Bathurst Sunday! The TV went on at 6am and we pretty much didn't get out of bed all day. That was actually due to the fact that the TV is located in the 'bedroom', so technically it turned into a lounge room for the day. We did manage to fit in a bath for James and Brian got under the van for a bit to see what he could do about the mis-aligned rear axle.
After three quarters of the race it came down to a battle of the heavyweights. Ford versus Holden. It was gripping. Lowndes was flying, Tander was flying and Winterbottom in the lead was holding on for his life, the only one of the three who had never won Bathurst. The last 30 laps of a six and a half hour, 1000 kilometer endurance race turned into an absolute sprint race, with less than a second separating first and second. Amazing!
I'm a Holden girl, but Frosty is one of my favourites and I was really hoping he would win toward the end. It was without doubt the most gutsy driving performance I have ever seen as he drove that Ford like a man possessed to fend off a final lap charge from Whincup. I love the V8 Supercars!
All through Sunday night the wind blew an absolute gale. It was so persistent and strong we couldn't risk trying to roll the awning up so both laid awake pretty much all night waiting to hear it crash onto the roof of the van. Eventually it died down for a short time, so we raced out of bed and got the awning in. Then we snatched a bit of sleep before dawn. We had planned to drive some 250 km to catch up with my daughter, Shelley, her partner Adam and my grandson, Lachlan, who live at the base of Mount Tamborine, not far from the Gold Coast.
We left Millmerran at eight Monday morning heading on minor roads east/south-east to Warwick, driving through fields of grain. The wind was unrelenting and at times threatened to blow us completely off the road. Brian had a heck of a job just to keep us on the narrow, sometimes single-laned strips of bitumen. His concentration was at an absolute peak. We stopped at Warwick (pop approx. 12,500), an attractive south-eastern Queensland regional centre, 128 km from Brisbane.We parked in the pretty, treed main street and walked its length before having a great coffee, and a well-needed break for BJ.
At Warwick we picked up the Cunningham Hwy, climbing up over the Main Range National Park and through Cunninghams Gap toward the Eastern Seaboard. The views from the top of the range were spectacular and while the drive was scenic, the long, steep descent on the eastern side of the range had the brakes really heating up. We departed the highway at Fassifern where it took a more northerly heading for Brisbane, and we continued east passing through Boonah and Beaudesert before arriving at our destination, Canungra, a bit before 2pm. We booked in at the local showgrounds, chose a shady spot with access to power and a delightful bush and creek aspect.
Canungra is a small, picturesque, rural township in the Scenic Rim Region and has a population of around 800. It's primarily a tourist town, being a popular destination for visitors from the Gold Coast and Brisbane. It is also a well-frequented spot for motor bike riders who flock there in droves on weekends to enjoy brunch at one of the old, alfresco cafes or the iconic Canungra Pub. Set in a valley, the slopes around Canungra are steep and forested with some cleared farmlands and rural homes in the flatter valley areas. That's where my daughter lives, just 7 km out of town.
Four year-old Lachy goes to kinder at Canungra, just a short walk from the showgrounds. Shelley picked him up mid-afternoon and they dropped in. It was so lovely to see them! Lachy couldn't get into his bathers quickly enough so as to play in the clear waters of the Canungra Creek, flowing along the edge of the showground boundary. He and James had a great time splashing around, cooling off from the warm afternoon heat.
That night we all sat around the fire in front of the van enjoying pizzas from the shop just around the corner. Lachy was delighted with a box of wood off-cuts that a fellow Grey Nomad had given us when we left Chinchilla Weir. It was destined to delight a small boy rather than kindle our campfires.
