Major Mitchell Campsite

Today was my birthday. Unwrapping birthday presents provided Major (12-month-old German shepherd) with great excitement. Tissue paper, corrugated cardboard and envelopes were ripped and carried around proudly. Not my presents though: a book containing 250 watercolour paintings of eucalypts by Stan Kelly; and ooline platter, created locally from an ooline burl: and two framed photographs, of galahs and boab trees. In the late morning we drove 40 km north of Mitchell to where the famous explorer Major Mitchell set up a base camp in 1846. On the banks of the Maranoa River we lit a small fire, made billy tea and ate a picnic lunch. There were no flies, no mosquitoes and no sand flies! After lunch we strolled up the sandy riverbed, past pools of water containing small fish and over rocky parts where pieces of petrified wood lay studded amongst other colourful stones. With the temperature a balmy 24°C, and the sandy bed of the Maranoa soft and clean, a siesta seemed an excellent idea. Cradled in the arms of this mighty river I slipped into a state of well-being. Who could ask for more? Yet I had more. An armful of golden acacia blooms gathered from bushland growing in rusty red sand, and then a late afternoon birthday cake and pot of tea shared with our friends Rod and Angie. Today was the best birthday ever!