Returning South

Friday 15 August

We left Ed and Jenny's by about 8:30, soon after they had left for work and just headed south in the rain. I drove to Mission Beach where we had delicious banana crepes and latte for a very late morning tea. We wandered around a bit, visited the Information Centre and took a stroll along the beach and back through the arboretum.

We drove north to the Bingil Hill lookout walk but we only did a portion of it.

We liked Mission Beach but decided to go south to Cardwell where we did a short drive around and a look at the beach. It is all certainly back on track after the recent severe cyclone damage.

Again we decided to go on south as we still had some driving time left in the day. We got stuck behind a truck at the top of the range so took the opportunity to pull off at a lookout over the Whitsundays and the estuary.

A bit further south we turned off to Lucinda passing a roadside pond full of beautiful blue waterlilies.

At Lucinda we found the caravan park and had positive vibes about it so booked in. We were welcomed to our luxurious cabin by a tribe of Bush Thick-knees. They are so comical and crazy!

After settling in we walked to the waterfront dominated by the 5.76km conveyor belt jetty for loading raw sugar onto ships. It is certainly impressive.

Over the road we bought fish and chips for dinner and took them back to the cabin.

We sorted out distances for the next few days and realise we can actually stay here for two nights so have tentatively booked tomorrow night as well.

Saturday 16 August

I woke early this morning, probably about 5am, to the sound of an altercation between some Thick-knees. I lay listening to the sounds of Thick-knees, Peaceful Doves, Friar Birds and yes, Sparrows which still exist in the north.

We decided not to stay two nights as this way we will have shorter drives each day to get to Tin Can Bay by 20 August.

On the southern side of Ingham we stopped at the Tyto Wetlands, an extensive series of ponds with grassy walks between them and birds and wallabies hiding in the shrubs and trees. We spent quite a while just wandering. It is an impressive place. We even saw the uncommon Crimson Finch.

We then just headed south. I drove first and was hoping to stop for lunch around Townsville. However, with the new motorway we were forced to keep driving. Then there were no pulloffs further south so I pulled into a private drive near Palm Creek that had quite a wide verge and we had a minimalist lunch there.

Kathy then took over the driving and as it was too early to stop at Bowen we decided to go on. At the Big Mango just south of Bowen we enjoyed a break with a walk on the beach and an icy cold mango sorbet.

On we went to Airlie Beach, a very touristy centre. We found a cabin at Bush Village which is very comfortable. We went for a walk along the boardwalk by the water which is part of their 10000 step walk. We have noticed a few towns with a designated 10000 step walk.

As we did not have cooking facilities we had a “salad” with our veges, some cheese on corn thins, a banana and a biscuit for our dinner then settled in to watch Saturday night TV.

Sunday 17 August

We were on the road by 7:30ish and headed south again.We had a bit of difficulty with exiting the highway at Proserpine but eventually managed to negotiate the very poor signs and lane markings without hitting anyone. We bought fuel and found an ATM then I took over driving south.

We stopped for our cuppa in a roadside pulloff that had toilets and tables and also bought strawberries and pineapple at a roadside stall.

Arriving at Cape Hillsborough early (about 10:30am) meant we actually got a cabin for the night.

Once we were settled in we went for a walk onto the beach. I walked across the causeway then came up to do the loop walk to Turtle lookout. Kathy was ahead of me and actually saw turtles but I did not. There were dozens of butterflies all along the walk.

After lunch was R&R in the heat of the day. It looks as though the rain has cleared for a while now. I caught up with lists and diary then we drove back along the road to the Diversity Boardwalk. This was great. Lots of birds in the first few steps then through mangroves, melaleuca swamp, dry sclerophyll woodland and a tiny bit of rainforest. There was a huge midden and a ground orchid fruiting!

As the devonshire Tea House was closed we headed back to base.

A wander along the beach then back through the caravan park admiring the kangaroos, wallabies and Orange Footed Scrub Fowl ended our full day in time for us to organise our dinner and beds.

Monday 18 August

At first light I quickly dressed and went straight down to the beach for sunrise with the kangaroos and wallabies. The silence was amazing. There were people there but not a word was said. Just an awesome silence with the lapping of the waves to accompany the sunrise.

After breakfast we took a short walk until the office opened and then head out to Mackay where we were again directed around the city rather than through it.

At Sarina we did some grocery shopping then had an awful morning tea before heading south again. The road was quite long, dry and boring.

At Marlborough we eventually found the town park and had our minimalist lunch again.

We turned off to The Caves and called in at the office by about 2pm. As a tour of the caves was about to leave we joined that immediately. The caves were impressive and linked by walkthroughs and boardwalks with effective lighting.

The Cathedral Cave even had pews and choir stalls and apparently is a popular wedding venue. At the end of the tour we were left to make our own way through a very narrow zigzag passage and over two suspension bridges. In all it was a lot of fun and quite impressive, quite different from the Chillagoe caves.

After our tour we booked into a campsite and pitched camp slowly before losing light, took a look around the shop and I bought a bag and purse with aboriginal designs on them. Back to camp to settle in for the night with our resident Brush Turkey.

Tuesday 19 August

Up early and out by about 8am and on the road again. We've fallen into a pattern both with packing and with driving, with me starting the driving of the day and Kathy taking over after morning tea or lunch.

We turned off the highway at Mt Larcom towards Gladstone where we found the tourist information centre. I immediately recognised it as the terminal for the trip out to Heron Island that we did in 1988. It brought back lots of memories, both good and sad.

Another turnoff took us to Tannum Sands for our lunch picnic.

We drove into town searching for indigenous art, eventually finding a little in a gift shop. Off to find coffee and cake and met the family we had camped next to last night.

Further south to Miriam Vale where we again turned off east to Agnes Water and the town of 1770.

We drove along the beach at 1770, took a short walk at the Captain Cook monument, then doubled back to the Captain Cook Holiday Village to book a cabin and dinner at the Cookhouse restaurant for our last night on our own. We had just missed out on the sunset tour on the Larc amphibious craft so that will have to be another time.

A few phone calls and the next four days were confirmed. Of course we were welcomed to our cabin by a trio of Bush Thick-knees.

Dinner was delightful - fish for Kathy and chicken satay skewers for me. We returned to our cabin full as googs.