Queensland Here We Come

 Spooked at Bengalla

I'm not sure why, but I got the heebie-jeebies at this free camp called Bengalla Reserve, just outside Goondiwindi. Maybe it was because its name sounded similar to Belanglo, the state forest where the notorious serial killer Ivan Milat murdered seven backpackers in the '90s, but it just felt really earie. We decided not to unhitch the camper in case we needed to make a sharp exit 😧. Another weird thing about the place was that, by fluke, we seemed to have set up the camper straddling the border between New South Wales and Queensland. We have identical phones and watches, yet Steve's were on NSW time, and mine showed QLD time 😵. We woke up pretty early, so we opted for Steve's time zone and skedaddled very quickly.

The Scenic Route to the Scenic Rim

On the advice of the good folk at Warwick's tourist info centre, we ventured to our next destination via the subtropical rainforests and the breathtaking mountains along the Settlers Route. It took us a while because it appeared that there was a waterfall around every corner.

Queen Mary Falls

Goanna Be a Fun-gi Day

On Easter Sunday, my birthday wish was to swim in a waterfall and encounter some wild creatures, so we set off on a hike through the rainforest to Cronan's Creek at Mount Barney.  Wary of what might be lurking beneath, I jumped in fully clothed, hiking boots and at.  It was refreshingly delicious after a long trek. 

Along the path, we spotted various mushrooms and pondered if they were the same kind Erin Patterson uses in her Beef Wellington 😬.  I considered collecting some, in case living on the road with Steve ever takes its toll, but then I remembered I don't know how to reverse the camper 😆

We also saw heaps of goannas and a magnificent python basking on the trail. By 2 pm, our appetites were huge, and we settled down in a hidden nook for a picnic. 

A Goanna Day is a Good Day

Snake sunbaking

Being the classy chick that I am, I sipped Verve from a plastic tumbler. It was a truly memorable birthday😊

Oliver, Master of Olive View Estate

During our visit to the Scenic Rim area, we’ve been staying in the paddock of an olive farm just outside of Boonah.  It’s a Hipcamp spot, kind of like Airbnb for camping, where landowners host campers for a fee.  Here, we befriended Ollie, the most photogenic goat you could imagine.   

At this camp we woke up to kangaroos bounding everywhere, and we spent the evening setting the world straight around the fire pit.

Home of Australia’s Best Pies – allegedly

It appears that every small town boasts about having the best pies, and Ferndale was no exception. They had a rather distinctive pie selection. For a fleeting moment, we toyed with the idea of Emu, Kangaroo, Crocodile, or Camel, but "Chickened" out and went for good old Steak n Kidney. It was scrumptious. And of course, Steve managed to sniff out a local brewery as well.

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