Saturday, April 5, 2014

Ravenswood and the Dam with Mr E...

Yesterday was the final day of the first 2014 school term in our state, so before the tourists arrive to holiday along our tropical coast Mr E and I thought we'd head south west to the little town of Ravenswood, then further south to the Burdekin Falls Dam. Because we both work from home we're able to swap our work days around, so armed with water and cameras we embarked on the 400 kilometre round trip!


Ravenswood is 120 kilometres from home, so that was our first stop. It really is the tiniest of towns with a population of less than 190, one main street, a corner store/post office, and a couple of heritage pubs.


It's like stepping back in time...


One old homestead is now a museum...

The old ambulance station sits along the river edge...

After the recent rain this previously parched ground is lush and green again...


Love the Aussie artwork on the local loo, too...


Purchasing a couple of iced coffees we got back on the road and headed to the Burdekin Falls Dam, 80 kilometres further south west. It was a slower trip than we'd imagined because we had to share the road with hundreds of cows with calves, freely grazing the unfenced roads and paddocks along the entire 80 kilometre stretch of road.

I took these photos through the windscreen as Mr E tooted the car horn at least 50 times in an hour to clear the road for us...


Some felt the need to assert who was really 'driving' this path...

Arriving at the dam about an hour after leaving Ravenswood we agreed it was worth the extra travel time!
This is the largest dam I have ever been to, and as I walked down to the viewing hut I could hear the increasingly deafening crescendo of water rushing over the spillway...





If you look closely at the middle bottom of the photo below you will see a brave pelican cooling himself in the rush of water...


I was surprised to see many of them down there, so zoomed in for a closer shot...

The views from the hut were simply breathtaking! You feel so small gazing at all this from high above...


The camping grounds are well set out with lots of covered picnic tables and bbq's, shady trees and gardens, and a magpie looking for a free lunch...






I even managed to catch a sneak pic of Mr E, although I have a suspicion that he spotted me!


Before we left the dam I took a quick trip to the camp toilets...


Our trip home was a repeat of the trip to the dam, but this time we stopped and wound down the windows to get some good cow photos, plus a couple of birds we've never seen before and couldn't identify - some lovely readers have now identified them as Brolgas - thank you, they are so beautiful...






One last photo before we turn right, back on to the highway...


What a wonderful adventure it was!
Today we're back to work again, but more than a little relaxed and refreshed after our drive in the country.

I hope you have an adventure like this soon, too!

hugs


25 comments:

Terry said...

More beautiful pictures! That dam is amazing...it's so big! Thanks for sharing! :0)

Christine said...

love your day out...beautiful countryside....the birds are brolgas...I always feel it is so special to see brolgas...

Anonymous said...

Hi Jenny, Love your blogs and all your beautiful photos, these inspire one to get out and see some of our beautiful countryside, pity in the big cities it takes so long to get there and they are spreading all the time and traffic so heavy, at least in Sydney, but a trip up to the mountains and southern highlands etc is begging, autumn a great time too. Have less than a week ago returned from a wonderful car trip around New Zealand's main Islands, 3 weeks hardly does it justice but we did manage to do 5000 kms and what we saw is beautiful, much of it so green and lush with some beautiful autumn colour, magnificent trees and lots of scenic waterways, beautiful gardens, interesting diversity in the landscape as well, and we were all excited to see snow on the glaciers and mountains, one thing we observed was the cattle seemed smaller varieties than ours and of course we saw lots of gorgeous sheep along our travels, also beautiful character buildings and homes and farming properties, reminded me a little of my home state Tasmania but on a larger scale, of course the landscape very different, there were lots of ooos and rrrrrrs. Photos often don't seem to do it justice, we have the basic cameras. Something about countryside, beautiful trees and water just washes over a fantastic calm feeling, so looking forward to seeing some of our own beautiful countryside and autumn colour in the coming weeks and sorting our photos from New Zealand. It is so good getting out and enjoying what is right on our doorstep and having the opportunity to see some of your part of our beautiful country is great and as you say being able to do it on a week day and out of holiday time makes a huge difference. Thank you for sharing and for all your interesting blogs. Judithann

Cheryll said...

