One of a pair of Pale-headed Rosellas in the Eucalypt woods.

We’ve had a nice gentle day today. We spent the morning doing a couple of the walks in Cania Gorge. The first walk was at the north end of the National Park where, once again, gold mining had been taking place in the early 20th century. There isn’t much left on the surface but it was a nice walk anyway, taking us along the creek and then through a eucalypt forest.
Lots of bird life in the forest including a pair of Pale-headed Rosella which is a species we’ve not come across before. We were hoping to sight a Koala but no such luck unfortunately.

Not sure what these little lizards living on the sandstone rocks are. They are about 3 inches long and beautifully coloured.

The second walk we took was up to the Two Storey Cave. The walk to and from the cave was interesting with lots of lizards and a particularly nasty looking spider. There were some red ochre paintings on the way there and in the cave itself. Not sure if they’re old or modern in origin. The ones on the outside were very faint and the ones in the cave looked too fresh but who knows…
Having walked off breakfast we set off back to Monto to get some fuel before heading cross country to the coast. We also decided that second breakfast, or lunch, was something we couldn’t resist in Monto.
The cross country route from Monto to Gladstone is a really nice road to drive. Lots of tight twisty sections and climbs/descents along with rail crossings with no lights where you have to “Give Way” to trains. We soon realised that the train track wasn’t in use anymore as in some places the fence cut across it and in one place a load of tyres were piled on the track.
We crossed numerous rivers and creeks along the way, many of the crossings have been upgraded to have concrete flood ways but a good number sported old wooden bridges that have had a layer of Tarmac on top with little or no parapet.

One of the many old wooden bridges on our route today.

You know you’re following the “road less travelled” when you come across a sign on the road that says “Unsuitable for Trucks, Buses, Caravans, Trailers.”. This was on the surfaced part of the road where there was a long descent down a single track section of road with hairpin bends around blind corners. I think the sign makers were just covering their bets though as there were also signs on the way down reminding buses and trucks to stay in low gear !
As we skirted the northern part of the Many Peaks Range we followed the edge of the Awoonga Reservoir which caused us to stop and take in the sight. There seemed to be a forest of trees that have been flooded by the reservoir creating a really strange sight. Not sure how long the reservoir has been at that level but all the trees look dead.

An underwater forest on the reservoir’s edge.

We eventually joined the highway again at Calliope where we headed east again to the coast and to our chosen site for the night at Tannum Sands. From this point on we’ll mostly be heading south give or take the odd inland excursion.
Tomorrow we need to stock up at the supermarket and find somewhere to wash the Land Rover. It’s a bit smelly at the moment courtesy of the cows that hang around the road in Cania Gorge and liberally cover the road with manure. I managed to drive through one of the larger, fresher ones yesterday and, frankly, it went everywhere and stinks !
We’ll probably take a wander to the beach and maybe have a swim before heading down the coast to our next stop, wherever that may be…