From Cotton to Sapphires to Gold

Burren Junction, NSW, to the Gold Coast, QLD- with lots of places, adventures and sights on the way.

Friday 29th April - Tuesday 3rd May

After leaving Lightning Ridge we began to make our way back to the coast. We were all looking forward to getting to the Gold Coast on Tuesday to stay with Bretty and Ally (and the kids). There was lots to see on the way though, and this is what we managed to squeeze in:

Friday - After a morning soak in the hot bore bath at Burren Junction we headed to Narrabri, passing through fields and fields of cotton on the way. The cotton was all along the edge of the roads and we couldn't resist stopping to collect some. We stopped at Narrabri for breakfast and groceries then popped into the Visitor Centre. They had an interesting exhibition about the local cotton industry, and the journey from raw cotton plant to fabric, and, much to their delight, the kids got to sit in a cotton harvester. 

Just past Narrabri is Mount Kapatur NP and the incredible 'Sawn Rocks'. These are rock formations known as 'organ piping', created from long ago volcanoes. We were able to walk down under the rock face and we marvelled at large chunks of rock that had fallen - the sides were so smooth and felt like they had been cut by a machine, not created by nature.

After enjoying the serenity and beauty of the Sawn Rocks we headed to another scenic place - Rocky Creek Glacial Area, with rocks formed over 290 million years ago creating a magical creek area. We had lunch and a swim before deciding to head straight to the nearest town, Inverell, as the brakes on the car started to squeal and squeak and Daniel decided they needed some work.

Thankfully the town had the parts Daniel needed and he did a great job replacing the brake pads on the back left wheel using a head torch and the limited tools he brought.

We were lucky enough to find a spot at the free camping area next to the Burren Junction bore baths, we rolled up just in time to enjoy the sunset.

'Driving' the cotton harvester at Narrabri

Sawn Rocks

The 5 and 6 sided columns were huge (and the edges of were so smooth).

A lovely lunch stop at Rocky Creek Glacial Area (the conglomerate rock is evidence of an ancient glacier in the area)

Thankfully we made it to Inverell safely - the brake pads were not in good shape!

Saturday- Inverell is known as sapphire country so we couldn't leave without doing some fossicking. Apparently it is not as simple as fossicking for opals so we listened to the advice from the Visitor Centre and went to the local Pioneer Village where you could fossick (and they had done the hard work by gathering the muddy rocks from the local riverbeds). We all enjoyed searching for the gems and both kids left with a small bag of different coloured sapphires as well as some jelly bean quartz.

After Inverell we headed towards Washpool and Gibraltar National Parks to explore a part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (which is a World Heritage area). The rainforests, waterfalls and rocky creeks were extremely beautiful and we enjoyed 3 different walks in the area. The last walk begun well and we were all in awe at the crystal clear waters of the creek that ran through the rainforest, however as we continued on the loop walk the ground got muddier and muddier (we were in an area that had a lot of rainfall during the recent floods so it was to be expected). We had to walk very slowly and carefully to dodge the really muddy bits so by the time we got back to the car it was nearly nightfall. After a steep drive out of the park we all crossed our fingers that we'd find a good area to camp for the night soon (Daniel was also cursing me for always wanting to fit in 'one more walk'- this time it ended up with us driving down a steep mountain road in the dark, which was certainly not ideal).

There were no suitable areas to stop until we left the mountains and came upon a small town that had a rest area on the side of the road. It was pitch black and it wasn't until we got up in the morning that we realised what a picturesque place we had stopped at. Pretty lucky for a last minute stop!

The sapphires we were fossicking for.

Although there was no need to use the pick, Jackson decided he needed to do each part of the fossicking process!

Once the rock had been wet, you had to put it in one of the sieves (a messy task!).

Then wash it ...another messy task.

Then the washed rock was tipped onto a sorting table and the fossicking began. We each had a pair of tweezers and we sorted through the rocks letting the sunlight illuminate the small sapphires for us.

I never realised sapphires came in all the colours - we managed to find most of these so the kids have an excellent collection now.

The waterfalls were all flowing heavily thanks to the recent rain. This is the Boundary Falls at Gibraltar Range NP.

Lyrebird Falls at Gibraltar NP- we had to balance across logs on a flooded part of the track, but it was worth it to see these falls that are in a more remote part of the park.

The creek in the middle of the Coombadjha nature stroll at Washpool NP (before we encountered the muddy part of the track).

It looked so tempting to swim in.

An interesting bug Jackson found (check out those filthy hands!).

Emilia's home learning for the day!

The view we woke up to from our late night roadside stop.

Sunday- on our way to the coast we stopped off at Grafton for an incredible breakfast at a cafe that specialised in gluten and dairy free treats - we all indulged and the food, and service, was very much appreciated after a big stint free camping. After some necessary shopping we headed towards the coast. We planned on looking at a few small beachside towns as we couldn't decide where we wanted to stay and the weather was predicted to be turning bad. 

On our way to a small town called Evans Head we passed through Woodburn, a town that was absolutely devastated during the recent floods. It was heartbreaking to see all the houses abandoned and people's wet and damaged belongings piled up in front of their houses. We arrived in Evans Head to find the town converted into a refuge for those displaced in the floods. There were so many tents and caravans set up and we felt terrible knowing how hard these people's lives had been in the past few months. It was even worse when it started to rain heavily again - surely these people have had enough.
We moved on (driving in torrential rain through more flood affected towns) and ended up just north of Ballina. We couldn't do much in the afternoon as it was bucketing down, but thankfully the caravan park had an indoor games room so the kids were happy!

Monday - we awoke to sunshine (hooray) and after a morning walk/ride/run to the beach we decided to head towards Lennox Head for a bit of time on the beach. Daniel took the kids in the car and I did the stunning 5km coastal walk from the caravan park. We wandered up the beach and explored Lennox Head (a cute little beach town) where we indulged in a delicious ice-cream.

Ice cream at Lennox Head

Tuesday- we planned on spending some time exploring Byron Bay on our way to the Gold Coast. Unfortunately the weather turned again and it rained on and off all day. We still had a look at the beach and wandered up and down the main street. You can certainly see the appeal, the beach is pristine and seems to go on for miles. Hopefully next time we come here La Nina has retreated and we get some sunshine!

Sheltering under a tree at Byron Bay (rain, rain go away!).

The beach was still lovely despite the terrible weather.