Tuesday I had earmarked to totally indulge myself. I was going to buy a just-released 'Samsung Galaxy Note 111' mobile phone. My birthday present (for Thursday) to myself. How exciting! We also wanted to look at portable solar panels to boost our battery power and a small, lightweight generator. That meant a trip into the burbs. It was too warm to consider taking James and leaving him in the Beast, so I took him for a good walk in readiness to spend four or five hours in the van. The showgrounds is an interesting place. There are a couple of stock yards, a big, grassy arena, a couple of smaller, flat arenas, some big out-buildings, a variety of camping areas, some of which are right on the banks of the creek and it abuts a dairy farm with the stream pretty much encircling it. It's a great camp spot with hot showers and toilets as well - all surrounded by bushland, mountains and abundant bird-life. One of the nicer, cheap ($25 with power, $10 without) parks.
I took James down toward the creek and cow paddock. There was a herd of cows grazing just on the other side of the fence. He's right into cows. Often when we are traveling we come across cattle on the outback roads and naturally one of us will say "cows ahead". James can be fast asleep, but as soon as he hears the word "cow" he's sitting up as high as he can, searching for them. This was the first time he'd actually had the opportunity to get up close and personal, and dragged on the lead to get to the fence. The cows saw him coming and backed rapidly away. Then you could see them thinking to themselves; 'hang on, this tiny little thing can't hurt us - let's check it out', and with that they all headed toward him at the same time, snorting and blowing. They were amazingly inquisitive. Well... he shat himself. It was hysterical.
We decided to go to one of the major shopping complexes about 20 km away. We arrived at Helensvale Westfield at 9.30 and went straight to the Telstra Shop where, after maybe 90 minutes, I walked out with my brand new phone, all connected, set up and ready to go. You beauty! Next we found a Ray's Outdoors and bartered with the manager to get a set of 80 watt solar panels from $499 down to $379. Bargain! Then to Bunnings where the cheapest 1000 watt generator was $499 - too expensive. Out with my new phone - look up Masters, it's location and prices on gennies. Half an hour later we paid $98 for a 750 watter, which would be just fine to power our laptops and small stuff. Excellent! Finally to our favorite store, Dan Murphy's. Time to stock up on liquid supplies before heading west to Outback Australia, probably on Thursday.
Brian couldn't get out of the burbs quickly enough. We hightailed it back to the serenity of Canungra to have a play with our toys before going to Shelley and Adam's for dinner.
We woke to a cacophony of bird calls as dawn broke around 5 am Wednesday. The showgrounds at Canungra is really a delightful spot. We spent hours between us on our electronic devices 'doing stuff' - Brian up to his eyeballs in work and me mostly playing with my new toy. After breakfast we strolled into town for a coffee at 'The Outpost', a favorite Bikie haunt and the scene of a Bikie protest that was telecast on TV news the previous weekend. It also sells fantastic pies!
We were back at the van well in time for Shelley to pick us up to go for lunch on Mount Tamborine. Before going up the mountain we drove out past the Army Jungle Training Centre, two or three kilometers out of town, to a free camp at Sharp's Reserve on the Coomera River. We knew we had to be out of the showgrounds by Thursday morning as it was totally booked out by the Historical Military Vehicle Association (or some such thing), and if we wanted to stay longer Sharp's was the best option. It was a great spot. Quite large with lots of river-frontage to camp on, trees, hills, serenity - typical Canungra. Brian was in two minds about staying a few more days. He was really itching to head outback again, though he did love the area.
The drive up to Mount Tamborine was only 10 or so kilometers up a steep road. The views, as you can imagine, are spectacular. Depending on which roads you take at the top you can look for miles out to the east to the Gold Coast and ocean, or to the west and across farmland and distant ranges. Just beautiful! We went to Saint Bernards, an historic old Tudor-style pub that takes its name from the St Bernard dog. Inside a giant St. Bernard lay snoozing on the dark timber floor. He was just beautiful. We went through the lounge and bar area out to the courtyard at the back that sat atop a section of mountain with views to the sea. Shelley shouted me a birthday lunch which was delicious. As we were eating a peacock meandered through the tables displaying his stunning coat of feathers. He looked so elegant.
After a delightful afternoon Shelley dropped us back to the van. Brian still had heaps of work to do. He had decided we should head off in the morning, so I arranged with Shell for a 'sausage-in-bread' dinner for our last night together. I made a nice big fire, Adam brought a load of wood from home, Lachy played 'spotlighting' with Grumpy's torch and we enjoyed a very pleasant evening.
