THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 12     MILES TO CALIGUEL LAGOON     40kms

John woke up with his sore leg red and with a burning sensation, so he was quite worried about that.

We decided that V and F would head off straight to tonight’s possible destination of Caliguel Lagoon, just south of Condamine, whilst we would see if we could get some medical attention for John, before joining them. If they didn’t think the Lagoon was any good, the fallback position was that they would wait for us in Condamine and we’d have another think.

Went to the Emergency Department at the Miles Hospital. They sent him on to see a doctor – after scaring him silly by saying that he had to act promptly if he wanted to keep the leg! Doctor gave him a script for really strong anti-biotics – the same as he’d had in Innisfail. He was told one shouldn’t take more than one course of these because they can damage liver and kidneys. Of course, he didn’t mention that he’d not long completed a course of same. Found a chemist and had the script filled.

By then, we’d had a message from V saying they were at the Lagoon and were keeping a nice spot for us. That was reassuring.

It was another hot day, forecast to reach the low 40’s in these parts.

Set out south. Passed through the small town of Condamine. About 3kms south was the turn off to Caliguel Lagoon, the Meandarra Road. The camping area was about 4kms along this road.

We parked up at the spot V and F had chosen, near them, right at the edge of the  camping area, away from other campers and with no room for anyone else to squeeze in next to us. This was good because, as the afternoon wore on, the place became quite busy, with later arrivals casting around for a place to camp.

One caravanner had found a lovely place to camp, down a short little lane that dipped down by the water and back up. They had a great view over the lagoon from what was really only a spot big enough for one rig. Later, he found himself closed in by a motorhome that reversed back down it and parked only a couple of inches from the back bumper of the caravan. Some people are just unbelievably crass.

Overall, the camp area was really pleasant. There were trees for shade, an adequate amenity block, even a small fresh water tank. All free, too. At this time of year, and with the drought, it was dry and dusty, but would have been an excellent place to stay for a while, earlier in the year.

The lagoon appeared to be a long backwater of the Condamine River, filled in flood times, I guess. There was a boat ramp, so the place might have been busier and noisier on weekends.

Through the afternoon F fished – unsuccessfully – though Couey was in danger of being caught a couple of times, being enthusiastic about things being thrown in to the water.

V tried to sort out a problem with her notebook, and emails. John’s help did not seem to make things any better.

They defrosted a parcel of mackerel, caught on the recent stay at Cooktown. I cooked it in tempura batter for us all, and we made some salad as well. F loved the batter so much that he got V to ask me for the recipe. They were both surprised to hear it was tempura batter mix from a packet, with some lemon pepper added! Very easy.

We cooked the fish outdoors, on a single burner butane gas stove of F’s. It was good not to have the extra heat, and fish smells, in Bus. It might be useful to get ourselves one of those.

After the dishes were done, we sat outdoors, drank port and talked – under a myriad of stars. A wonderful night – shades of the old days at Adels Grove!  Our friends promised to come and visit us in Melbourne, sometime in the next few months.