The dotted white centreline flashes past me and fades away along the infinite straight ahead into the dark moonless night. I concentrate as a subtle white glow on the horizon appears seemingly floating in and out of view, but not getting any closer. Minutes past and no closer, slightly brighter, but I have no means to determine distance. More time passes, the glow changes to two distinct lights, but still just appears to float in space. Still more time passes as I concentrate, trying not to look directly into the light. The lane seems to narrow as I grip the wheel tight. The light in an instant transforms from a innocent glow on the horizon to a roar and rush of wind as the camper trailer swings back and forth, I grip the wheel tight, and concentrate again on the dotted white line fading to infinite, and calm returns.
Our unexpected 600 km driving day took us past Rainbow Beach, Gympie, Kilkivan, Chincilla, Miles, Yuleba and finally to Roma at 9pm. We opted for a motel room with continental breakfast included, in lieu of a late night van set up which allowed the dinner- shower - bed routine to be wrapped up in record time.
An early morning Park Run in Roma allowed us to meet some of the lovely residents of Roma, and we helped them celebrate their 3rd year with some delicious cake. A quick clean up to wash all the left over Fraser Island salt from the car, and we hit the road again to head for Carnarvon National Park. A mandatory playground stop at Injune allowed Theo to make friends with a family of young girls travelling in the opposite direction with their mum.
Arriving into the National Park was in its own right an impressive experience, as the road narrowed and we had to crawl past herds of Brahman, saw emus excercising, and slowed to watch Brolgas strolling across the road in front of us, and continue un phased into the adjacent fields. The cliffs of the gorge appeared on the horizon, and slowly surrounded us as we closed in on our destination. Sandstone Park, a section of the adjacent cattle station had opened up in the last few weeks to allow people to camp at one of the highest points in the valley, with 360 degree views of the sandstone cliffs of Carnarvon. An absolutely magical spot which we called home for a few days, allowing us to experience breathtaking sunrises and sunsets from the comfort of our Coleman camp chairs.
Over the next few days we tried to experience the Gorge in as many different ways as possible. The distances we were able to hike were somewhat limited though, as we no longer had a carrier for Theo, and his tiny legs tended to complain as we past the 1 km marker. We managed a slow meander along Carnarvon Creek and the nature trail (2k) before completing Minnies Creek walk (3k) with some help from the balance bike, and a lot of pushing by Dad. The next day we just went for it, and climbed Boolimba Bluff to witness the early morning sun on the cliffs from above. Surprisingly, Theo climbed the 200+ stairs and ladders to the top under his own steam, but the whining started once it got flat, so Dad did a bit more carrying to reach the summit. A rewarding swim with the turtles at the Rock Pool was our evening shower.
Either the excessive excercise or a nasty stomach bug knocked me out for a day or so, so Bern entertained the kids with visits to the information centre and to watch the helicopter joy flights.
It was almost time to pack up and leave, but we both felt we hadn't really experienced Carnarvon Gorge properly, so Bern pulled on the joggers and headed into the gorge for a 7k return trail run up to the Moss Garden. It was either the endorphines from running, or the spectacular scenario she had witnessed, but she was glowing with a smile from ear to ear on her return.
I couldn't leave without seeing more of the Gorge either, so I took on a 10k return of both the Ampitheatre and the Moss Garden. I felt the same buzz as Bern had, after an exhilarating run up and down stairs, winding tracks and creek crossings with spectacular gorges and scenery smattered throughout, it was one of the most rewarding runs I have experienced.
We felt as though our experience of Carnarvon was as complete as we could for this time of our lives, although the 5 day Rim Walk is on the list for the future.
Emerald was our next destination to stock up again and experience the Gemfields. A slow day of washing allowed us to visit the local bakery, the library for Toddler Tuesday, and an afternoon cool off in the local pool. Theo re discovered his love for the water, and swam on his own for the first time, albeit 2 metres to the edge, but his confidence was back!
The next day saw us driving west to Saphire and Rubyvale where we did an underground tour of a previously operational sapphire mine, and bought some 'wash' to try our luck. Bern was pretty sceptical of the whole thing at first, but once she spotted that first sapphire glinting out of the rocks, she was hooked. She bagged three or four fairly sizeable stones worth turning into something special. Theo also bagged a whole pile of 'very special' quartz, kicking off a rock collecting fad, that may tip us over our maximum towing capacity by the end of the trip!
Our Emerald experience was wrapped up with a challenging Park Run through their botanical gardens on the Nogoa River, and a 13 k Sunday long run through the streets of Emerald before we headed east again back towards the coast, and into Cane Country.