Thursday, October 17th. My birthday! Brian gave me a card with a naked old couple on the front. They were playing golf. The dialogue balloon coming from the granny said "This is a lot of fun dear". On the inside of the card she says, "But when I said let's get naked and play around, this wasn't what I meant".
Shell and Lachy arrived at the van early with a load of wood, a bunch of garden flowers and big hugs. Lovely presents! We were packed and ready to go, so we drove into Canungra, parked the Beast and van and went to Cafe Metz for cappuccinos and chocolate milk. Then we said our goodbyes and hit the road with a planned journey of 260 kilometers to Coolmunda Dam, half way between Warwick and Goondiwindi. We had added a fair bit more weight to the back of the Beast with Shelley's delivery and the new generator. It was really noticeable, mostly in the steering. Not far out of Canungra we pulled over and off-loaded four of the larger pieces of wood - a shame for us but lucky for some other pyromaniac (like me). It made quite a difference.
We drove back through Beaudesert, Boonah, the Cunningham Gap and Warwick, then south-west toward Inglewood, turning off the highway 16 km short of it to Coolmunda. Camps 7 had listed a free camp 5 km in, but when we arrived there it was closed off. Fortunately we had passed a camping area adjacent to the boat ramp back near the turn-off, so we went back, called the number on the sign at the entry gate and was told we could set up anywhere. Someone would come around at 5pm and collect $10 per person camp fees. Pretty exy given it was just a paddock with a toilet block - no showers, power, facilities etc. It was very basic, but a lovely spot, so we pulled in and set up near the water's edge, well away from the only other van there.
When we arrived the skies were clear and the thermometer in the van read 33 degrees. As the afternoon wore on the wind really blew up, then some dark clouds appeared on the horizon. By sunset we could see masses of lightening to the south-west, and sat by the beautiful fire I'd built being fully entertained by nature for ages. We cooked spuds on the coals for dinner, stuffed them with coleslaw and other yummy things and had just enough time to eat them before the rain started.
It rained heavily several times throughout the night. By the time we got up it was dry, though relatively cool and partially cloudy. We were getting ready to go exploring in Inglewood when a bloke drove up and stopped at the van. He introduced himself as 'Ross', the owner of the adjacent property and house a few hundred meters up the hill. He was on for a chat. Ross was full of local information, advice and opinion...some of it of value. We did find out (among a lot of other things) the best spot to fish, what was being caught on what bait, that we got 12 mm of rain during the night, how to get into town via the back road, that Bourke is a great spot and where to get a good coffee in Inglewood. We managed to extricate ourselves from the conversation after about 40 minutes. He could really talk!
We went into town as per Ross's directions, found the coffee shop and had a couple of really excellent cappuccinos served by the very friendly owner, Rob. Inglewood is situated on the Cunningham Highway on the banks of the Macintyre Brook. The quaint little town of around 800 residents was established in 1872 and it would appear there is a keen gardener in their midst who keeps the main street looking beautiful. There are gorgeous little built-up garden beds along the footpath interspersed with lovely big palm trees. The main street, which is on the highway, has three pubs, an IGA, a bakery built around a railway carriage and a dozen or so other businesses. The region is predominantly a farming area consisting of (according to my research) mostly small to medium-sized family owned properties (like Ross's) and a few larger corporate holdings.
Not long after we got home the sky started to darken...and darken...and darken. The radar, when we checked, was lighting up with intense colors and Shelley texted to advise there were severe storm warnings for our area, so we knew we were in for a big one. We packed up the chairs, generator and beer fridge, rolled up the awning and watched as almost 180 degrees of front approached with arcs and sparks, crashes and bangs. The wind howled around us, rocking the van and turning the lake into a churning mass of whitecaps. The rain was torrential. The three of us tucked up on the bed and cozily waited out close to three hours of storm. It was excellent!
