We had both been trying to shake off a head cold for over a week and we though this might be responsible for Michael having high blood sugar levels. In Kingaroy the monitor actually indicated that he needed to check his ketone levels. So we went to Kingaroy hospital, hoping that they had a diabetes specialist nurse or a diabetic clinic. No luck, and we ended up going through the emergency department. A very helpful nurse, Henry, checked Michael's blood without much of a delay, and then he persuaded a doctor to see us and explain the results. The doctor gave us instructions, a prescription and told us to return to emergency the next day to check the levels again. We then got fuel, food and the prescription and went on to Nanango to meet old friends for lunch.
It's 25 years since we last saw Yvonne and this was the first time we were to meet her husband Spider.
It was great to see them both and although Yvonne was a little frail she was really well! Fantastic when you think that she had AML (leukaemia) 27 years ago.
After lunch we followed them out to their 40 acres and their house on the hill - what a beautiful spot.
Easy to see why they are loth to travel far.
Yvonne has worked tirelessly removing lantana and the result is a spectacular 'parkland cleared' garden.
They have an amazing variety of birdlife, including white winged choughs and apostle birds that we had never seen before.
(Michael dutifully returned to the hospital the next day, and what a difference a day makes - neither Henry nor the doctor were on duty and despite having his levels checked, he was still sitting there 2 hours later. It was getting close to time for him to eat, and they did know that the levels had dropped so he left and came back to join us for lunch.)
We were set up on their lawn, near the front deck and settled down to 4 days of relaxing, chatting, eating and drinking. We had one little excursion out to Coomba Falls, at Maidenwell, but Yvonne was disappointed that her favourite quiet waterhole was busy with people swimming (Easter weekend!)
(Michael's levels were now back in normal range - but at least we have the information and means to check ketone levels ourselves and have the means to treat high levels. Good idea to check before we head out into outback Queensland and down through Alice Springs to Ayers Rock.)
All too soon our wonderful stay came to an end,
and we drove away, leaving Nanango and starting the journey west.
We couldn't leave 'peanut country' without trying "boiled peanuts", a local delicacy. The lady gave us one each to try - they are boiled in their shell and eaten cold so they feel disgusting and are messy to open! They taste quite bland and soapy so we gave them a miss and bought a bag of Mexican Salsa and a bag of Chilli and Lime. (the chilli and lime are delicious).
We stopped for the night just before Chinchilla at 'Round Waterhole Rest Area'. Even though it was the Easter weekend and there were a lot of people on the road we had the place to ourselves for a couple of hours - well apart from the turtles in the waterhole and the birds that is. One of the birds spotted was ' A Spangled Drongo' - isn't that the best name ever.
Other vans arrived later but we didn't hear them set up, or indeed leave early the next morning.
The weather was still quite warm, 29 degrees but the humidity is now 45%, much better than close to the coast.
At night we looked out of the window and were treated to a beautiful sight - the full moon reflected in the water. You could almost feel the serenity of it all!!
Next morning our fellow campers had left and we ourselves were on the road by 9.30. We drove into Chinchilla - a reasonable town but with nothing awe inspiring so we pressed on to Miles and then up to 'Possum Park'. Possum Park is where we heard that there are bunkers from the "Brisbane Line".
( When it was thought that Japan may invade Australia the government drew a line from Brisbane to Adelaide and was prepared to 'surrender' those places north of the line. When the war was over this contingency plan was denied by the government, but the existence of the bunkers betrays the lie.)
Anyway, we drove out there (20 kms north of Miles) and discovered that the bunkers are not accessible to sightseers, they are in a caravan park and you have to be a guest to get access. As it was only just 10 o'clock we didn't check in we turned around and left. Back to Miles for morning tea and then on west to Roma.
The countryside quickly changed to be more familiar to us, more like WA with dry paddocks, stands of thin gum trees and a few cattle. The temperature was around 36 degrees as we arrived in Roma. The fabulous Queensland Bottle trees are used as street trees in Roma and that does add a unique aspect to the town. As it was Easter Monday everywhere in town was closed, well apart from one shop - the antique / secondhand shop but we were perfectly able to resist his prices.
We turned north again at Roma and checked into the caravan park in Injune for the night. The temperature dropped to 29 degrees and we had a very brief shower which unfortunately raised the humidity up to 70%. We were thankful for the power at the caravan park and turned on the a/c.
We continued our journey northward through some really splendid country, the landscape changing within a few short miles, from lush forest to typical Aussie bush to dry 'range' country with the magnificent Great Dividing Range as the backdrop. We crossed over dry creek beds and overflowing creek beds where the water was almost lapping at the road's edge.
We then entered 'tropical' country near Emerald. As we approached Emerald we spotted little white 'cotton balls' lying on the roadside - and that's exactly what they were - we were in Cotton country.
We stopped for a look around Emerald but neither of the 2 caravan parks nor the town itself appealed so after a quick shop for fresh bread and veg we pressed on. We passed a farmer harvesting cotton - the cotton bales are huge and are wrapped in a bright yellow plastic wrap - they look great.
A few miles out of Emerald we entered Gem Country and near the towns of Sapphire and Rubyvale we stopped at the hamlet of Anakie - a few houses, a pub and a caravan park.
The caravan park is quaint, old fashioned and has one of the cleanest, freshest smelling ablution blocks.
There are so many birds around - before dark it was so noisy!! There are galahs, rainbow lorrikeets, corellas and sulphur crested cockatoos - it was mayhem and glorious!!
Tomorrow we press on west - and really into the tropics. The Tropic of Capricorn!
This blog took ages to do because the connection was so poor - hopefully optus will stay with us through to the Nullarbor but if you don't hear from us for a while it won't be for lack of trying.
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