey Bay

Happy crowds at the 2012 Muster

Rockin' the night away

The smiles say it all. Here's to the 2018 Muster!

Week Fifteen: The Gemfields

Fossicking for sapphires near Emerald

This week we got down and dirty on the Gemfields near Emerald. It was lots of fun although backbreaking for GK as he was the one lugging the buckets of rocks and stones up and down the hill to the sorting area. He reckons he is a bit of a mug because he paid forty dollars for the privilege. ‘No pain no gain’ I say. Below is the measly collection of sapphires we found over four hours of fossicking. The largest one was valued at forty-five dollars and the rest were ‘rubbish’ as they had fractures in them. There goes my stud earrings and matching pendant. So we were down thirty-five dollars for the day. Even the ‘smoko’ was disappointing as we were expecting billy tea with scones, jam and cream and got teabags, instant coffee and Granita biscuits. Hmmph. Not what we are used to.

Our motley collection of sapphires

GK sieving our stones

The lady fossicking a metre away from us (seriously!) found a sapphire within fifteen minutes of starting and Keith, our ‘experienced miner’, valued it at over two thousand dollars! Just our luck. Never mind. We had a great day and met some lovely people. It is easy to see how fossicking can become addictive as, like gambling or fishing, there is always the chance of winning or catching the ‘big one’ with the next bucket, punt or cast. We found it amusing to watch human nature, as the really committed didn’t even stop for smoko or lunch. Then again, maybe they don’t like Granitas. 

CK washing our stones

Despite being absolutely filthy we called into the little towns of Sapphire and Rubyvale and had a wander around. The two towns make up the Miners Common, which is an 11,000 acre property that combines the two towns, which are 6kms apart. Within its boundaries miners are able to mine, build a dwelling and run a few livestock. The dwellings cannot be permanent therefore they are virtually ‘humpies’ but it doesn’t seem to worry the locals. Animals roam freely on the Common and we were surprised to see cattle lazing on the bitumen outside the pub. Only in Queensland! 

On the diggings

The world's biggest Van Gogh
'Sunflower' painting is in Emerald

Emerald was a huge surprise to us. We were expecting another small Outback town but found a bustling city of 14,000 people. The huge Harvey Norman store on the outskirts of town should have warned us. It was like approaching Joondalup. The town has three large shopping centres with all the usual suspects, Big W, K Mart and Target. The chap at the Visitor Centre told us Emerald has seven primary schools, a senior high school and a Uni campus. Wow! It also has fifty flights to Brisbane every week. Hardly the small town we were expecting. We will do more research next time.

Another surprise was you will never find an emerald in Emerald as it was named after the lush green pastures that surround the town. With the drought they may have to consider a name change, as the countryside is very dry and dusty. The town flooded in 2011 and hasn't had rain since. It is ironic that Emerald is the gateway to the Gemfields with not a gem in sight. Who knew?

We spent three days pottering around the town and its surrounds and drove out to Fairbairn Dam and Lake Maraboon. Unfortunately the lake is only at thirty percent capacity but still supplies irrigation to new industries around Emerald like cotton, vineyards and citrus orchards which are the largest in the southern hemisphere. They employ Tongan labourers, as they are very reliable, don’t drink, work long hours and send their wages home to their families. Their only vice is ‘scratchies’ and the newsagencies in town are run off their feet on Fridays when they get paid. 

After Emerald we spent two nights free camping on our way to Cania Gorge. The camps are usually rest spots in paddocks along the side of the road where Grey Nomads gather in numbers for safety. The better ‘stays’ may be on the banks of a river or alongside a lake. We weren’t so lucky this time but our stays at Dululu and Lowgie Hall were very quiet and we had two good nights sleep. If there are ablutions, they are usually run by volunteers and you pay a small fee into an honesty box. The bathroom in Dululu left a lot to be desired as you can see by the sign on the wall. You have to laugh. 

Black and smells!! Guess where Cher Cher showered. Not here that's for sure

.

