river bed | Judy's Trekabout

Monday 1st September

We are packing up and heading to Lake Dalrymple via dirt roads so we are filling up as there are no stations out there for 234km, be slow driving and its very hilly and windy so will use more fuel. Well what a road, just took our time and saw lots of interesting things. Very dry, ran over a snake, saw Bustards, we are traveling thru stations but on a public road, its called the Rutherford Road. Dalrymple dam is huge, largest n Qld. They have lovely amenities and clean, $10 per couple per night and $2 for a load of washing. Feral Goats roaming, Peacocks roaming thru the camp, Burdikin Rock Wallabies, they are so tiny. The camping is no where near the water so we are only staying one night.

These bushes are called the bellyache plant, a noxious weed. Waters from the Dam They had just shut off the overflow. Feels very wierd traveling along the bottom of the Dam wall. Run Jack. Looking across the Dam wall. The snake we ran over, it was still alive and moving ok, not that I was going to help it. A very dry river bed. This was typical of the road we traveled on today, rough in many places. Stopped here to let some air out of tyres. Mt Coolon area, this was well known for its gold back in 1946, lots of interesting reading. Morning tea at the top of a range. Dry and dusty.

Wednesday 12th February

Went up the Barrington Tops in NSW to a place called Polblue Camping grounds and to see the Polblue Swamps. Drove in from Scone end on the New England Highway. Went up through the Dingo gate, the road was pretty rough, we just took our time. The country side is very dry, I feel for the farmers and their animals. Here are a few images from the day.

Dry river bed. Going up the Barrington Range. Dingo Gate, love the gap underneath 🙂 Pine trees and there needles all over the ground, reminds me of NZ pine plantations. Polblue camping, very large area’s. This is the Polblue Swamp area, its like a big sponge. Was pretty dry and in the middle of the day. Another view of the swamps. This is the Manning River from up the tops of Barringtons. They have a big camp area here as well. On our way home via the Pheasants Creek road were all these Native Trees, they must be so old, as they were huge. A wee house up the creek Rd. What stories could those walls say. Love the sky in this scene. Belltree’s, is a property that was home to the White Family since 1831. They have accommodation & farm stay conference center, they have all sorts, very neat and tidy property. It is still a working farm with horses. This is the sign to the town. NSW