Four nights at Foxbar Falls
Having packed my trusty motor car with all the things I think I need for the next 4 nights away, and things I won’t need, I start to formulate my task list for the next days – taking in vitamin D, enjoying the peace and quiet of being away from people, reading, looking at the skies whether daytime or nighttime. As I leave home, my pooch is smoochy and I want to take him with me but I have not got the equipment for his travel organised for this trip – maybe the next one.
So, off I motor. As I leave Brisbane, there is misty nuisance rain, needing the wipers to sweep across and clear my vision from time to time. Motoring further west, it eases until the sun succeeds in valiantly breaking through the clouds. Driving means I cannot readily take photographs with my camera so I must take them with my mind. I am amazed, as always, at the majesticity (if that is a word) of the Cunningham’s Gap, the vastness of nature, the smallness of me, and my motor. The gaping valley which sweeps down on the Brisbane side of the Great Dividing Range. It’s always breathtaking for me, whether I am travelling by car or by motorcycle.
My trip is about 2.5 hours and, thankfully, uneventful. I turn off at the big apple, before reaching Stanthorpe, and meander in amongst the backroads, finding Tourist Route 5 which takes me some of the way until I turn off again and head to Foxbar Falls. The layout of the camping ground is structured and thought out. Where I am enjoying my 4 nights, it is across from the main entry, a beautiful lake, Lake Edith, providing water views. I have hot showers, water and power – with my absolute overkill fridge/freezer unit operating off something other than battery this time so I can enjoy ice cream through the duration of my time away, and ice for my whiskey, as well as an Australian sparkling and some “proper” food.
I have a lovely space and 3 sites to choose from – I realise on the last night I could have really messed with some caravaners (which would have messed with me) if I had set up further around. I am happy with my site and set up my simplicity – swag on a stretcher, awning over the top, gazebo with fridge/freezer, cooking implements and table for preparation, recliner chair for reading and sitting by the camp fire.
As the afternoon heads towards evening, there is a beautiful array of birds that come through, chattering, chirping and talking to each other and swooping and doing what they wonderfully do as they go about their bird business. I acknowledge the simplicity and beauty by opening a bottle of chilled bubbles and sipping, savouring the beverage and the location. A crackling fire adds to the ambience a little while later, as the night time sounds and then silence engulf the evening.
Unfortunately, on the first night, I manage to kill my tongs – they have been part of my camping set up, for pushing around logs, for 8 years and before that a long time ago they graced a bar-be-que. It’s funny how you become quite used to using the tongs then find they don’t work so readily with only one working arm – oops.
The night air is deliciously cool, great for snuggling in my sleeping bag, under the canvas of my double dome swag. I feel the cool air through my layers of clothing, before retiring to the cocoon of my shelter. You know it is cool when you put your hand to your hair and it almost feels wet the air temperature is so cool. A beanie would help – oh, that’s right, it’s hiding in my bag.
The bird choruses of morning are something else – the rosellas, magpies, kookaburras and other birds mooching about, announcing the day and maybe giving thanks for another spectacular opportunity to enjoy the beautiful autumnal weather. There is a smattering of showers that come through so my gazebo is a quiet shelter against the raindrops. Of a morning, it sounds like it is still raining due to the amount of due that sprinkles down from the trees above, as the birds flit through, bounce about and the breeze does its thing.
There is some amusement in realising what I have packed – a fabulous towel which was part of the Christmas Chris Cringle event in 2023, a long-sleeve shirt from Tasmania, pj’s from New York and a t-shirt from Finland. I am blessed to have been able to travel to these places. I am also blessed to meet the lovely and exuberant master Gus, 5 month old Spaniel/Retriever, and the retiring dame Maddy, an elderly curly labrador. The camp site allows well behaved dogs.
It is exhausting taking time to do “nothing”. I spend a delightful time reading, starting and finishing a couple of books I brought with me and continuing though my Kindle stock of fiction. I take a little time to explore to the Falls and around there. I decide that exploring the 960m mountain I am camping across from can wait for another visit – it is the kind of place you can come back to.