Aha! An empty bottle of Houghton's White Classic! I
know who has been here!

We are now staying at a fabulous campground at Cania Gorge in Central Queensland. Its abundant wildlife wanders around the park including the little bettongs, which are similar to our quokkas. They roam around at night cleaning up the birdseed from the nightly bird feeding. They are very timid unlike the kangaroos and wallabies, which are very curious and wander right up to your door. The kookaburras are deafening in the early hours of the morning and nearly threw us out of bed the first day we were here. 

Aren't they gorgeous? Such beautiful faces.

There are some fantastic bush walks around the gorge but my plantar fasciitis has returned with a vengeance after our 12km trek through Carnarvon Gorge. I had forgotten how painful it is and am nursing my foot back to normal by resting it, massaging it with Voltaren and popping GK’s Nurofen like Smarties. I have to be ready for the Gympie Muster in two weeks as I have packed my boots and I am ready for some serious scootin’. Yeehah!

Who's a pretty boy? The one in stripes of course!

This morning we went out to Lake Cania, which is a very popular picnic and swimming spot for locals. We could see the water level was well down but it was still very pretty and would be a great spot to visit in summer. GK hasn’t had his Bunnings ‘fix’ since Darwin so we went into Monto for a ‘much needed’ fitting for our water filter. Unbeknownst to us, it is a public holiday today in Queensland as its annual agricultural show, the Ekka, is on and everyone downs tools, shuts their doors and travels to Brisbane for the show. Monto was like a ghost town so we fueled up and drove 30km back to the Gorge. Again, we require more research on local events in future. 

 

Lake Cania

We are counting down the sleeps until we go to Gympie for the Muster so are marking time in Central Queensland. We tried to book some accommodation on the coast but it is all booked out. There are bloody Grey Nomads everywhere! Haven’t they got homes to go to? We will keep trying and hopefully get a booking somewhere with a nice view and Internet. Fewer kookaburras too! We do love them but not at 4am. Will be in touch next week but until them keep safe and lots of love.

Another pretty boy

Week Fourteen: Carnarvon Gorge

GK on the banks of Carnarvon Creek

We have just spent three fantastic but exhausting days at Queensland’s remote and rugged Carnarvon Gorge. It features towering sandstone cliffs, vibrantly coloured side gorges and diverse flora and fauna. We covered most of it on a twelve-kilometre bush walk along the many bush tracks and rocky slopes. We realized our fitness levels aren’t what they used to be as we are aching all over and would kill for a massage for our sore and sorry muscles. 

It's about time this joey left home!

We stayed at Takarakka Bush Resort looped by the boulder-strewn Carnarvon Creek. The wildlife, including kangaroos, wallabies and echidnas wander through the park grazing on the grass. It was a chance to get up close to the animals as they are so tame and used to people gawking at them. There are strict rules about not feeding them as it upsets the balance of nature and harms the animals in the long term. We had to bag and remove all our own rubbish and not leave any food scraps around our campsite. As Takarakka is an eco environment we also had to use power and water conservatively. That wasn’t hard as we were tucked up in bed most nights by nine as we were exhausted from all our bush walking.

Wards Canyon

We had a spring in our step the first day as we set off bright and early to tackle the tracks to Wards Canyon, the natural Amphitheatre and the Moss Garden. We packed our backpacks with our lunch, thermos, fruit and lots of water. First stop was five kilometres up the track at Wards Canyon. It involved a long steep climb winding through spotted gums, past a small waterfall into a beautiful side gorge sheltering giant king ferns. It was very cool so we settled on a rock ledge and ate our lunch. We started to realize we weren’t as fit as we thought we were.

The natural Amphitheatre is a 60 metre deep chamber gouged from rock by running water. The towering stonewalls and natural skylight creates an awe-inspiring atmosphere. We had to climb a metal ladder to gain access to the Amphitheatre and crawl through a narrow passageway to get to the opening but it was really worth it. We were the only ones there so did a few ‘cooees’ to test the acoustics and were very impressed. They got our tick of approval.

