We were heading back towards Brisbane. Our actual target was unknown and would be decided later, depending upon progress. The larger part of todays journey was possible the most tedious drive I have ever been on; the agricultural fields were enormous, largely empty and devoid of any interest, and made a billiard table look bumpy.
Finally we turned into some high ground where a couple of Phil’s target dragonfly sites were: Northbrook Creek and Green’s Waterfall. Northbrook Creek was not much of a creek, being largely dry as have been most of the creeks over which we have driven. Still, with temperatures consistently in the mid to high 30s Centigrade, perhaps that is understandable. We did made a lengthy, steep descent to a second section of the creek which amused us with more suspects to play with. Walking back up, once again with my cargo vest and camera bag, i.e. all my valuables, was less amusing.
It was now lunch time and, with supplies running a little low but needing using up, lunch consisted of that most horrendous of American inventions, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. OK, let’s translate that for English-speaking western world, a peanut butter and jam sarnie. Oh, that’s without butter, BTW, ‘cos we can’t possible keep butter in these travelling conditions. Peanut butter and Hellman’s mayonnaise works, though, as I found.
Parking at our afternoon stop of Green’s Waterfall was tricky. The main car park was closed for an ongoing construction project. A nice lady let us abandon ship in front of her café, which was closed. There began a 4 kms round trip on foot down a road and then down a gorge to the waterfall itself. There was no water. What there was, on the way, in dreadful lighting conditions (i.e. no light) was a hung-up crepuscular Hawker, which is rarely seen. The wind wasn’t playing fair, either, usually blowing dangling leaves across our subject. The subject was shaded and, to cap it all, there was much brighter backlight. I tried various combinations of settings and this is the best I could manage, possible the only recognisable shot: Southern Giant Darner (Austrophlebia costalis).
Here’s the gorge we were walking through. A lot of much appreciated hard work had been done to construct the sections of boardwalk that were necessary. We departed from it once to try and get further pictures of a different individual. All I got for my troubles was a leech on my right leg, which I found after Roy announced he had one. It hadn’t yet attached itself.
A mental coin toss had us return to a caravan site in Brisbane itself, not far from the Botanic Gardens, which Phil has yet to see. This decision may have bene encouraged by the fact that, an hour after we drove through Toowoomba, a bush fire started, so we didn’t want to go back that way. The Brisbane site has been invaded by a travelling squadron of rental motorvan Chinese who have monopolized the kitchen. I’m hoping dinner, when the kitchen is finally relinquished, will improve on the peanut butter sarnie for lunch, though we have no meat. Lentils, I think. I like lentils.
Leave a Reply