Calliope River 19 – 23 June 2013

Drove to Calliope, expecting to see a lovely historic town left over from the goldrush. Unfortunately progress has swept away any historic remanets and it has become a satellite town of Gladstone. Went another 8km up the road to Calliope River campsite and settled by the river for a few nights. The locals showed us the flood height in the January storms – the whole of the camping area was under water. We look down on the old bridge – it is slowly being destroyed by the river as it dashes large trees against the arches. On Wednesday we had a look at at a heritage village next to the camp site – the locals have made a great effort in moving all the old buildings, but it is proving an enormous task to maintain them. On Friday it was wet and cold, so we drove into Gladstone. Gladstone is like Port Kembla on speed, with a bigger port and more active industry. There is a transient population chasing the big dollars and then moving on. It always strikes us as a sad town, with a tiny one way main street that seems to symbolise the small minded nature of the town. However we did have some good luck in the op shops, picking up a great retro dress for Heather and Peter spotted a large Newtone vase for $6! We also found a great Indian café for lunch, so we ended up having a great day out, in spite of it being rather cold and very wet. On Saturday morning we went up to Mt Larcom, about 30km away for their Ag Show. This show was great fun –although not a large range of exhibitors, there was plenty to see in a relaxed atmosphere – a grand parade, craft displays, lots of cattle and horses and plenty of beefed up men showing their expertise with the axe and chainsaw. It is great to see these traditional shows thriving and attracting big crowds. That night we got more adventurous with our cooking on the fire and as well as barbequing our dinner, Heather made a beautiful damper in the coals that we shared with our neighbours over a glass of wine. Sunday had a quiet day and did some maintenance on the RV, while watching the bird life on the river.