I feel like you took me along too....so thanks :)

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Thank you, Christine! I wondered if they were brolgas? They're beautiful - reminded me of a favourite Aussie Christmas carol, "Out on the plains the brolgas are dancing..."

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Well goodness me, Judithann, you've had quite an adventure yourself! One day Mr E and I shall head across the ditch to travel NZ...
What a wonderful 'press release' you've given the NZ travel board. :-) xx

Cindy said...

Dam good pictures! LOL! Thanks for taking us along.

Marsha B said...

Love your pictures, that blue sky is amazing!

Unknown said...

Great photos! The selfie is priceless! Thanks for taking us along!

Quilt-Duo said...

Hallo Jenny
Schon lange verfolge ich deinen Blog.Ich habe mich aber immer nicht getraut ,da ich kein englisch spreche. Danke für die schönen Bilder und das wir an deinem Abenteuer teilhaben dürfen. Ich hoffe meine Zeilen werden übersetzt.Ich wünsche dir und deinen Lieben noch ein schönes Wochenende und uns viele neue Einträge auf deinem Blog.
mit quiltigen Grüßen Manuela (Herne Deutschland )

Noela said...

Lovely photos, looks like you had a wonderful day. Hugs.......

Maria said...

Wonderful photos, Jenny! That dam is certainly huge....looks like there's been good rainfall! The cattle on the road reminds me of the cows which would wander on the railway line that the Mary Valley Rattler would run on...the train would just have to wait...train whistle/horn had no effect! Lol

RoseMary Baty-Willcox said...

Thank You for sharing your life and country with us..Beautiful Beautiful Land.

Nita said...

I enjoy your travel pics - we visited Australia a fee years ago, so it's fun to get to visit again via your posts. Someday we will come back (maybe next year!) what is the giant white bird on the side of the road? I don't recognize it.

Stitches said...

What beautiful pictures and a wonderful trip, thanks for taking me along with you...

Elizabeth said...

At first I thought the picture from above the dam was a painting! You really know how to focus that camera!

I'm going to read about brolgas because I've never even heard that word before and wouldn't have had a clue what you were talking about if you hadn't shared a picture of them.

Blogging is such a wonderful thing as we all get to see pictures and meet people all over the world. So a big thank you for your contribution to that!

Anonymous said...

What a lovely drive. thank you for sharing it with us. I can see how that would relax you for the coming week.

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Nita, it's a Brolga...they are dancing birds. :-)

miss~nance said...

What fun adventures you have, love your photos. That dam looked huge and how quaint was the old town..... hugs

Gail XX

Anonymous said...

Yes Jenny it was quite an adventure and well worth a trip to NZ so I hope you and Mr E can make it happen one day, I am imagining your wonderful photos right now. Our timing with the weather and season was perfect we really felt so blessed especially for our Cairns friends travelling with us, (our cut off was for travel before April) although the husband did unfortunately suffer from his asthma for the first part of it but managed to make the most of it, it was really his only travel/holiday wish to see NZ as his sister had made it her home for over 40 yrs. My husband and I would love to return one day if it were possible but very happy to have seen what we did, especially with four of us to consider. All the best, Judithann :-) xx

Tammy said...

Beautiful photos. I love looking at your photos . I know I have said it before but will say again. Your country is gorgeous. The Us is so overpopulated and so many cities not enough open land where I live. We moved from the city 3 years ago to 2 acres and think it is heaven but compared to your photos it is nothing.

Kaylee said...

Gorgeous photos as usual, what a wonderful day and the weather looked great too.

Lynn - JnL4God said...

Oh thank you so much for the trip through the country. I so love a Sunday drive. (or any day drive) Countryside was beautiful, sky was awesome. I can see how that was very relaxing.

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KaHolly said...

What a delightful post! It makes me want to visit Australia even more, now! It's already at the very top of my travel wish list!