Day 37: A Last Kiss from the Sun

December 21, 2010

We headed northwest out of Ipswich last night on the Brisbane Valley Highway. Not far up we find a campground at Lake Wivenhoe. We attempt to pitch camp at a lovely spot next to the water but a camper comes down from his site higher up and tells us the dam is filling quickly from the recent rains and it’s not advisable to be so near the water’s edge. We relocate to higher ground, where six or seven other campers have already parked for the night.

Today is the last sunny day we’ll probably have for a while. The forecast is for a week of heavy rain, all up the Queensland coast. Better enjoy it while we have it. The highlight of the day is driving through a flooded section of the Burnett Highway. Cars are backed up either side of a fifty meter spread of water over the highway. But cars with lower clearance than ours are going for it. We follow the train of motorists through the murky brown water.

We decide to return to the coast near Bundaberg via the Isis highway. It’s a long driving day with not much of interest to stop for and we both feel a bit numb when we stop at Monduran Dam Holiday Park in the mid-afternoon. A wide front of weather has been developing on the northeast horizon all day and the sky is full of grey clouds by the time we set camp. I work out my gloominess, aggravated by the long dull driving day and the portend of rain, on a 6km trail that winds around the artificial lake. Somewhere in the night, the drops of rain begin.

Crossing the deluge

Monduran Dam camp