While we were at Roma we were closely following the weather forecast, as there was rain predicted in the area in the coming days…..and the rain started on our final night there.
Our original plan, or should I say general idea, was to head north to Carnarvon Gorge. Now, that would not work out if it was wet, so once again we changed our plans. Mick has this theory that “if it isn’t planned, it can’t go wrong”. It sometimes drives me nuts, but when wandering around with the caravan, with nothing pre booked and no real time frame, it can work out to be the case.
So, instead of heading north, we headed east towards Mile, once again on a road we haven’t been on for a very long time.
The first place we came to was Wallumbilla, a tiny old railway settlement. The tourist brochures refer to the “Calico Cottage” located there, so we thought we had better pop in.
Next to the old railway station is a rustic old “Wheat Shed” and a small heritage area, which was closed when we drove through.
“Calico Cottage” had recently moved from the heritage area into the new “Wheat Shed”, a beautiful, spacious, light building, modelled on the original wheat shed. It's realyl well done. Inside are some Council areas and a delightful craft shop, also serving light meals. We didn’t need anything at that time, but bought some yummy jam drops, cooked by the ladies in the kitchen there.
Most of the day was driving through farmland and bushland, but there were the occasional interesting features, such as the bright pink pub at Dulacca.
In the middle of nowhere, there was a large wind farm.
We arrived at Miles in time for an early lunch at the bakery. They made good pies and I had to have a sarsparilla, for old times sake. When I visited cousins in rural Queensland in the early 1980s, “Sars” was the drink of choice. I was amazed that Coke wasn’t even sold in the milk bars back then.
While in Miles we visited the local Vinnies and they announced as we entered that all clothing was $3. I had a bit of a look to see if there were any shirts that Mick could use for working at the bowling club, and found one that looked OK. I noticed that it was a “Gant” brand, which are fairly good. It was only once we were back on our way that I noticed that it still had the swing tag attached. Mr Google told me that the identical shirt retails for $229.00! Score. Mick has been advised that it won’t be worn as a work shirt. I found an as new pair of Corfu jeans as well. We were rather happy with that.
There is also a charity book store and they had this rather cute bookworm in the front window.
We scored there too. Mick has been reading a series of books. There are 6 and he had been missing number 5. He found it not too long ago. To his delight, he found Number 7, only published this year. I also scored, as I found this interesting shaped jigsaw. I think there may be one piece missing, as there is a cross on the picture, but I can live with that. Total price for the two items - $5. Going to Miles turned out to be a good thing.
Once we were on the road again the rain started, as we had expected.
We decided to set up camp mid afternoon at the little town of Taroom, while it wasn't raining. There is a main free camp site, but you park on the dirt, so not ideal in the weather. You can also camp in the car park at the Lions Club Park, which is sealed. That suited much better as it turned out, as we had quite heavy rain during the night. Carnarvon Gorge received even heavier rain, so our change of plans was the right thing to do.
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