A weekend at Geham 11.07.2020
It’s wonderful when you have some plans yet other things change them and you simply work with everything that happens. That was our weekend.
We had wanted to ride but looking at the weather maps, that was not advised, so car it was. We had some locations in mind for stops. The map app suggested some other options, rather than the direct highway roads. We took them and it was so worthwhile. We started with lunch at K&K Austrian Café at Sinnamon Park – good food, great service. Last time was a sausage roll that I would go back for. This time was a pork goulash for her and black pudding stir fry for him – sounds weird but worked.
We were blessed with phenomenal country, as I might have observed in past posts. We drove new roads, that my lovely partner in life will be exploring on the bike, and visited places we hadn’t been before and had a generally lovely 3 hours or so away from home, reality and everything in between.
We found unexpected vistas, powder dry creeks, a red/green stagnant Condamine River at Warwick, some goats, donkeys, sheep and cattle. We saw guinea fowl and geese. We drove the Great Dividing Range and did one of my favourite things – we went “wow” so many times as we explored the Range and the other roads on our path. We were gobsmacked at the beauty and contrast of this country, within 150km of Brisbane!
We saw hairy trees that are recovering from the fires of earlier this year. The new growth a stark green contrast to blackened trunks. We saw signs for albino koalas (apparently they were more like koalas but painted white) and night mares (oh, they were black horses). We glamped in a beautiful tent, comfortable big bed, with leather sofa and two seater table, with blanket box, inside and more space and outside a campfire, chairs and table for eating at and watching the afternoon sky change to night and chairs at the camp fire which was just so delicious.
We had quietude – the only accompanying sounds those of the horses moving around at night, the birds and night creatures coming to life and the tinnitus which provides a lovely constant that reminds you that nothing is every truly quiet. It was wonderfully fresh and clean and dry.
We sipped on French wine, ate takeaway from the beautiful Emeraude Café at Hampton and followed up with a sweet cheese, for me, and cherry for him, danish for dessert. If this is what bliss is, I like this bliss and the temporary escape from the rat race.
Our home for the night was snug and enhanced by the sound of rain on the canvas as it arrived and parted with several millimetres of life-giving goodness. Their 6-foot-deep dam has been nearly dry recently.
Sunday was a mosey through the most indirect route back to Brisbane. Breakfast was at the Danish Flower Shop at Highfields – if you are into jewellery making, I suspect this place is worth the trip. It had some lovely hats and things for ladies but the amount of stuff for jewellery making was eye watering. We found some more Tourist Roads to look up and followed parts of some. There are many empty shops in our country towns. I don’t believe that this is all the fault of COVID-19 but it won’t have helped. The lack of rain in these parts and changing attitudes to buying and so many things would have contributed to the sending of these businesses on their way.
There is a massive solar farm outside of Warwick. There was also some magical mist as we came through Cunningham Gap – magical but also challenging. This is what exploring and adventuring is about. The grasses are the colour of wheat and that is a good descriptor of most the country – wheaten. The country is flat here, and ranges there, it is green due to cops or so dark brown of earth through to looking dead after the harvest of crops. The dams are very low. Whilst we loved having the camp fire for a short time, we also loved seeing the rain and hearing it on our roof – there’s something special about being snuggled up in a tent (however big with a beautiful bed) and hearing the rain and having it lull you to sleep.
I wonder why people do not take the time to explore these areas. I wonder why fuel is up to 25c per litre dearer in places it costs money to transport it too. I wonder what life would be like in these areas whilst being fully cognisant of the fact that life on the land is unforgiving and hard. I am grateful for the people who work these lands to provide the produce that graces my table. I am reminded of the need to look for Australian made rather than simply price shopping when I do the grocery shopping.
We come back through Boonah and Yamanto where we acquire what we weight and find out to be a 1.6kg quiche – enough for a few meals for 2 of us and see some delights in meringue and cupcakes that you just don’t see very often. The Yamanto Bakery is pretty cool. It’s a wonderful reminder that life doesn’t have to be so busy, so crowded, so impatient.
These areas are on our doorstep. Fuel and time are the only real costs to exploring what this area has available to us. Our country is an amazing palette. The people in these areas are real, they are ocker. Near Boonah is a delightful museum – motorcycle and memorabilia. This was “wow” for a different reason. We had also stopped at Rockalicious at Boonah for their vanilla slice – detoured for this, it’s so good.
Our weekend saw about 500km of exploring and adventuring over 2 days. We saw roads we will explore again and noted other places to visit. The sense of adventure remains whetted and ready for more.