The climb was worth it.

By the time we staggered into the Moss Garden we were absolutely buggered. Again it was lovely and cool so we took a seat and marvelled at the tree ferns straining for sunlight alongside a small waterfall. The water dripping constantly from the sandstone creates a lush green carpet of mosses and ferns. It was very relaxing and we were loath to leave as we new we had to face the gruelling slog home. It wasn’t the walking tracks so much as the hundreds of stone steps we had to climb up and worse still for GK, step down. It is murder on his knees but he trudged on like the trouper he is. 

Our trek included fourteen creek crossings over various size boulders. The inevitable happened and I slipped on a small slimy rock and went ankle deep into the icy creek. I had to soldier on with a squelchy boot. It compounded my misery but the promise of a refreshing shower and ice-cold wine at the end of our ordeal kept me going. We palled up with other exhausted trekkers and we all had a tale of woe to tell but not as bad as one poor guy who had sprained his ankle. He had no choice but to strap it with an old towel and limp home. We didn’t feel as bad as we hobbled past him. 

Despite taking care, I lost my footing and came a cropper.

As we were absolutely shattered the next morning we had a quiet start to the day and wandered down to the creek to see if we could spot a platypus. We had no luck as they appear at dawn and dusk and as we only operate on office hours, we missed out. Dawn is too early and we are still enjoying the last stages of Happy Hour at dusk. Never mind. We had more than our share of wildlife in the park and loved every minute of it albeit with stiff and sore bodies.

People build these rock towers in the dry creek bed only to have them washed away in the Wet.

The giant Meat Ant

Our three days at Carnarvon Gorge was at the end of another week travelling through drought stricken Outback Queensland. After leaving Longreach we headed south to Charleville passing through the lovely little towns of Ilfracombe, Barcaldine, Blakall and Tambo. Despite the harsh conditions the towns remain very clean and well maintained with emphasis on their history. 

We were very impressed with the wide streets and manicured gardens but the empty shops show that the towns are struggling to maintain their populations as people drift to bigger and brighter prospects for employment and education opportunities. They have to be very innovative like Augathella whose claim to fame is it is the Meat Ant capital of Queensland. Its football team is named the Mighty Meat Ants and they are notorious for being ferocious in attack and prepared to take on all opponANTS. They have even erected a giant meat ant sculpture in the local park aptly named Meat Ant Park. 

Star gazing at Charleville

Charleville is another town punching above its weight by capitalizing on its brilliant outback starry nights making it a haven for avid astronomers. We stayed at the Evening Star Caravan Park and joined a fantastic tour of fellow stargazers to see Jupiter and Saturn through a huge telescope like the one used by Stephen Hawking. We also learned about the App. called SkyView which when aimed at the night sky will name the planet or the stars you are pointing at. Alarmingly it will also identify aeroplanes and name the pilots. Further proof that Big Brother is watching us!

The Roma Saleyards

Roma was a bit disappointing as it is just another big town with emphasis on gas and mining. It does have Australia’s largest cattle selling centre, which kept GK entertained for a few hours one morning. The Roma Saleyards sell between 330,000 and 400,000 head of cattle per year. We passed huge mobs on the roads around Roma and even spotted a few stockmen on horses moving them along the roadside. One cow stopped to feed her calf right in front of our car and a girl on horseback moved them on for us. It was a real thrill to see them working in the flesh after learning all about the ‘stockies’ at Longreach. 

Female stockie working outside of Roma

We have just arrived in Emerald for a few days of fossicking for gems. Hope we have some luck. We will let you know all about it next week. In the meantime, take care and lots of love.

Terrible timing for a feed!

Tree ferns in the Amphitheatre

Roma's giant Bottle Tree

Historic Ilfracombe pub

Ilfracombe's Mechanical Mile

We have been beyond the Black Stump