Mona Lisa Village Macintyre River

A nice night although a little cold. We have no plans for today so we packed up and headed back to town to find the tip. We decided we would go to the Macintyre River just out of Ashford and try our luck there. There was a noticeable change of scenery as we drove towards Moree which is quite a large town on the Barwon River. We fueled up got supplies and some fishing gear to aid us. We headed off as usual guided by the GPS. We stopped to watch a Crop duster at work as well as a quick fish near a weir no luck but lots of dead carp around.


Theres always something to dodge on these roads

After 9 days of driving on the flats we finally came across some hills. We slowly kept getting higher up as we got closer to Ashford. It was nearly dusk when we got to our intended destination but there was really much of a spot, 5m next to the road. No sooner had we pulled in when the local farmer approached on his Quad bike. We were both expecting to be told “You can’t camp here” but Peter invited us over to his property where he said there was a good spot for fishing and canoeing.
So we followed him past the farmhouses and down to the water. Peter says we were more than welcome to say in any of the three houses he has there which are kept prepared for family drop ins. It’s extremely heartening when you come across this type of generosity from a complete stranger. We dropped in some lines and made some tea. Are we really good cooks or is it the surroundings and freedom that make every meal taste so good? A bit windy and a little cold but next to the river in doesn’t get much better.



Another beautiful morning greats us and a wake up to several of the cattle who are a little intrigued as to what we are doing in their paddock.
We headed off canoeing not really knowing how far we could canoe. The water is so clear you can see the bottom up to about 2m. It was just fantastic and we canoed at least 2km before our first shallow section. We dragged the canoes over and carried on.
There are large lizards on the bank about every 100m scurrying away when we approach. Tina nearly fell in the river and just to be fair I nearly fell in as well. There was practically no rubbish on this river at all probably because it runs mostly through private property. We went about as far as we could get maybe 3-4km upstream before heading back for breakfast. Baked Beans on cheese & parmesan fried damper.
Packed up and wished Peter and his farm all the best the “Mona Lisa Village” and country hospitality.





Once again we have no plans today so we drove the last 17km to Ashford and decided we would head out to Pindari Dam which is only 25km away.