Mt Archer

Hi there , we had Sunday off the blog - apologies , we were catching up and chatting all day , then too tired last night .
 Okay here we go , Rockhampton is having Beef Week this week and expecting 85,000 plus people over the week - just as well we are staying at Garry & Linda's , with all accommodation from Yeppoon to Mt Morgan , some in Gladstone and all points in between booked out !!!!
 The ute needs a service , so we found Toyota in Rocky and booked in for Friday.
We thought we'd go up to Mt Archer and check out the view over Rocky & Yeppoon , and also check out the damage caused by the cyclone in February . Kershaw Gardens on the north side of the Fitzroy River , had suffered badly with trees down everywhere , and is still out of action with the park completely barricaded off . Onwards & upwards we went , stopping at a lookout on the way up , the damage to the trees didn't look too bad really - all the natives are pretty resilient with most having regrown leaves .

 Near the top of Mt Archer are about 20 odd houses - we expected them to have been blown off the face of the earth - they are really exposed to weather from any direction - but we could only see some damage that hadn't been repaired , to two houses - remarkable seeing as they are 604m above sea level .

 We drove up to the picnic area and decided to walk around the lookout tracks - first problem - the tracks were all still closed , with trees , branches & leaves etc still covering the paved tracks . The trees up here showed more signs of the ferocity of the cyclone .

  The winds have assisted the views , clearing some branches & leaves , so that you could see the views , that unfortunately are like a lot of lookouts - overgrown by the trees blocking the view . It was still an amazing view 50 kms out to the mountains to the west , and to the coast to the east & north & south .
 Time to head back to Rocky and get lunch , not before stopping a couple of more times on the way down the hill for more photos .

 Growing beside the road was this white flowering tree , the native bees were having a great time collecting pollen .
 We headed into the shopping centre for some lunch & shopping , before heading back to base to unpack , then have a sit on the verandah with a quiet beer , cheese & biscuits.
 Just as the sun started to set , Linda arrived home , had a chat & we all jumped in her car to go out to see Garry at his depot - it was truck cleaning day - I do mean truck !!- it's a new Kenilworth B double diesel fuel tanker - one of many that are constantly running diesel fuel from Gladstone to Blackwater, twice a day . The trucks are serviced every week , as they cover about 10,000 kms each week !!!

  As we drove out , the full moon was rising . It looked enormous , lighting up the country side . The reflections in the various lagoons was incredible - Damn it , I didn't have the camera !!

 That's your lot for today .