Easter at Fortuna, Aramac

This year we spent Easter at Fortuna (this is my first chance to post about it!). Kim and I have always loved spending time out there - there's something about heading over the Great Dividing Range that creates a kind of peace for us! The closer we get the more it feels like we are going home. It's weird because neither of us is from the west, but we both feel the same. So many times we talked about selling up and heading out there, and just as many times we talked ourselves out of it! Mostly because of kids and education etc etc....

We arrived on Good Friday and returned back home on Tuesday. So it was a short and sweet visit. We were greeted by the blind kangaroo, who is now 9 years old - she would't have survived in the bush as long as this. Kim's brothers family have been saving animal for years and have roos that come and go, an emu (or two) that come and go and lots of other animals like echidnas and birds!

They have quite a few goats - this is where our nanny herd came from. They are a tough breed and make very good mothers. The dingoes are always a problem and so they come home to be locked in the yards each night.

We drove to Greyrock which I thought was the site of some aboriginal caves, but these are on another property and we'll have to do them on another trip. Greyrock is the site of the 3rd coach stop from Clermont to Aramac. There is one aboriginal carving as well as whiteman graffiti on this huge rock that dates back to the 1800's, and up until recent times. There were a few rocky remnants of the old pub, but nothing else.

Can you see the aboriginal painting in the picture above? There's a man and I think a child beside him. The right hand picture was the oldest date that I could find - 1898.

Then we drove around Horsetailers Gorge, which was where the coach horses were rested and swapped over for the next leg. Apparently there are aboriginal burial caves here, but no one has really explored them. The gorge was a good choice as it only had one way in and out.

Next stop was on the jump up (this is where the range country goes down to the downs country) where there is still visible signs of the stage coach track that was carved into the rock of the ridge.

Our trip back to Fortuna took us past Lake Dunne. This road has many fantastic sculptures.  These are made by a local lady and from a distance look so life like - they are life sized.

Sunset over the downs - looking out from the desert country to the downs. It's a big landscape out there.  What a nice way to finish a lovely few days.