Emerald

We had intended to stay a few days at Emerald and a few at Blackwater, about 70 km closer to the coast, but we had been warned that with the mining boom in the area caravan park space was at a premium. When we tried to book in at Blackwater we were told they didn't have any room until at least August, so we ended up staying an extra day at Emerald and visiting the Blackwater attractions on a day trip.

Emerald itself didn't have a great deal to offer once we'd taken this photo of the 'world's biggest van Gogh Sunflower painting on an easel', an attraction whose entertainment value is rather limited. Of more interest to us was the fact that the caravan park backed onto the quite good local golf course, we took advantage with a couple of games.

On our day out to Blackwater we spent most of the time at the Blackdown Tablelands National Park, which sits perched above the surrounding flat plains on a sandstone escarpment. Several walks led to spectacular lookouts and both aboriginal and European historical sites. When European pioneers first came to the area to lush grasses and bush of the tablelands looked ideal for running cattle, however a lack of nutrients in the soil meant that cattle lost condition when grazed there, so now the old huts and stockyards have almost disappeared. As well as the walks we also did a 19 km 4-wd loop road, which at times tested the full capabilities of our Patrol.

After the national park we dropped in to the Blackwater International Coal Centre which 'explores the past, present and future of the Australian coal mining industry'. However, although relatively new the centre has obviously not been maintained (maybe because there are hardly any tourists in town because they have nowhere to stay) and instead of the advertised $16 per head admission price we provided only a gold coin donation. The displays were moderately interesting, although the video on carbon capture and storage did rather imply that this was a present reality rather than a hoped for future.