Home To Cania Gorge

Well here we are On the Way to Anywhere and we are now at Cania Gorge which is inland and south west of Gladstone.
Our first stop was Nangango which is one of those delighful Queensland counrty towns with wide streets and a laid back atmoshpere. There was a big timber cutting industry here and in a the main street are a series of chainsaw sculptures depicting the the past industries ? mining (gold), timber cutting and farming. There are also some great murals in the town that tell the history of the area. An interesting industry that has sprung up is a dragon fruit farm.
For those travellers, the Twim Gums caravan park is only $16 per night. Also the fruit shop on the left as you come into town from south is very very cheap. It was a very cold night ? went down to 1 degree but we were snug and warm in the van.

On our way north we stopped at Goomeri which is famous for its annual Pumpkin Roll Festival held at the end of May. It is such a sleepy town with a really relaxing feel but the population of 600 trebles when the festival is on. We had coffee and a delicious pumpkin pie here.
Heading north again we can to a stopped at Ban Ban Springs for lunch and came across a large flock of Wandering Whisling Ducks. As I crept up on them to get a closer look they started whislting. They are tan in colour with stripe son their darker wings.
On through Gayndah and Munduberra, both of which is a big citrus growing area so lots of oranges and mandarins for sale. We stayed in Munduberra at the Big Manderin Caravan Park. It is one that caters for the fruit pickers so was pretty basic. If the international backpackers do fruit picking for three months they can have their visa extended for an extra year.
The next day we headed for Cania Gorge. The whole of the South Burnett region is very dry and have been in drought for years. We stopped at Monto for groceries and just as well as all the shops shut at 12.30 on Sat. There is a fantastic cultural and historical centre here on the outskirts of town. We found ?Spook?, a local character, in the restoration and machinary shed where he spends all his time restoring old machinary. Brian really enjoyed a chat with him.

Cania Gorge is 24 kms from Monto and the caravan park (Top Tourist) is very peaceful. There are lots of native birds and you look up at the sandstone cliff face. Unfortunately its very dry so there's no green grass. There are quite a few walks so we decided to stay for 4 nights. There is bird feeding at 4 pm where the lorreekets enjoy as feast so slops and honey, the resident chooks get the leftovers and the crows and currawongs hang about as well.
Every evening the camp-fire is lit and travellers gather around to share a yarn and tips on the best places to stay. We missed the Friday sausage sizzle but are looking forward to bush poerty on Tuesday.
We went for a 5.3 k bushwalk which crisscrossed over the dry creek bed until we came to the fern pool which was surrounded by green ferns and a small pool of water. This walk would be amazing if there was water in the creek. We did see a big fat goanna. The walk took us up a lookout from where you could see to the other side of the valley. The track down was quite steep and edged by grass trees.
Today we went for a drive see the Cania Dam which is only 3% full. There is a beautiful picnic area here with some lovely green grass. We had a picnic lunch here and I was able to do my yoga exercises overlooking the dam. It was very peaceful and no-one in sight. Near by is the remains of an old gold diggings and you can see lots of holes surrounded by a mound of dirt where hopeful prospectors tried to strike it rich. You can just visualize the activiy that took place here.