Well our time in the Scenic Rim had to eventually come to an end and even though we will definitely be coming back for another visit we packed up and headed west. On our way we passed by a butcher we had enjoyed from our time at Moogerah lake and picked up some tasty bacon and ham.
After winding our way through the valleys of the Scenic Rim we began to gain altitude as we headed up the northern part of the Great Dividing range towards an area known as the Granite Belt. Again the recent rains meant that we were treated to some pretty amazing views of beautiful green fields.
Our destination was a farm about an hour west of the town of Warwick and we were soon heading down a dusty dirt track wondering if we were heading in the right direction but after about 20km we arrived at Carbean Farm and were greeted by our cheerful host Sandy and his wife Lyle!
The farm was 7,000 acres and was predominantly used for sheep. Unfortunately this area had been subject to some huge droughts and so they had to sell all their stock and now with livestock being so expensive it is going to take them time to rebuild but they seemed determined to do so. It must have been so hard during those dry times and quite hard for us to imagine as the whole area is currently so green and lush after all the rains we have had.
Our campsite was next to a damn which was completely full and apart from one other couple on our first night we again had the whole place to ourselves for our 5 night stay. We had a drop toilet which was v clean and actually quite nice to use but the highlight was the outdoor bush shower where we had to warm our water by lighting a fire under a copper pot. Although a little time consuming it was actually quite fun to do. Our only challenge was trying to time our showers to avoid the afternoon thunderstorms which came through with disappointing regularity in the afternoon.
The days on the farm were quite hot and humid and while we enjoyed some walks around the area we did also spend a lot of time relaxing next to the dam in the shade. Sarah as always got the yabby trap out early on and on the first night managed to catch 20 in one go!! They were very tasty but unfortunately Sarah also discovered that her trap wasn’t platypus friendly and as there may have been one in the stream we decided to pause our trapping in case we caught one.
We had plenty of fun swimming in the dam, walking, mountain biking and cooking on campfires but it has to be mentioned that there were some quite amazing thunderstorms passing through the area and a couple of afternoons were complete wash outs and a couple of times we all ended up bunkered down in the camper and a couple of times we all ended up in the Ute!! The thunder was pretty loud and on occasions the lightning came pretty close too!
It’s quite difficult camping in these situations as you want to be near trees for shade while not being under a tree while also not being the tallest thing in an open field. Luckily so far we have been fine and dry! Hopefully soon the storms will cease and we will be able to get back to sitting outside enjoying the great outdoors. T