Another Month Bites The Dust

Another month down since I last narrated my journey to date, back when I was coming to the end of my time in Narrabri NSW.

I had one last day in Narrabri to explore the countryside and took the opportunity to visit The Australia Telescope. I was amazed at the technology and size of these awe-inspiring pieces of equipment.

From the Telescopes, I ventured further afield to Yarrie Lake. I wanted to originally camp here at the lake, rather than in the caravan park in town but they didn’t allow pets, unfortunately.

Still, I decided to drive out and visit the near perfectly round lake, originally caused by the landing of a meteorite. I walked the entire circumference as I mingled with the birds and kangaroos.

And just like that, my time in Narrabri was done.

Where to next?

That, unfortunately, was dictated by my pain levels, as both my shoulders decided to re-start the freezing process associated with the ailment Frozen Shoulder.

During my week in Narrabri the pain in my shoulders started with a bang. I was surprised as both my shoulders had frozen in the past. My right, 12 years ago and my left, 6 years ago. It’s extremely rare to get Frozen Shoulder in a shoulder that has frozen in the past. Rare but not unheard of! Now, both my shoulders decided to repeat the agony together.

The pain was so excruciating, especially in my right shoulder, that I could hardly move my elbow away from my body. Lifting it to any degree was impossible.

It made hard work of the hitching and unhitching process necessary for towing my caravan.

I needed to ease the pain somehow, and it was for this reason I decided my next stop would be the town of Moree, home to some natural artisan mineral spas. The water is drawn from the artisan basin at temperatures measuring anywhere from 30 to 100 degrees.

Driving was extremely painful so I decided to spend two weeks in Moree. I was hopeful the natural mineral baths would bring my pain levels down to a liveable degree.

There are two caravan parks in Moree. I originally booked onto the Gwydir Caravan Park but the office staff were so obnoxiously rude and everyone is packed in like sardines, that I cancelled my booking and booked, instead, into the Moree Tourist Park.

The sacrifice, giving up the option of five different pools at the Gwydir, to one hot and one cold spa at the Tourist Park.

The upside, I had a large caravan site and I frequently found I had the hot spa all to myself, whereby the pools at the Gwydir were packed to standing room only.

I found myself in the hot spa for at least 1.5 hours a day and it was certainly helping my shoulders. I could lift my arms to shoulder height now.

My only complaint is that the spa was advertised as being 41 degrees but I’d say it was 32 degrees max. It would have helped more if it was a little hotter.

As driving was so painful, I decided I wouldn’t do the tourist drives to explore the countryside that I normally did with each town I pulled up at. I spent these two weeks trying to heal as best as possible.

Not to mention, I was hesitant to leave my caravan for any great deal of time as Moree has a really bad reputation and high crime rate. In fact, everyone I mentioned Moree to told me not to go there, to bypass it altogether.

True to its reputation, Moree’s criminals were out in force. I was in the spa one evening when a large burst of grey smoke rose into the sky a couple of streets away. The air was soon booming with alarms and emergency services lights and sirens. On a walk through a local park the next day, I discovered the source of that smoke. Someone had lit the large children’s rocket in the playground on fire and totally destroyed it.

I was able to wander along the Mehr River that lazily meandered its way through the centre of Moree. 

Due to the disparity in heating temperature of Moree’s hot spa, I decided my next destination would be the tiny town of Boomi. So tiny it consisted of four east / west streets and three north / south streets, with a population of circa 120.

But, it did consist of another artisan mineral spa and housed my hopes of being a better temperature.

Boomi did not disappoint.

I spent a glorious week here and the hot spa was fantastically hot, so much so that it was necessary to climb out every 15 minutes to cool the core body temperature down. My shoulders loved it and finally lowered the pain to bearable. Now I need to find a way to maintain that level.

With very little to do or see in Boomi, I didn’t even bother to leave the caravan park. I spent as much time as possible in the pool.

Unfortunately, the opening hours had reverted to their winter hours, which fell inside my ten hour work days, ensuring that I couldn’t access the hot spa on the days that I worked. I sure made up for that on the days I didn’t work.

After my glorious week in Boomi, it was back to civilisation and back across the border to Queensland, stopping in the town of Goondiwindi. I’d booked into the Goondiwindi Showgrounds for the week.

The weather has been gradually cooling down over the last month, so for me, it’s time to start heading north. I would have done so over a month ago if the weather had allowed it.

Now my shoulders have eased some, I was free to explore the area on those days I didn’t work.

My first drive was to a little town called Yelarbon as I’d heard of the gorgeous silo art in town. I’m so pleased I made the effort as it was well worth the drive. Here, you can judge for yourself.

What a creation!

On my return from Yelarbon I almost passed the ‘Lanescape’ display, on the edge of Goondiwindi, without knowing it even existed.

Lanescape is a paddock of creativity on the side of the highway. I’m not sure who is responsible for that creativity but it was totally awesome. They say a picture paints a thousand words, therefore please enjoy these pictures.

My last day of exploring was to discover this water tank art right in the centre of town.

And lastly, a wander along the serenity of the Macintyre River.

To my delight, I got to visit with this cow on my peaceful wander.

I did enjoy my stay at Goondiwindi, but it soon becomes time to hitch up and move on.

I was looking forward to my next stop, which is in a little town called Moonie. I was booked into Moonie Crossroads, that point where you hit the centre of Moonie and have the choice of four different directions to head in.

There is next to nothing here at Moonie. The local shop is also the local pub and the local caravan park, which I’m loving as I’m the only camper on site. I’m in the middle of nowhere with very few people around. I love it.

Don’t get me wrong, there may not be much here but it’s a busy little place, with the tourists and truckies deciding it’s a favourite stop for a travel break — but then they’re back on the road half an hour later.

I arrived here yesterday and relaxed the afternoon away. Today I might head out to the Moonie River to explore and maybe even wet a line. So, until next time, dear reader, safe travels on this highway we call life.