Charters Towers, Clermont and Carnarvon Gorge - Tue 19th June to Fri 22nd June

We packed up at Townsville and got the local Ultra Tune man to tighten one of the fan belts which was making a horrendous noise when you started up. A quick trip up Tower Hill gave a great view out to Magnetic Island. Next we meet Ed and her 3 kids down on the Strand for a quick bike ride and early fish and chips. We loaded up the kids and said our goodbyes, filled up the Pathfinder and were ready for the 130km inland dash to Charters Towers.

We ended up at one of the Van parks and had the rather unusual neighbour of a horse out the back for the evening. We made our way over to the camp kitchen and fire area for a beer and a yarn with our fellow travellers, albeit we were the youngest by 25 odd years. We struck up conversation with a couple from down Emerald way and had a few $3 burgers with proceeds to the Flying Doctors. Another great community event, as the Fitz files would say “you gotta love this city!”

Next morning it was my turn for a run and I headed back in through town and up Charters Hill. It provided beautiful big sky vistas of the surrounding areas and we had a return visit with the whole family after we treated the kids to a Macca’s breakfast. The area was an ammunition storage facility in WWII for the 5 surrounding airforce bases and housed 15000 Americans. In a previous life it was also the centre of the gold rush in the late 1800’s.

Our destination for Wed 20 June was the small town of Clermont, 366km south. We stopped at the Cattle Sale Yards which were holding their weekly auctions, another country treat for us city folk. The morning was spent doing many an impression of the auctioneers as we passed more and more cattle. The road was amazingly straight in sections with fatigue signs everywhere. No worries of boredom for the Meldrum’s, in between road trains whizzing past we managed to do some maths homework! The mining boom has hit this region with accommodation shortages in motels and hotels up and down the inland route.

Clermont's local van park is converting all its sites to donga style accommodation for miners and we were sent to the ‘overflow’ at the Showground. Well it turned out to be another great adventure as last weekend they held a horse ‘camp draft’ and some of the horses, riders and stable hands were left over waiting to drive 1000km to the next event! I gave Dave Paris a call to share my excitement, he is right into camp drafts and I relayed everything I could to give him a god picture of the facilities. The kids loved the horses but gee it’s getting cold and we really noticed it. Luckily father and son had stocked up on new winter PJ’s and all was good with a few extra blankets

Carnarvon Gorge was just a little red dot on the map and looked an interesting place to visit for a few nights on our way home. How we underestimated this amazing National Park. It truly is nature’s best mixed with a significant gallery of aboriginal artwork. We arrived on Thr afternoon after a solid days drive from Clermont through Emerald, Springsure and Rolleston (lunch) with the last 40km on a dirt road. The wildlife on the way into the park was also interesting Janene spotting an Echidna on the road (luckily Tas saw it, he is still devastated he missed the snake yesterday J). Also we pulled up to observe 3 large wetland birds on the side of the road and kangaroos or hop hops as Ella calls them! We stayed at the Takarakka Bush Resort which had a pleasant grassed campground. It struck us as to how many people where staying with a large school group and about 40 odd caravans. Janene served up a great beef stir fry and everyone woofed it down. The kids watched a bit of the “Incredibles” before bedtime.

I made an early start as I had been planning an adventure up the gorge. I got up at 6.30am and was freezing as I rode the 5km up to the ranger station and the start of the bushwalks. The dirt road was corrugated with a few creek crossings and it was after 7am before I reached the visitors car park. I locked up the mountain bike and transitioned to running carrying 2 gels, a powerbar and water. It was 22km round trip to the top of the gorge, a place called the Big Bend but as Janene reminded me the night before I haven’t run that far for a while and whilst it might be great for me it just meant she had the kids for longer on her own and a tired  and cranky Reidy is not good for anyone. So I selected a 14km round trip (marked a to g on map below) and had agreed to meet Janene and the kids at 9am, a little under 2hrs to take in the sights and run the bush tracks crossing the river about 10 times.

The amazing scenery of Carnarvon Gorge was another trip highlight. Being the first out on the track meant I didn’t see any other walkers until near the end of my journey. The suggestion was to go to your furthest point and then take the side trips to points of interest on your return. My furthest side trip was an Aboriginal rock art and carving gallery which was once also a burial ground. The photos don’t do it justice but it was not only long but also has 80-100m cliff faces rising up above the artwork and makes it a special place.

I also visited a few waterfalls and a unique formation aptly called the Amphitheatre. You had to climb up 3 ladders then walk through a 2m wide canyon before being greeted by a massive circular area which had 60-80m sheer walls surrounding you and creating amazing acoustics with a huge echo. I really took in this place which was a little eerie on your own first thing in the morning and then gave it a nudge on the last 4km back down the track to meet the family. What an amazing start to a day combined with that great bush smell you get every so often there is no other place or activity I’d rather be doing – I love it out here and have regularly thought of Wildy who was our inspiration to do this trip.

We decided on seeing how the kids would go on a longer walk and so made our way as a family unit up the main track retracing my route. We made it 3km to the river with Mya having a little melt down. A session of throwing stones and even a log (see below) soon fixed her fatigue along with a couple of jam sandwiches. We ate lunch by the creek and Mya and Tas continued their wonderful play. Next it was up to the Moss Garden waterfall and then back to the creek for more play.

Janene took off up the valley and did the rest of the landmarks for a 3hr walk and I played with the kids. Mya and Tas marked the stepping stone path across the creek with ‘orca’ paint and we all made stone towers. Considering the kids walked nearly 8km they did a fantastic job of keeping it together. Ella walked a fair way on the return and my shoulders appreciated anytime she was out of the backpack J. All in all a sensational day all with loads of happy memories created. Carnarvon Gorge is underrated as a National Park.