Late afternoon we emerged from the van. The rain had stopped and the sun was peeping through the breaking clouds, but the wind was still blowing a gale and it was bloody cold. Brian stayed in hibernation. Not James and I. We stoked up a big fire, rugged up and watched as dusk approached and a full moon rose into a clear night sky. The moonlight reflected across the water was beautiful.
Saturday morning dawned clear, calm and sunny. The tinnie would definitely come down from its perch atop the Beast today. Brian launched himself into action early and by nine the boat was on the trailer ready to go. By the time we had done coffee in town, explored the district a little further, BJ had caught up on some work, read the paper (a rare treat) and rigged the lines, it was early afternoon. It's amazing how the days slide by! The dam had become quite busy. The first fisho went out just before 5 am, and by lunchtime there were dozens of craft on the water - jet skis, ski boats, fishing boats and kayaks. The place was abuzz, but with plenty of space it wasn't at all crowded.
Coolmunda Dam (according to wiki) has a surface area of 1740 ha, holds 75,000 ML of water and at 100% capacity is an average depth of 4.3 meters. Constructed in 1968 for irrigation purposes, it is fed by the Macintyre Brook, with Bracker Creek and Sandy Creek also providing inflows. Coolmunda Restocking Group Inc have released Murray Cod, Silver Perch and Yellowbelly into the dam, making it a popular spot for anglers. It's an open piece of water on mainly flat countryside. With very little to provide shelter it can, as we had observed, get really rough in windy weather.
It was still quite calm when we launched around 1pm. We fished for close to two hours, using big fat worms for bait. The depth sounder was working which enabled us to locate the original creek bed and anchor in over 10 meters of water. That didn't work so we moved...and moved...and moved without so much as a nip. We eventually gave up and moored the tinnie out in front of the van, heartened to see a couple of guys in another camp cleaning what appeared to be several large fish. We must have been in the wrong spot, using the wrong bait, wrong rigging, wrong time of day....or just bloody unlucky. No matter, there's always tomorrow.
As appeared to be the norm, the wind came up late in the afternoon. It was still comfortably warm though, and with a fire to take the chill off the night air,we sat out until bedtime.
After three quarters of the race it came down to a battle of the heavyweights. Ford versus Holden. It was gripping. Lowndes was flying, Tander was flying and Winterbottom in the lead was holding on for his life, the only one of the three who had never won Bathurst. The last 30 laps of a six and a half hour, 1000 kilometer endurance race turned into an absolute sprint race, with less than a second separating first and second. Amazing!
I'm a Holden girl, but Frosty is one of my favourites and I was really hoping he would win toward the end. It was without doubt the most gutsy driving performance I have ever seen as he drove that Ford like a man possessed to fend off a final lap charge from Whincup. I love the V8 Supercars!
All through Sunday night the wind blew an absolute gale. It was so persistent and strong we couldn't risk trying to roll the awning up so both laid awake pretty much all night waiting to hear it crash onto the roof of the van. Eventually it died down for a short time, so we raced out of bed and got the awning in. Then we snatched a bit of sleep before dawn. We had planned to drive some 250 km to catch up with my daughter, Shelley, her partner Adam and my grandson, Lachlan, who live at the base of Mount Tamborine, not far from the Gold Coast.
We left Millmerran at eight Monday morning heading on minor roads east/south-east to Warwick, driving through fields of grain. The wind was unrelenting and at times threatened to blow us completely off the road. Brian had a heck of a job just to keep us on the narrow, sometimes single-laned strips of bitumen. His concentration was at an absolute peak. We stopped at Warwick (pop approx. 12,500), an attractive south-eastern Queensland regional centre, 128 km from Brisbane.We parked in the pretty, treed main street and walked its length before having a great coffee, and a well-needed break for BJ.
