Condamine Gorge 4x4 Track

Our first official day trip out of Brisbane was taken on Saturday, July 31st with The Mitchells.  We headed Southwest of the city to an area called The Condamine, which is a river and gorge with a great 4x4 track.  As soon as we got to the area of Boonah, I knew we were in landscape photography heaven.  The rolling hills, mountains in the distance, cliffs, green and gold grasses, sunshine/cloud mixture and heavy dark clouds on the horizon made for some amazing scenery.

This was only the first of many "photo opp stops" that we made.  Luckily Melisa is as much of a shutter bug as I am, so it was par for the course.

No sooner than we were out in the middle of nowhere, civilization showed up in the form of 65+ motorcycles.  Turns out Harley Davidson is a big thing over here too.

The choppers didn't make it on the 4x4 track, so once again we were able to enjoy the peace and quiet.

The first of many "warning" signs we saw during our trip.  40Km/h = 25 mph.

We were in the middle of farmland and there were cows everywhere.  Several times during the day we had to stop and wait for them to clear off the road.  This one seems to wonder what in the heck we are doing on his turf.

After a fairly long drive getting to the start of the official 4x4 track, Cory was ready to go and the kids wanted to see some mud.  As you can tell, that was no problem!

And what else would you expect at your first crossing in the middle of nowhere? That's right a traffic jam.

The Mitchell's car heading through a crossing.

Another scenic shot of the Condamine River we went through 14 times.

Our navigators - Melisa and Jonathan.

One of our stops along the way was Browns Falls.  Unfortunately, the day got foggier and ranier, so the kids didn't get to venture out of the car to see this.  Later on, as we were talking about some of the waterfalls, Marin piped in and asked "what's a waterfall?"  Shoot.  Guess we'll have to go back to show her.  

As we got off the track and started to make our way back to the real world, we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow.  What a great way to end a great day!