A Little Further North - Mount Lindesay Highway

Mt Lindesay

We disappeared from Bald Rock about 8:30am after the best night's sleep since leaving Tamworth. The night was warmer for a start but it was also quiet with only animal and bird sounds breaking the silence.

The early stages of the road which passes Mount Lindesay on the Qld/NSW border was mostly very good gravel and despite the rain which fell only as showers, we were not bothered by the security of the surface. We reached Legume without drama and then headed away from the main road towards Kilkarney until turning north on the road to Boonah past Queen Mary Falls. This was as far as we got as the road was impassable: well impossible for us to take our trailer without voiding insurance. Sue viewed the falls by herself, as a ballooned knee from playing cricket in Armidale was making walking rather slow and even more painful for me.

After coffee, we retraced our steps back to Legume and picked up the Mount Lindesay Rd again. It was a trial, as this section of the road was often narrow bitumen with broken edges and it was impossible to find a part of the road that wasn't rough and car rattling. By the time we had reached Woodenbong, we up for a rest so boiled the billy and had lunch. Here Sue snapped the Ned Kelly payment system at the local municipal camping area.

After lunch the road improved and the scenery became dramatic as Mount Lindesay started to appear in the distance before disappearing behind trees and hills as the road undulated and turned its way toward the border. Coming over a rise, we were confronted my the image of Mount Lindesay filling the windscreen between the lines of trees on either side of the road. We hardly noticed the border gates as we went through into Qld. It is an incredible sight rising rapidly from lower slopes as a gigantic volcanic plug - the core of a volcano - towered up to the clouds and blue sky which took turns to provide a palette on which the mountain constantly repaints itself. We managed to find a spot where trailer and car could safely get off the road and snapped some awesome photos.

The trip to Beudessert was a lovely drive but the turn of to Tamborine drove us into a huge thunderstorm which had the wipers on maximum and the speed down to 40kms an hour for most of the 20kms. It was scary, particular when a van was breathing down our neck and it was with some relief that we managed to get off the road and wait the torrent out.

TODAY'S PHOTOS

From Tamborine, we motored more happily to Brisbane and the home of Sue's sister and brother in law, Judy and Russell. The evening was pleasant - as always - and we fell into bed ready for sleep.