Day Five of the 2019 A-Z Challenge during the month of April. The challenge is to post six days a week, Sunday respite from writing or catching up with other participants and their posts. Each of the twenty-six days represents a letter of the alphabet and while each post stands alone they form part of a loose theme reflecting our retirement trip around Australia: Our Big Fat Aussie Road Trip.
***
8th October 2018
Emerald is a town in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. At the 2016 Census, Emerald had an urban population of approximately 13,500. It is a long way from the coast – like 300 kilometres – being this far inland is a departure from our coast-hugging routine. But having run out of beaches with warm water in which to splash about we headed inland for what I feel has been a more authentic look at Australia.
The city grew up on the banks of the Nogoa River, a tributary of the Fitzroy River and just south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Given the cooler temperatures it was a wise move heading further north and inland. An added bonus is there are more opportunities to “free camp”, always our preference as we are self-contained – and existing on a single part-pension.
As this was a one-nighter we opted for the 20-hour stopover offered at one end of the Botanic Gardens, under a very busy bridge. As grim as that sounds, it was a pleasant stay in beautiful surroundings and we backed onto a shaded area right on the edge of the gardens.
The town is the service centre for a large rural farming community with a portion of its retail sector provides agricultural farming machinery and supplies to farmers It describes itself as a “prosperous regional service centre and gateway to gemfields”. The hinterland close by also has the largest sapphire gemfields in the world as well as a reasonable coal-mining industry.
Our time was spent enjoying a number of the walks provided in the gardens before moving on the following day.
queasypeasy.wordpress.com 
Loved the large photo of the gum leaves surrounding the flowers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The flowering gums are magnificent when in full bloom. Thank you for the visit and stopping to comment đŸ¤— Linda
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the starker country, and the underbridge camping, the roosting bats (yikes!) and thorny thistles with the single pale yellow bloom. And the effective economy of your descriptions–I need to learn how to do that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Many of us who’ve never visited Australia imagine that every town or city has a beach! This has given me a new view of your country, and the pictures of plants, bats and the bridge are simply delightful.
LikeLike