At Warwick we picked up the Cunningham Hwy, climbing up over the Main Range National Park and through Cunninghams Gap toward the Eastern Seaboard. The views from the top of the range were spectacular and while the drive was scenic, the long, steep descent on the eastern side of the range had the brakes really heating up. We departed the highway at Fassifern where it took a more northerly heading for Brisbane, and we continued east passing through Boonah and Beaudesert before arriving at our destination, Canungra, a bit before 2pm. We booked in at the local showgrounds, chose a shady spot with access to power and a delightful bush and creek aspect.
Canungra is a small, picturesque, rural township in the Scenic Rim Region and has a population of around 800. It's primarily a tourist town, being a popular destination for visitors from the Gold Coast and Brisbane. It is also a well-frequented spot for motor bike riders who flock there in droves on weekends to enjoy brunch at one of the old, alfresco cafes or the iconic Canungra Pub. Set in a valley, the slopes around Canungra are steep and forested with some cleared farmlands and rural homes in the flatter valley areas. That's where my daughter lives, just 7 km out of town.
Four year-old Lachy goes to kinder at Canungra, just a short walk from the showgrounds. Shelley picked him up mid-afternoon and they dropped in. It was so lovely to see them! Lachy couldn't get into his bathers quickly enough so as to play in the clear waters of the Canungra Creek, flowing along the edge of the showground boundary. He and James had a great time splashing around, cooling off from the warm afternoon heat.
That night we all sat around the fire in front of the van enjoying pizzas from the shop just around the corner. Lachy was delighted with a box of wood off-cuts that a fellow Grey Nomad had given us when we left Chinchilla Weir. It was destined to delight a small boy rather than kindle our campfires.
Tuesday I had earmarked to totally indulge myself. I was going to buy a just-released 'Samsung Galaxy Note 111' mobile phone. My birthday present (for Thursday) to myself. How exciting! We also wanted to look at portable solar panels to boost our battery power and a small, lightweight generator. That meant a trip into the burbs. It was too warm to consider taking James and leaving him in the Beast, so I took him for a good walk in readiness to spend four or five hours in the van. The showgrounds is an interesting place. There are a couple of stock yards, a big, grassy arena, a couple of smaller, flat arenas, some big out-buildings, a variety of camping areas, some of which are right on the banks of the creek and it abuts a dairy farm with the stream pretty much encircling it. It's a great camp spot with hot showers and toilets as well - all surrounded by bushland, mountains and abundant bird-life. One of the nicer, cheap ($25 with power, $10 without) parks.
I took James down toward the creek and cow paddock. There was a herd of cows grazing just on the other side of the fence. He's right into cows. Often when we are traveling we come across cattle on the outback roads and naturally one of us will say "cows ahead". James can be fast asleep, but as soon as he hears the word "cow" he's sitting up as high as he can, searching for them. This was the first time he'd actually had the opportunity to get up close and personal, and dragged on the lead to get to the fence. The cows saw him coming and backed rapidly away. Then you could see them thinking to themselves; 'hang on, this tiny little thing can't hurt us - let's check it out', and with that they all headed toward him at the same time, snorting and blowing. They were amazingly inquisitive. Well... he shat himself. It was hysterical.
We decided to go to one of the major shopping complexes about 20 km away. We arrived at Helensvale Westfield at 9.30 and went straight to the Telstra Shop where, after maybe 90 minutes, I walked out with my brand new phone, all connected, set up and ready to go. You beauty! Next we found a Ray's Outdoors and bartered with the manager to get a set of 80 watt solar panels from $499 down to $379. Bargain! Then to Bunnings where the cheapest 1000 watt generator was $499 - too expensive. Out with my new phone - look up Masters, it's location and prices on gennies. Half an hour later we paid $98 for a 750 watter, which would be just fine to power our laptops and small stuff. Excellent! Finally to our favorite store, Dan Murphy's. Time to stock up on liquid supplies before heading west to Outback Australia, probably on Thursday.
Brian couldn't get out of the burbs quickly enough. We hightailed it back to the serenity of Canungra to have a play with our toys before going to Shelley and Adam's for dinner.
