White Blow (Sorry addicts)
Seriously this is what this almighty small national park is called. I bet they look back now and think “Shit I wished they named this protuding vein of silicone dioxide something less drug related…” Well, I bet the tourists are lapping up their pictures and sending them home to their drug dealing brothers and sisters. I know I did.
“What the hell are you on about John?”
Righto so lets start from the beginning. I use to work near Ravenswood (another mining town) and travel the backroads home for a shorter trip. I seen this little sign reading “White Blow – 1km” and passed it for a few months until curiousity got the better of me and I had to see the cocaine manufacturing plant.
I crossed this little cattle grid bridge and decided to stop to ensure I can get a quick getaway from the boomerang and woomera armed manufacturers. I took a quick snap of the creek and travelled five hundred meters down the road and much to my dissapointment I was confronted with a small carpark and a protruding vein of silicone dioxide….
Where I was standing was once buried deep below the earth’s surface.
Three hundred million years ago, five kilometres or more of rock covered this point. Here silicon-rich solutions at 300-400ºC rose along fault lines from deeper areas of molten rock and accumulated and deposited the mineral quartz (silicone dioxide.) The White Blow is composed of this quartz and is unusual because of it’s size and shape. Quartz deposits commonly occur as elongate veins, reflecting the fault lines in which the formed.
The White Blow may have been formed at the intersection of two large fault lines resulting in its larger, cylindrical form.
Everything needed to find out the rules of the place and how to get there can be found at Queensland National Park information site called White Blow Conservation Park.
(Pictures are all mine)
I drive off after attempting as best I could to get a good whiff of the air. Leaving the wallabies to graze and the magpies singing their tune. I reach the top of the range before headin down the orange dust road and am left with a view looking above the overgrown grass…
John The Aussie 
Interseting place, unfotunate name.
I like the place because of the serenity, and the wildlife attracted to the place. Quite a few times I was leaning against the rock when I was approached by a goanna… Then I legged it to the work ute.
Wow. That’s a lot of blow.
5km’s of cylindrical form of white blow will bring in the tourists by the millions. And they say Australia is having trouble with export… We found the solution…
Stunning photos, Aussie John. =0)
Shame about the name…
Veggiewitch ♥
Thanks Veggie Witch. The name peaked my curiosity, and it presented an awe geo enthusiasts would appreciate. What is in a name? Humor!!
*nods nods*
Dear John,
I love these posts of yours.
I think, putting aside the drug connotations, the name is romantic.
Love Dotty xxx
G’day Dotty,
Cheers, I’ve got a few places lined up.
Romantic eh? I was going to go along the lines of White Blow also being a male excrement, and that it must be a instruction for couples who travel. But i thought it be in very bad taste.
John
Great post, the pics are fantastic, especially the last one.
Thanks Marc. I’ve got many photos from the lookout and nearby areas, the outback blue sky is a love of mine especially with touches of cloud.
We have a place called Bong Recreation Area in our neck of the woods. lol what’s in a name? What we want there to be. Hmmmm I guess I should reflect on that!
Bahaha… Brilliant! Is it aptly named?
Sadly, no.
Excellent pics John. Interesting place. I think the name is quite funny actually… glad you checked it out though.
Thanks mate. I use to stop by often once I found the place when I worked nearby. I haven’t been back in over a year, though I’ve seen enough of it and It’s time to discover more of the backyard.
Yes, please do and share with us Yanks that are ignorant to the beauty of what this planet offers “Down Under”!
I think you need to have the birds and bees talk with your… Wait you mean Australia.
Ignorant? Nah, just unaware. I’ve heard yanks blame their own schooling system for it. I get a good chuckle from the amazement when I explain that Australia is 59 times bigger than the UK and is very close to the same size as the United States when ya don’t count Alaska. All the while Australia has a population less than New York. Our largest cattle property is bigger than a couple of your smaller states.
Looks rockin’
Badum Tshh!!
I think it’s an ace name! I wonder how many have seen the same sign and been in need of a fix and thought “That can’t be what I think it means…er, can it? Hell, I’m gonna go find out!” Only to be dissapointed. Lovely photos btw!
It be good to see a survey result, that’s for sure.
Thanks mate.
that last picture is superb, honestly I gasped, I can picture myself living there, just stunning, who cares about the name lol
Thanks Leo. I’ll send ya some other photos taken on different days if ya remind me on chat.
The rambling river and the mountainous terrain are beautiful!
Aye, the creek was a sight and I found it was supplied by a spring. After some testing, the spring at its source was pottable, down stream however was tainted almost immediately after 3 feet. Back at the little cattle grid bridge, the soft sounds of the water slapping the the rocks is echoed, bouncing off the trees creating a relaxing place to sip a travel mug full of coffee and lie in the back of the ute. By far, not the greatest of creeks, wouldn’t make my top 100, but a nice spot all the same.
The lookout I can’t seem to recall the name of, but it is usually a good spot to sit. Little shade is provided, but a constant slight breeze ranged to gail force winds are constantly cooled by the greenery. 270 degree views creates a great panoramic scene. A little climbing will allow a whole new point of view on the area the the gaps of the small range. A strong smell of orange bull dust and eucalyptus fill the air constantly, and occasionally you catch a whiff of a sea breeze. Again, not in my top 100, but worth the stop once or twice.
It sounds like paradise but not even in your top 100. What is your top three?
See now that depends on time of day and year, weather, previous weather.
For example, there is a gorge near Alice Springs and around september the full moon rises just right and is reflected on the still water showing a much larger version. I wouldn’t of known this if I hadn’t been camping that weekend.
There are a few rivers that need a good rain to flush them of scum and debris and continue raining to show the rapids over the boulders.
I’d have to say though, Whitehaven was way up there along with many spots in the Daintree, but my heart lies in the outback. I found many places in New Zealand when I jumped the pond.
But I’ll be posting more soon, and the hidden gems amongst the destinations such as above.
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Homepage said this on April 28, 2012 at 6:24 am |
Outstanding weblog here! following reading, i decide to visit Australia just for the humor.
That’s almost as good as the first time I heard someone say, “We all played cornhole! It was fun, but I never got my sack in!” I’m a simple, country girl. The only definition of cornhole I knew was something you wouldn’t want to put your sack in.
Okay, cornhole? Is that like hacky sack but you toss the little bag into something.instead?
But the.quote you produced my thought was just a simple.outback blokes dirty mind.
Now to get this straight cornhole is ass right?
Lol. Evidently I think like a simple outback bloke! Yep. Cornhole in my gutter vernacular means anus. Evidently it is now a game where you stand a certain distance away from a wooden box with various holes in it. The point is to get your sack in the hole (trying not to snicker).
*chuckles loudly*
*prompted by work mate to detail what is funny*
*explains full story taking good 5 minutes of reading phone allowed and showing pictures*
*non stop chuckles from room full of mining blokes and sheilas.*
Damn now they want my blog address, this is gonna be trouble….
Thank you for all your efforts that you have put in this. Very interesting info.
Nice pictures.
[…] due to the popular demand of the photographs taken nearWhite Blow , I decided to give you some more insight of the local town that holds White Blowin it’s […]