St Lawrence 16 – 21 July 2013

Said goodbye to Rockhampton and drove up to a free camp at St Lawrence. This is situated at a showground and we picked a lovely spot looking into the bush. While we enjoyed the sunset last night, there was a spectacular sunset tonight with the sky lit up with hues of yellow and pink reflected on the clouds, topped up with a brilliant moon.

On Wednesday we went into the village and had a look around. The village was an old port that has shrunk down to about a dozen houses, a pub and a general store. We had a look at the small cemetery and were saddened by the number of old headstones that mentioned the death of babies and young children – times were tough for everyone then. Visited a lagoon next to the camp that was home to a variety of wetland birds – a beautiful spot. That night we wandered up to the top of the reserve for a barbeque and to watch the state of origin. The crowd was a good-natured mixture of blue and maroon, however the final score did not reflect the superior performance of NSW – has to be right for next year!!

On Thursday morning we got up very early and watched the sun come up over the wetland. We surprised a mob of kangaroos quietly grazing on the rushes; however they didn't seem too perturbed and after a long stare, went back to their chores. Saw a great variety of birds waking up and flying off to feed – especially wonderful were the Magpie Geese and White Egrets. That night we lit a fire, cooked our dinner over the fire and watched the sunset – not as spectacular as the last one but still breath taking.

Went for a drive near the mouth of the river and saw the most amazing sight. It was low tide and the river had dropped about 15m to reveal walls and a bottom of thick fine mud. Peter could just imagine jumping in and have a great mud bath, but was restrained by Heather! Afterwards we found another lagoon, even more scenic than the last one. There were masses of plant life and water birds and we got some great photos. Had another beautiful night watching the stars and dancing under a full moon. For our tea, Heather made a lovely raisin damper in the coals of our fire. We have been camped down the end of the paddock and have not been disturbed by neighbours. The only noise has come from conveys of Australian army trucks involved in a joint exercise with US troops. They bivouac in tents overnight on the way to the war games, but are gone early in the morning. Have just got news about the Nauru riots. Thankfully Laura was safe in her accommodation at the time, however she was very upset about all the damage and the impact it will have on the men who were not involved in the riots. At first she thought she would stay there to help clean up, but we have just heard that she is being evacuated and will be in Sydney tomorrow (thank goodness).