Entries about bunyiah

Well this day starts well with flat battery again! Given this car has spent more time at the mechanics than on the road gives one the pips! Luckily we're with mates and a u- beaut gizmo is produced which jump starts the ranger and allows us to head to Meekathara to buy, along with groceries, fried chicken, petrol and a fancy battery for $210! This of course delayed our expected departure to Honeymoon Pool for lunch. I could only hope it was someone else's turn to have car problems!
We started the off road to a local watering hole cum camping place - Bunyiah Pool - which provided the local cattle with a place to huddle and eat. While the water was a tad brown, we were provided with a frenzied collection of birds - honey eaters, grebes, ducks, heron, galahs and parrots; no fish. Lunch done under tall white river gums we set off for our final resting point for the next few days.
We passed a "legacy" gold or copper mine - Horseshoe Lights - which was active back in the 1970s and 80s and the owners up and left the place without any environmental restoration. This was not a requirement in the 1970s and any form of restoration or environmental protection, is well and truly defunct now and chemicals leach out into the surrounding countryside which still holds cattle. It is an ugly, environmentally unsafe and unhealthy place and a disgrace to the mining industry. When you see the restoration efforts put into the mine sites by mining industry today, this must be an embarrassment.
Passing this sad piece of history which we will be revisiting, we forded a crossing, and parked for the next 3 days beside a large lagoon flanked by many river gums along side the water line and a large gibble plane which was a sure ankle breaker. Our leader has named it Honeymoon Pool. We expertly put our camper up in the daylight, joined the rest for a champagne at twilight and knocked off a curry that I had vacuum-packed. Easy! We also had the pleasure of a beautiful clear night sky and one of our fellow travelers, whose expertise is astronomy, gave us the benefit of his knowledge along with the ubiquitous green laser light! Many planes and satellites were recorded and maybe we saw the night lab cruising past.