Sydney to Emerald 1/10 to 17/10

Sydney 1/10/07

Callum, Kate and Richard started the trip around Australia, leaving Sydney on Monday 1st October 2007. Mitch had gone ahead to Queensland by plane to a Gym camp.

First night started with a sleep over in a public carpark in Brooklyn, 40 mins out of Sydney.

Gloucester - 2/10/07 - 4/10/07

Callum found this neat swing in rainforest. We camped by the Gloucester river, swimming was very cold. There was a swing near the river that we used to jump into the river. After swimming we found a red belly black snake.

Dorrigo -5/10/07 to 6/10/07

Beautiful rainforest in the Dorrigo National Park. But where's Cally, somewhere in the picture.. can you find him? Rainbow Lorikeets and Rosellas live here, plenty of Bush Turkeys as well. All around Dorrigo are waterfalls. Callum and Richard went swimming in one.. the water is very cold.

Byron Bay - 6/10/07

Byron Bay is the most easterly point on the Australian mainland. Captain Cook sailed past this point and named the surrounding land. A light house was built here to protect the passing ships. Callum would like to live here.

Roma - 13/10/2007

Roma is the centre of a big mining district. The town is in the middle of an ancient artesian basin with natural gas and oil deposits. Roma was the first gas discovery in Australia. The gas was found accidentally in 1900 while searching for an underground supply of water. The land around Roma is flat and dry.
There is a great Gas and Oil mining museum in Roma called the Big Rig!

Carnarvon Gorge 14/10/07 - 17/10/07

Carnarvon Gorge was created by water running through the cracks of rock and eroding the soft sandstone to form a gorge. Many insects are found in the gorge, including blue, red and green dragonflies, bees, many spiders and fly’s.
Many animals live in Carnarvon; Platypus, Pretty Face Kangaroos, Eastern Grey Kangaroos, turtles, Geckos, Skinks, Water Dragon. The most impressive reptile we saw was a Banded or Lace Monitor, which is a large lizard. Far upstream in the gorges, we saw catfish and feral fish. Where's Kate?

There is always a good water supply in Carnarvon Gorge, all year round and during droughts. The Aboriginals liked this place because the food and water supply is good

Mitchel went with the Ranger and learned to catch insects. Many types of butterfly and dragonfly live at the gorge. Armed with a net you can catch, but are not allowed to keep these beauties.