It is therapeutic staring into the fire, watching the flames lick and dance, always moving. The colours as well – not just orange but green and purple too. The embers and coals pulse with the oxygen that drifts across them. There is a lovely smell that goes with the camp fire and whilst I might eat reasonably well, I am not yet confident to turn my hand to cooking on the camp fire. Sometimes there are things you decide you don’t really need to explore, well not this time anyways.
The autumnal weather is simply amazing, cool/cold mornings and beautiful days, with a smattering of cloud, light breeze which keeps the temperature down, with beautiful sunrises and sunsets and magnificent velvet night skies of diamonds.
Camping is an early to bed, later to rise scenario because you are doing “nothing” – well I am on this trip. This trip is not about exploring and going places – it is about taking a breather from daily life, from turning down the intensity. Whilst the longer overseas holiday is not on the agenda this year, the multi-day mini-break is and that is what this is. It is a time to replenish and switch off from television, news, communication for the most part – although there is limited coverage for messaging and a quick look at socials. Having said that, when you can have your nose in a book – paper or Kindle – watch the birds play tiggy in the sky and on the branches and breathe in the clear country air, why would you be on socials.
There is a real solitude that I seek out at times like this. I enjoy “alone” time and am comfortable with being alone. I don’t believe I am lonely – that is something else entirely. I am comfortable with my own company – not something for everyone. I am intrigued by those who holiday with others and go for big family camping/other trips. My family weren’t like that. I also took the view that if I waited for someone to join me, I would be waiting for a very long time so go do/see that thing. Now, although I have a loving partner, there are times he goes his way and I go my way as there is something invaluable in having that alone time to then come back and appreciate one another.
I also find times like this entertaining – the people element, the behaviour at campsites, for example. I don’t want to see anyone or speak with anyone or put up with big rigs, loud owners and slamming caravan doors impacting on that quietude. At least it is on the last night of my time here. Thankfully, they are in bed quite early whilst I am star gazing and attempting to take some photographs, sipping a beverage early and finishing another book, before the journey home after 4 nights solitude.
After packing up my gear, and packing the car rather differently from the trip out, I have a lovely hot shower and head to Stanthorpe for a little retail therapy and breakfast at Groove ‘n’ Grill. There is a lovely Inca shop and there are some nice nick nack places. There is also a shoe store, Lifestyle Footwear, which reminds me of a similar one in Devonport, Tasmania – lovely older world, simple, yet classy and quality product. I am delighted watching and engaging with a couple of older ladies, who I think are sisters. There was something really gorgeous in the twinkle in the eye of one as she commented about the other’s shoe choice and was offering “helpful” suggestions. Their clothes and demeanour spoke of an olde worlde and their hairstyles were simply gorgeous – I cannot say that I have ever seen anyone wearing such styling. The hairstyling was maybe 1910’s and the clothing spoke of an elegance of country. Beautiful.
The journey home is punctuated by roadworks as I cross the Great Dividing Range. The weather is spectacular and I am again able to appreciate the exquisite beauty of this harsh country which is currently somewhat green and full of life. There are herds of cows, horses roaming in groups, fields of produce, the contrasting colours of the trees, fields, dirt being ploughed. The visibility as I come down through Cunningham’s Gap is the best I have probably seen it in the multiple times I have come through here. I am driving, so no photographs. The valleys are enormous, the mountains are intimidating at times with their presence yet they are small compared to the more recent growths that occurred in Europe causing the Matterhorn and other spectacular mountains. It is always a significant reminder as to your miniscule presence in the enormous scope and majesty of the ranges. I recall feeling this in the Himalayas – I often feel it when in the presence of nature like this.
I am home, writing this, having unpacked my car with the help of our pooch – who I have missed. He has been my shadow since I have been home. I haven’t yet contemplated where to next nor when, for camping. There will be a short sojourn to New Zealand in late November for an anniversary and some brief trips away for education – one with a few extra days to take in a place I have not been to before. Hope you can join me again on the next adventure, whatever it is, wherever it may take us. Thank you for riding along with me.
