Our next main destination was Emerald, where my brother Russell and his family live. It's 267km inland from Rockhampton. On the way, we decided to drive into Gladstone and have a quick look around. At the Port of Gladstone we saw some huge coal ships being loaded up, and on the way out of town we passed the Gladstone Power Station - the largest coal-fired power station in Queensland. We could tell we were heading into coal mining country with all the trains we passed laden with coal. We counted the carriages on one of the trains - 98!
We stopped the night at a free camp spot in the town of Duaringa, about 160km east of Emerald. It was a large area, with plenty of room for the kids to ride their bikes around, and we were right next to a playground. By nightfall, there was around 20 other vans parked there. As you can see, the dirt is getting redder as we head inland.
The next morning we stopped at Blackwater. There is a beautiful Japanese garden there, right next to the Blackwater International Coal Centre. We didn't go into the centre, but this truck was parked out the front. It is similar to the ones my brother drives in the mines. Just after lunch last Saturday, we arrived in Emerald and parked the van on Russell's front lawn. We will probably be here until Monday.
And I just had to make mention.......what a great, historic day! A woman is Prime Minister of Australia!
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