Final leg - in from the wilds

The last 500K's of our journey from FNQ back to "civilization",  by which I mean the 21st Century dream that is Buddina where Lindsey lives, was full of contrast.  It began in the sleepy sparsely populated Central Highlands around the cotton and wheat town of Moura, went through the busy citrus growing areas of the Central Burnett Region around Gayndah, and ended in the whizzing coastal traffic of the Bruce Highway, hurtling towards the glitzy sparkles of the Sunshine Coast.

This shot showing one of thousands of drifts of raw cotton lying on the roadside near Moura Cotton Ginnery was taken at the start of our day's drive.

We saw what we took to be cotton fields in the area but not many looked productive, perhaps it has been too dry for too long. The irrigation infrastructure is there though in the form of channels, sluice gates and so on.

David has a new favourite tree, the bottle tree. There were many fine specimens on the Leichardt Highway (incidentally, hardly a highway in the usual sense of the word as we barely saw another vehicle).

The area shows the characteristics of drought recovery in its treescape, bare twigs and branches emerging from a recovering canopy. It all looks very green and lush. Locals say - we didn't have a winter (dry) season this year, it just rained the whole time!

Another kind of recovery, that of the international price of gold has led to rejuvenation of the tiny ghost town of Cracow. Apparently they have reopened a gold mine there and we saw newly purpose built miner's accommodation alongside abandoned old buildings such as these:

Of course the Cracow Hotel does a roaring business, its presence advertised for kilometres either side of town by signs hand painted on rusty corrugated iron sheets, enquiring as to our thirst or the thirst situation of our mates and so forth.

Gayndah was the halfway point and our tongues were hanging out for a repeat of the luscious juice provided on our journey up by "The Big Orange", during what was then mandarin season. However picking is now over and The Big Orange was shut up as tight as a fish's arse. We went there and stood outside it, looking forlornly at the closed shutters, looking like idiot townies no doubt.  There was nothing for it but to vent our feelings by disrespecting the sculpture in the main street.

Gayndah claims to be Queensland's oldest town (est 1848). Certainly it has the oldest, in fact the only still operating anywhere, "Flying Fox Change Dispenser" at Mellors Drapery and Haberdashery, which the lady behind the counter cheerfully demonstrated, as they still use it to whizz the EFTPOS paperwork to the office in the centre of the shop.

Arrived in Buddina about 6.30pm, immediately scooped up little granddaughter Sharloe, who has just started walking. She loves the world and everybody in it, adorable.