Adel’s Grove 10-09-11

 

It was very windy last night!  We are camped under trees (the Grove) some of them very, very tall mangos.  They are apparently turpentine mangos and as such are inedible.  Never mind about edible we were only worried that they should be secure.  The palm tree fronds came crashing down all night but none of us are camped under them.  We can usually hear the rumblings of the mine which is 7 kms away on still nights, but not this one!.  We all woke up safe, but all commented on the strong wind.

Today all of us except Tony and Jen (who have been on another occasion) booked to go on the fossil tour to Riversleigh.  Left at 8:00 AM and set off in a small commuter bus. This was great for our drivers as they could relax and look at the scenery.  Peter D did not have to worry about punctures.  LOL (laugh out loud).

The tour guide – John – was a mine of information, telling us about the trees, flowers, grasses, birds and animals as we went.  The fossils themselves were rather small in quantity, although John says there are hundreds of sites in Riversleigh only this one is open to the public.

We had morning tea at the Gregory River crossing and then travelled back.  We also saw remnant of mining and farming.  We are all astonished at the fortitude and courage of the early pioneers, men and women alike.

Back to Adel’s Grove for nice lunch where Tony and Jen joined us.

John caught a fish late in the afternoon, quite a decent size.  Apparently it was a sooty grunter.  Lanlan (who loves fish) cooked it for her tea.  Oh Dear – another tough fish!!  Until this trip  most of us had never heard of such a thing.  When mentioned to the manager, he siad that it was too big, they throw those back and keep the smaller ones.  Here we all are looking to catch ‘the big one’.

I had to drive to the top of a hill a couple of kms from Adel’s grove to send up the blog.  There are patches of phone connection around the place (but not in it), we drive around until we ‘get some bars’ then yippee!  We chose the hill and as you see it was successful.

Tony and Dean borrow a fellow travellers plastic canoe and take it out on the river.  They come back very enthusiastic about it and Tony at least will probably have one by next trip.  Hehe

We had group nibbles before tea, very pleasant.