Day 92 and 93 Bowen
We spent the last two days in Bowen running errands, shopping, washing, paperwork etc (sounds like a great holiday) and catching up on the last of the sites of Bowen.
Day 94 – Bowen to Blacks Beach (Nth Mackay) – 198klms
Usually, the night before we head out, we pack away the awning etc just in case of rain or heavy due. However, with no rain on the horizon and blowy Bowen making sure there was no dew, we left it until the morning as we only had a short trip today to Mackay.
After bidding Bowen farewell, we stopped at Proserpine for morning tea and then onto Blacks Beach until the 9th of October.
Our site at Blacks Beach is very near the beach and we get a great breeze from the ocean which is nice. After pulling up, we were stopped by our neighbours to warn us about the MAGPIES!! Oh no not again. It seems nesting season in tropical Queensland is in full swing. You get quite a giggle watching the different types of headwear used to outsmart the maggies.
Day 95 to 98 – Mackay and Surrounds
We are here until the 9th October due to having the car serviced this week with Mazda Mackay and later next week having air bag shocks fitted to the car as we are a little heavy in the back end of the car.
Whilst based at Blacks Beach we are spending our days tripping around Mackay and the surrounding districts.
Mackay is much bigger than we had anticipated. There is a lot of mining going on in this area, and the port area is quite large. The breakwater is spectacular, and the marina is beautifully kept. There is a beautiful walkway constructed along the river in town which caters for those who want to see more of nature and take advantage of the town’s attractions. Again, these Queensland Council’s know how to build the infrastructure to attract tourists.
We have taken a drive to Eungella, Eungella Dam, Finch Hatton gorge, Seaforth, Halliday Bay, Ball Bay and Cape Hillsborough. So basically, we have driven from the sea to the mountains and into the beautiful coastal National Park of Cape Hillsborough. The beauty of this area can be attributed to the closeness of the mountains to the sea separated only by the acres and acres of pastural land (mainly sugar cane).
We also caught up with my two nieces and great niece, Julie, Deb, and Ashleigh who drove up to Sarina on Thursday to see Jenna and then drove up to Mackay for lunch with us. We had a great catch up and hopefully I will catch then on our way back along the Gold Coast.
On Friday night we had dinner at Eimeo Pub. The Pub is perched high on the bluff above Eimeo Beach and it was a spectacle evening, a little windy however the moon, good food and drinks made for a lovely evening.
We had a rather hairy night on Saturday after a front moved in with rain and very strong winds. I am not sure what strength the gusts were, but it certainly made our little van rock and roll and whilst got some sleep it was a little sparse. We were happy that our awning and the rest of the set up stood up to the winds however we swapped our screens around this morning to cope with the driving rain and give us a little protection from the wind.
The beaches today are rather bleak but very impressive with the grey rolling clouds lurking out to see.
We will spend the rest of the following week wandering around the southern area of Mackay and down to Sarina before moving on.
I have been lucky enough to keep in touch with the boys and am keeping up with their movements (or lack of movement being in Melbourne).
George is doing a fine job as social secretary and we have meet more lovely travellers. We all love to talk about our vans, places we have been and are going and listening to each other’s life tales.
Take care everyone and we will probably catch up with everyone sooner than you think.
