moonlight dam

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Day 11: Moonlight Dam to Eungella Dam

Slow pack up this morning – I really didn’t want to go, it was so lovely. Saw a couple of gallinules under the fig tree before we left. Got away about 9.30 and headed off to Eungella Dam along Turrawulla Rd, then right into Pipeline Road.  All dirt or sandy road and some of it rough rocky – 4WD preferred.
Eungella Dam supplies the water to the local area via the pipeline we followed on the road in. It’s a beautiful setting at the western foothills of the Eungella Range. Surprisingly it’s green grass, treed and shady with a 2 metre-wide sandy beach around the edge and sandy bottom – no mud!  When we arrived there were several families set up for the day with kayaks and picnics and children swimming, and a few water skiers, jet skies (pox on the water according to Steve) and fishing boats. We chose the quieter side away from the boats to set up camp right on the grassy foreshore, with one other couple camping here. Come mid afternoon everyone left except the other camper.
We put the kayak in and went for a decent paddle – at least an hour – had a swim and earned our wine o’clock! Once more the bird life entertained us – pelicans, cormorants, darters, coots, Pacific black-faced and Australian wood ducks, white-faced heron, lapwings.
We had a campfire and into bed early.

Eungella Dam

Eungella Dam

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Day 10: Moonlight Dam, Homevale National Park

Homevale Station was a working cattle property before National Parks took it over. The area which is now Homevale National Park was formed 30 million years ago when a series of volcanic eruptions covered older basalt rocks with lava, creating hard granite formations. Over time the basalt eroded away leaving the spectacular cliffs seen today. The volcanos also produced gold deposits and fertile basalt soils which now support a diverse plant life.

Beautiful location and there's that windmill!

Beautiful location and there’s that windmill!

Awoke to the birds and the sound of the windmill! Hmm, yes, there’s a lovely old Southern Cross Windmill here which must have once pumped water up from the dam to the cattle troughs before it became a National park. It still works exceedingly well, just isn’t connected to anything. Anyway it’s not an annoying noise and is actually rather charming.

Off for a bushwalk.

Off for a bushwalk.

The Moonlight Dam Camp site is the second last stop on the Mackay Hinterland Great Walk. So we decided we’d walk the last leg of it today – across to Mt Britton. Mt Britton was a thriving township in 1883 as a result of goldmining. It had a population of 1500 and all the town amenities you think would go with a town that size. However by 1890 the gold was gone and the town had become a ghost town. The walk from Moonlight Dam is 6K, which of course is 12K return – a good distance! I saw billboards promoting Mt Britton on the drive here – a restored gold mining town. Great – we’d walk there, have an icecream and coffee and maybe some other yummy treats at the cafe then head back to camp! The walk was mostly really lovely along a graded track with gorgeous gums and views to the Diamond Ranges and Peaks – a few very steep hills, and not a lot a shade, but a cooling breeze.

Mt Britton. Only the road layout remains. Signs indicate what used to stand at each place along the roads.

Mt Britton. Only the road layout remains. Signs indicate what used to stand at each place along the roads.

Hmmm – I soon learnt that a ghost town means just that – no people, and definitely no cafe! Despite being very disappointed about the icecream, the town site was very interesting.No buildings remained, but the streets were laid out as they were and through amazing good fortune one of the first inhabitants in 1881 was a photographer, so there’s a very good photographic display of what was at each spot along the roads. Well done Nebo Shire! Drank our water and ate our hikers nuts (disappointing) and walked back to camp.

We’re camped right on the edge of the dam – it’s about a 4 metre bank down to the waters edge. The dam is small – maybe 16 metres  across at the widest and 30 metres long. Reeds and fallen trees and water plants line the edges, and the creek continues at either end of it. A pretty little dam. The usual water birds are here and just on dusk we saw an Azure Kingfisher family fishing.

Once again a delightful camp where we didn’t see another soul the whole time we were here.
To see our photos from today click here.

Watched a family of Azure Kingfishers fishing from that fallen branch.

Watched a family of Azure Kingfishers fishing from that fallen branch.

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Day 9: Through the Gem Fields, Clermont, Nebo to Homevale National Park.

Didn’t stay in Emerald long – too far to go today. The weather forecast is for increasing temperatures high 30’s, so we’ve decided to head coastward-ish. But first a drive through Sapphire and Rubyvale. I know the desire to be in dry, dusty, scrubby-treed country to fossick for hours in the hot dry dirt to find a pretty stone to make a pretty ring is a very strong pull for many people – and they’ll be pleased to know they won’t get any competition from me!

First brolgas, up close.

First brolgas, up close.

Morning tea at Rubyvale and saw … wait for it … BROLGAS – up close on the road just in front of us. Ahhhh happy me!

Really interesting memorial to the Light Horse Brigade that was stationed here. Well worth stopping to read about it.

Really interesting memorial to the Light Horse Brigade that was stationed here. Well worth stopping to read about it.

Headed north out of Rubyvale towards Clermont. Rejoined the Gregory Highway at Capella. Learnt something new here. It’s rumoured that while the Light Horse battalion that was here during the shearers strike in 1891?? A couple of the lads killed an emu and put a feather in their cap. Up until then it was only the officers who wore a parrot feather in their caps. Over the next few years both officers and enlisted men changed to wearing the emu feather. There’s a monument to the Light Horse brigade here in Capella with the story.

Lunchbreak under this beautiful tree outside Clermont.

Lunchbreak under this beautiful tree outside Clermont.

Denise with the famous Piano in the Tree

Denise with the famous Piano in the Tree

On to Clermont – lunch under a beautiful flowering gum of some description in the park before you get into town. Clermont was surveyed by Ludwig Leichhardt and settled in 1861 when gold was discovered. The township was devasted by a flood in 1916 when 65 locals lost their lives (and a piano was found in that tree when the waters went down). There’s now a mock piano in the tree as a memorial. Heading towards Nebo we went through the Bowen Basin Coal fields. They are massive … and not attractive!
Homevale National Park is off the Peak Downs Highway north of Nebo, on the road to Glendon. At 11km along that road turn into Turrawulla Rd then 22km (past the turnoff to Mt Britton), until you see the sign to Moonlight Dam Camping area 7km further in. And yes, it is a 4WD track by that time. When I rang the National Parks people to book the site she didn’t know it existed – obviously not often visited. We arrived about half an hour before dark – lucky we can now be fully setup in about 10 mins. Still time for wine o’clock as we sat in a lovely cool breeze, watched the sun set over the dam and the birds catching their last morsels for supper. A long day driving, but that’s the best place to be when the temps are over 35!

Click here to see our photos from this part of the trip.