Possum Park

Thursday, 11 September 2014

 

Part of the caravan park

Blue faced honeyeater

Currawong

Train carriage accommodation

Railway line

Bushwalking

Bunker

TAA plane

Caravan Park, part thereof

Looking for tomatoes

Cute grey miner bird

Honeyeater with attitude!

I saw it first, no I did, no I did.

Doesn't matter who saw it first, I got it first!

Grey butcher bird

We had a rather chilly start to the day (the radiator came forth from the cupboard!) but it quickly warmed up to a very dry and pleasant 27-28 degrees.

We left Mitchell, still heading due east towards Roma.  The road was very good, quickly leaving the outback behind and entering traditional farming country – large wheat crops, sheep and cattle.  We didn’t stop at Roma – the traffic was quite heavy, with many, many trucks and mining equipment on the road.  If the gas fields and exploration around Roma suddenly stopped, this town would very quickly become bankrupt!  We also passed a large number of oversize trucks carrying mining-type equipment, necessitation pulling right off the road at times.  The road deteriorated between Roma and Miles, probably owing to the large number of trucks and vehicles using this road.  Possibly over 80% of vehicles carried large numbers, signifying they belonged to gas/mine companies.

A left turn at Miles and another twenty kilometres brought us to our overnight stop at Possum Park Caravan Park.  We are so glad that Denise and Barry recommended this place!  After turning of the main road, we continued through the bush, with numerous signs telling us how far to go, until we arrived at Possum Park.  Originally an RAAF bomb storage site during World War II, this bushy hilltop has been turned into a caravan park, with some of the original bunkers now being used as underground accommodation.  The bombs were delivered by rail, unloaded and then stored in a large number of bunkers scattered around the hillside.

The caravan sites are in a large clearing, with rail carriages being used as accommodation, as well as a large Musset hut which has been converted.  There are also a large number of new cabins available as well.  We were shown a couple of the train carriages and were surprised at the standard – for $100 a night, far superior to what is on offer at Undara Lava Tubes at a much more expensive price.  A flagship of the old TAA fleet has also been brought here and is currently undergoing conversion to accommodation.

There is no shortage of birdlife here, which was quickly discovered at lunch time when a number of miner birds arrived to share our sandwiches, along with some blue faced honeyeaters, currawongs and a grey butcherbird.  The magpies are also very friendly and happy to visit if a feed is on offer.