Every visit to Major Mitchell's 1846 Campsite (located alongside the Maranoa River, half an hour's drive north of Mitchell, outback Qld) reveals yet another layer of understanding in a place that breathes history and stark beauty.
Although we've had a series of good seasons with above average rainfall, the river level is low -- only just flowing over the causeway. In 1846 Major Mitchell's men fished from boats on the river and there was plenty of water for 80 bullocks, 17 horses and 30 men, along with water for a vegetable garden. That year -- 1846 -- must have been extraordinarily wet.
Today, apart from birds, of which there were many, we saw a sand goanna fossicking in a rotting log, a fresh-water turtle feeding in the shallows and bright blue yabby claws.
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