We woke to a cacophony of bird calls as dawn broke around 5 am Wednesday. The showgrounds at Canungra is really a delightful spot. We spent hours between us on our electronic devices 'doing stuff' - Brian up to his eyeballs in work and me mostly playing with my new toy. After breakfast we strolled into town for a coffee at 'The Outpost', a favorite Bikie haunt and the scene of a Bikie protest that was telecast on TV news the previous weekend. It also sells fantastic pies!
We were back at the van well in time for Shelley to pick us up to go for lunch on Mount Tamborine. Before going up the mountain we drove out past the Army Jungle Training Centre, two or three kilometers out of town, to a free camp at Sharp's Reserve on the Coomera River. We knew we had to be out of the showgrounds by Thursday morning as it was totally booked out by the Historical Military Vehicle Association (or some such thing), and if we wanted to stay longer Sharp's was the best option. It was a great spot. Quite large with lots of river-frontage to camp on, trees, hills, serenity - typical Canungra. Brian was in two minds about staying a few more days. He was really itching to head outback again, though he did love the area.
The drive up to Mount Tamborine was only 10 or so kilometers up a steep road. The views, as you can imagine, are spectacular. Depending on which roads you take at the top you can look for miles out to the east to the Gold Coast and ocean, or to the west and across farmland and distant ranges. Just beautiful! We went to Saint Bernards, an historic old Tudor-style pub that takes its name from the St Bernard dog. Inside a giant St. Bernard lay snoozing on the dark timber floor. He was just beautiful. We went through the lounge and bar area out to the courtyard at the back that sat atop a section of mountain with views to the sea. Shelley shouted me a birthday lunch which was delicious. As we were eating a peacock meandered through the tables displaying his stunning coat of feathers. He looked so elegant.
After a delightful afternoon Shelley dropped us back to the van. Brian still had heaps of work to do. He had decided we should head off in the morning, so I arranged with Shell for a 'sausage-in-bread' dinner for our last night together. I made a nice big fire, Adam brought a load of wood from home, Lachy played 'spotlighting' with Grumpy's torch and we enjoyed a very pleasant evening.
Thursday, October 17th. My birthday! Brian gave me a card with a naked old couple on the front. They were playing golf. The dialogue balloon coming from the granny said "This is a lot of fun dear". On the inside of the card she says, "But when I said let's get naked and play around, this wasn't what I meant".
Shell and Lachy arrived at the van early with a load of wood, a bunch of garden flowers and big hugs. Lovely presents! We were packed and ready to go, so we drove into Canungra, parked the Beast and van and went to Cafe Metz for cappuccinos and chocolate milk. Then we said our goodbyes and hit the road with a planned journey of 260 kilometers to Coolmunda Dam, half way between Warwick and Goondiwindi. We had added a fair bit more weight to the back of the Beast with Shelley's delivery and the new generator. It was really noticeable, mostly in the steering. Not far out of Canungra we pulled over and off-loaded four of the larger pieces of wood - a shame for us but lucky for some other pyromaniac (like me). It made quite a difference.
We drove back through Beaudesert, Boonah, the Cunningham Gap and Warwick, then south-west toward Inglewood, turning off the highway 16 km short of it to Coolmunda. Camps 7 had listed a free camp 5 km in, but when we arrived there it was closed off. Fortunately we had passed a camping area adjacent to the boat ramp back near the turn-off, so we went back, called the number on the sign at the entry gate and was told we could set up anywhere. Someone would come around at 5pm and collect $10 per person camp fees. Pretty exy given it was just a paddock with a toilet block - no showers, power, facilities etc. It was very basic, but a lovely spot, so we pulled in and set up near the water's edge, well away from the only other van there.
When we arrived the skies were clear and the thermometer in the van read 33 degrees. As the afternoon wore on the wind really blew up, then some dark clouds appeared on the horizon. By sunset we could see masses of lightening to the south-west, and sat by the beautiful fire I'd built being fully entertained by nature for ages. We cooked spuds on the coals for dinner, stuffed them with coleslaw and other yummy things and had just enough time to eat them before the rain started.
