Artesian Spas

Thursday, 20th September 2012

We were both up bright and early this morning and we hitched up and on the road by 8.00 am for a bit of a long drive to Goondiwindi. The weather was absolutely beautiful, with the promise of some heat later in the day. We kept to the motorways, which although a bit longer and also toll roads, made driving so much easier and quicker as far as Ipswich, then it was a double highway all the way to Toowoomba. We did encounter some road works, which did slow us down a bit, shortly before the steep climb up the Great Dividing Range and into Toowoomba. There were lots and lots of trucks on the road, which meant lots and lots of truck drivers, which meant lots and lots of foul language (truckies seem to have a very limited vocabulary), which meant the two way radio was turned off on quite a few occasions. Fortunately, the radio chatter did settle down once we were through Toowoomba and heading for Goondiwindi.

The vegetable growing area of the Lockyer Valley gave way to the large open spaces of grain and cotton farms, with very dry and stunted scrubby bush and large prickly pears for variety. We did pass through a koala area and were saddened to come across two dead koalas on the side of the road – so sad. The road between Toowoomba and Goondiwindi wasn’t too bad, but a bit bumpy in sections. Our lunch stop was in a rather dirty and barren truck pull-off (no nice picnic areas on this road) before we reached our destination shortly before 2.00 pm.

We are staying at the Big4 Goondiwindi Tourist Park, previously known as the Gundy Star. This is a nice park, with very long drive-thru, shady sites. With the temperature hovering around the 33 degree mark, today we are looking for shade! As a bonus, the park has an artesian spa heated to 38 degrees and a swimming pool at a mild 28 degrees. Of course, it didn’t take us long to set up and find the bathers (long time since they have seen the light of day), before lowering ourselves into the artesian spa. With the air temperature so warm, the water didn’t feel too hot or physically draining. Naturally, someone (no names to be mentioned) decided to show off and did a lovely belly flop into the swimming pool – he did remember to remove his hat but completely forgot his glasses! I even cooled off in the swimming pool for a short while before returning to the warm spa.

We have just discovered the caravan park is right beside the train line.