After the puddle weekend I just want to put up a quick post about the location for the teardrop get together; Gordon country camping in the Goomburra valley. It was our first visit to this campground but won’t be the last. Set along the Dalrymple Creek, nestled amongst the mountains of the Main Range National Park, this peaceful retreat is a glorious escape from civilisation. Wildlife and bird life abound, camp sites are spread out, so it is easy to find isolation and peace. Pets are welcome and the park is dog friendly, so a bonus if you want to camp with fur family. There is absolutely no phone and no WiFi, which is another plus, unless you really want to take work with you. Showers and toilets are a bit spread out, we stayed at the Black Cockatoo site so we had ready access to clean modern facilitates; flushing toilets and hot showers. It is important to be water conscious, there is no potable water on site and showers need to be short given the drought. You can buy water from the site shop if you need to, along with other basics.
Essentially Black cockatoo was a big cow paddock and we shared the location with the resident herd, which was small. Drought is taking a toll, I assume they are de-stocking, at least I hope they are, as things are not looking promising at the moment and a hard summer is only going to make things worse. There was no green pick for the cattle or for that matter for wildlife and the drive in sadly featured significant road kill. Roos and wallabies falling foul of cars while trying to find some green pick on the road side. The creek is still flowing but only just, it is a beautiful location, still attracting abundant bird life, all the usual suspects, lots of fairy wrens, yellow faced honey eaters and rose robins, we saw a lone swallow at one stage and the usual larger species, lots of currawongs, magpies and kookaburras. The creek makes for a lovely walk, cool and peaceful.
As an added bonus, just up the road is Lowies of Goomburra, who open a great coffee shop on the weekends, home of fantastic coffee and pizza. Your host Paul is an amiable bloke who is eager for a chat. He has an eclectic collection of collectables and has recycled many pieces into a new functional life. The gardens surrounding the coffee shop are gorgeous even with the drought and the place is well worth a visit for the coffee, and a chat. You might be greeted by Bartholomew, Paul’s smiling amiable dalmatian. It has been a while since I have encountered a smiling dog, it was lovely to be greeted in the car park by the beautiful Bartholomew, I once had a German shepherd who would smile at guests, if you are not used to dogs, I guess it can be a bit frightening to be greeted by a dog that wants to display their canines, but the body language is all friendly, they are just copying a human behaviour they have come to associate with friendliness, so you get a big friendly canine smile with a wagging tail and backside.
It was a very relaxing weekend getaway, and with Goomburra Valley being only an hour from Toowoomba it is a location we will visit again.
Gum trees and Galaxies 