6 March 2021
After leaving Rainbow Beach we had no idea which way to head. We changed our route 3 times before we settled on the Mt Lindsay Highway to head south on. Going was a little slow and the weather was poor with frequent rain. By late afternoon we arrived at Lions Road, a road that has been on our bucket list for many years. Last time we attempted this road, we found we were too heavy and tall for the road. Kyogile Council told us it was a thing of he past are we would be right to go. We got a couple of shocks as we passed signs on the Qld side of the border that said we were too heavy for the road (once we passed into NSW). This was not the case. One interesting point on this road is Spiral No 2 Tunnel where the train does a 540 degree turn to climb the hill. Amazing.
7 – 12 March 2021
The next few days were spent doing the tourists drives around the area, including Nimbin and the Border Ranges National Park. The Border Ranges were beautiful with a mixture of cloud, rain and blue skies. Our favourite lookouts were looking towards Mt Warning and The Pinnacle.
13 March 2021
Kyogile Rodeo joined us at the Kyogle Showgrounds tonight. Sadly, lighting is not good enough for our type of photography, so we we have to rely on memories of the event. We did get one aerial image of the line up to attend.
14 – 15 March 2021
We helped pick up some of the rubbish left behind after last night festivities and then took and easy day wandering around Kyogle via the coffee cake shop. Have also wanted to have some traditional Indian food and we found a authentic take away in town. Very tasty, Thank you Shimla Curry House!
16 – 17 March 2021
This morning we left for Casino to stock up on fuel and supplies before camping at the local show ground for a couple of nights. The weather has turned wet wet wet and the camping ground was just a swamp. Spent the day around the shops. There is some great street art in places.
18 March 2021
Today it was time to explore the rain forest back to Nimbin where we had booked tickets for the Nimbin Theatre, which was preforming “Dr Freudelstien Will See You Shortly”. We also took the dinner package which included a excellent thai meal. Whilst wait for the evening theatre, we checked out the candle factory and solar shop.
19 March 2021
With the cultural side of the trip over we decided to head west out of the upcoming rain event. Also we have had our mail sent to Tenterfield Post office which should be ready (famous last words). We set the GPS for Basket Swamp National Park and crossed the Great Dividing Range. Wellington Rock was such a beautiful spot to visit and we both enjoyed it.
20 – 24 March 2021
As the area has been recently water logged and with another rain event on the way we decided to stay on the hard top roads as much as possible. Some of the roads have become closed by fallen tree. Far to big to remove!
We hung round Bald Rock area and thought it was a great time to see Bald Rock Falls flowing, which it was. We also carefully climbed Bald Rock and found it very slippery in places. With the weather changing to rain we also thought it wise to stock up on food etc again, so a visit to Stanthorpe was organised for food and fuel. This later turned out to be a a smart decision as many of the roads around the area would become closed due to flooding.
By the 24th the New England Highway (North of NSW / Qld Border) had become blocked with us in Tenterfield, so we took a drive to Jennings / Wallangarra to check out the traffic and visit Girraween National Park.
25 March 2021
As we could still access Girraween National Park we had a wonderful day hiking the water logged slow where the recent rains flowed down usually dry rocky creek beds. Truely a unique experience.
Tomorrow we plan to travel back to see if the rest of our mail has turned up at the post office, this is where the whole trip changed.
26 March 2021
After checking with the post office and still missing 3 items of mail we headed off to do the local tourist route. The local information centre recommended we avoid Rocky River due to the recent rains (where we had planned to go) and to do the Drainage Rock loop. Sadly near Drainage Rock Lookout 4WDaus fell into the water soaked road. Not at speed and we were safe. Sadly, due to that days failed recovery attempt we ended up sleeping at 30 degrees. Certainly a good campsite laugh we will talk about for years to come.
27 – 31 March 2021
Recovery attempt number 2 with excavator was successful, but not (we would later find out) without damage. Also having been pulled further down the hill we decided it was prudent to wait a few days for the area to dry out before leaving. So we enjoyed the beautiful sunsets of Drainage Rock until the 31 March before leaving.
By the 31st our mail had arrived at the Post Office less 1 parcel so it was time to head for Inverell for repairs.