Out and about in St George

Another photo of the Balonne River, which is very beautiful, although probably not on the other side of the weir.    The river would be a shallow stream at this time of year.   It does not rain much at any time, but never in the winter.   Most of the river water comes from the Great Dividing Range, starting as the Condamine River.

There is a concrete path that runs along the side of the river for about two kilometres, plus a couple of bridges over potential creeks.   

                                          

Piper having a lovely time chasing after a ball, which is her favourite game.   At the weekend we used the sports field behind the caravan park, even though the sign said it belonged to St Patrick's School, which is on the opposite side of the road.   I ignored the sign which said no one allowed on the field and used it anyway, as did other people.

A typical Queenslander, built of wood and high off the ground in order to let the air flow underneath the house.  Many of the houses needed a coat of paint but not this one.   There are plenty of well established trees in the town, but the grass is mostly dry and there are hardly any plants.   The result of a dry climate and summer temperatures that are mostly in the high 30s and 40s.   

The wooden courthouse.

On Sunday we visited a winery, although as we are now both non alcoholic drinkers it was probably a bit of a wasted trip in that respect.   However we went for the food, which we heard was pretty good.   We both ordered a frittata with salad, followed by ice cream.

And yes one of the staff commented on the fact we were drinking soft drinks at a winery.

The vines looking very dry.   Luckily it was winter time so no growth but they must take a lot of water during the summer time.    They also grow table grapes too.

The name of the winery was called Riversaands winery if you ever see one of their bottles in a bottle shop.  As we did not try it, we don't know what it was like!     A bus tour arrived for a wine tasting experience.   I should have asked them.

We sat under the verandah with a lovely view of the garden.   See the photo above.

Another lovely day spent in warm balmy weather.

Cruising on the Balonne River

Today at 4 p.m. we went for a two hour cruise on the Balonne River, St George.    We are staying here for six nights as it is such a lovely town.

The temperature today reached 22 degrees.   Warm and sunny after a slightly cold night.

A very leisurely journey, although Piper hated every minute of it, the sounds of the motor (put putting) and the vibrations were not to her liking at all.

When the wind dropped the reflections were very good.

Our boat (the flat-bottomed boat on the trailer) being launched on the river.   There were ten passengers!   This was not quite the boat we expected to see, rather something a bit more substantial.   It did have a toilet in one corner, a portaloo in a tiny room.  

However it turned out to be a very relaxing two hours, with plenty of information from the driver.  

The river is dammed, otherwise it would be just a small stream at this time of the year, which is the dry season.

The weir (dam) in the distance which also includes a bridge for vehicles too.

The weir was built in 1956 and the water is used for the town of St George as well as for irrigating vineyards, crops and the cotton crops.     The latter is water greedy as the cotton requires the fields to be flooded which takes much water, and of course the run off has pesticides and fertilisers in it.   The driver of the boat was very negative about cotton growing in Australia, as are most people, except for the huge corporations that grow it, plus the government too.   We all love our cotton clothes but no one thinks about the damage cotton growing does to the environment, especially in the ultra dry areas in Australia.

Most of the land alongside the river is crown land which means that it is free for people to use as they wish, which is lovely for those people that like to camp, fish or go boating.    However, the people who have built houses on the areas that have been developed also have the right to use their river frontages as they wish.   One or two people have dug out small harbours for their boats. 

                                         

There were three sets of irrigation pipes for irrigating vineyards.     

One of the very large houses being built along the river edge.   It has three sections to it, the middle one being the kitchen and dining area.

By the time we returned we had a view of the sunset over the water.    It was not a brilliant red sunset but very beautiful all the same.

We also went to a winery today, no wine for us, but we had a lovely lunch.   More about that tomorrow.