It rained heavily several times throughout the night. By the time we got up it was dry, though relatively cool and partially cloudy. We were getting ready to go exploring in Inglewood when a bloke drove up and stopped at the van. He introduced himself as 'Ross', the owner of the adjacent property and house a few hundred meters up the hill. He was on for a chat. Ross was full of local information, advice and opinion...some of it of value. We did find out (among a lot of other things) the best spot to fish, what was being caught on what bait, that we got 12 mm of rain during the night, how to get into town via the back road, that Bourke is a great spot and where to get a good coffee in Inglewood. We managed to extricate ourselves from the conversation after about 40 minutes. He could really talk!
We went into town as per Ross's directions, found the coffee shop and had a couple of really excellent cappuccinos served by the very friendly owner, Rob. Inglewood is situated on the Cunningham Highway on the banks of the Macintyre Brook. The quaint little town of around 800 residents was established in 1872 and it would appear there is a keen gardener in their midst who keeps the main street looking beautiful. There are gorgeous little built-up garden beds along the footpath interspersed with lovely big palm trees. The main street, which is on the highway, has three pubs, an IGA, a bakery built around a railway carriage and a dozen or so other businesses. The region is predominantly a farming area consisting of (according to my research) mostly small to medium-sized family owned properties (like Ross's) and a few larger corporate holdings.
Not long after we got home the sky started to darken...and darken...and darken. The radar, when we checked, was lighting up with intense colors and Shelley texted to advise there were severe storm warnings for our area, so we knew we were in for a big one. We packed up the chairs, generator and beer fridge, rolled up the awning and watched as almost 180 degrees of front approached with arcs and sparks, crashes and bangs. The wind howled around us, rocking the van and turning the lake into a churning mass of whitecaps. The rain was torrential. The three of us tucked up on the bed and cozily waited out close to three hours of storm. It was excellent!
Late afternoon we emerged from the van. The rain had stopped and the sun was peeping through the breaking clouds, but the wind was still blowing a gale and it was bloody cold. Brian stayed in hibernation. Not James and I. We stoked up a big fire, rugged up and watched as dusk approached and a full moon rose into a clear night sky. The moonlight reflected across the water was beautiful.
Saturday morning dawned clear, calm and sunny. The tinnie would definitely come down from its perch atop the Beast today. Brian launched himself into action early and by nine the boat was on the trailer ready to go. By the time we had done coffee in town, explored the district a little further, BJ had caught up on some work, read the paper (a rare treat) and rigged the lines, it was early afternoon. It's amazing how the days slide by! The dam had become quite busy. The first fisho went out just before 5 am, and by lunchtime there were dozens of craft on the water - jet skis, ski boats, fishing boats and kayaks. The place was abuzz, but with plenty of space it wasn't at all crowded.
Coolmunda Dam (according to wiki) has a surface area of 1740 ha, holds 75,000 ML of water and at 100% capacity is an average depth of 4.3 meters. Constructed in 1968 for irrigation purposes, it is fed by the Macintyre Brook, with Bracker Creek and Sandy Creek also providing inflows. Coolmunda Restocking Group Inc have released Murray Cod, Silver Perch and Yellowbelly into the dam, making it a popular spot for anglers. It's an open piece of water on mainly flat countryside. With very little to provide shelter it can, as we had observed, get really rough in windy weather.
It was still quite calm when we launched around 1pm. We fished for close to two hours, using big fat worms for bait. The depth sounder was working which enabled us to locate the original creek bed and anchor in over 10 meters of water. That didn't work so we moved...and moved...and moved without so much as a nip. We eventually gave up and moored the tinnie out in front of the van, heartened to see a couple of guys in another camp cleaning what appeared to be several large fish. We must have been in the wrong spot, using the wrong bait, wrong rigging, wrong time of day....or just bloody unlucky. No matter, there's always tomorrow.
As appeared to be the norm, the wind came up late in the afternoon. It was still comfortably warm though, and with a fire to take the chill off the night air,we sat out until bedtime.
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