Day 84 – Monday 11^th October 2021 – 209 Km

The drive through Yeppoon this morning was amazingly not busy compared to on Saturday, not many people & not much traffic. Our destination this morning is the small town of Byfield & the Nob Creek Pottery. The drive through the countryside was very pleasant with not very much traffic on the road. Byfield is a bit over 30km from Yeppoon with the Nob Creek Pottery turn off just a bit before Byfield then down a minor road another 2km. We arrived a few minutes after 10am.

Nob Creek Pottery has been there since 1979 with the galleries & workshops in old packing sheds from when the small farm was an orchard. The galleries are rustic & the quality of work on display is very good. The signature pieces at the galleries utilise the design of the Byfield fern, a species of fern that is endemic to this small part of Australia & found nowhere else. Tereza & I had a good wander around the galleries a couple of times plus we ventured outside & had a look at the massive Japanese Anagama style kiln out the back under another rustic old shed. There are a few other old kilns in various states of disrepair outside as well. The workshops are large with provisions for teaching pottery as well. We both pick out the pieces of pottery that we like the most, there are some very nice pieces of glasswork here as well. More than an hour later we finally drag ourselves away.

Our next destination is the town of Byfield. We blinked & missed it, so I did a u-turn & went back. Byfield consists of a small school, a few houses set back from the road & a general store set back from the road. That is it. We didn’t bother stopping & set our destination to Rockhampton.

Another pleasant drive through the countryside & a bit over an hour later we reach this large city a bit after midday.  We cross the bridge over the Fitzroy River & turn left into the old riverport part of the town, with many beautiful old stone buildings. The one-way street along this part of the river is lined by trees & paved with stone. Surprisingly, we find a place to park close to a stylish building cantilevered out over the water, it is a restaurant called Boathouse, so naturally we walk in for lunch.

We both order seafood, what a surprise. My grilled crispy skin barramundi was delicious & Tereza’s barramundi burger just as tasty (but too much). The restaurant has outside dining on a veranda with views up & down the Fitzroy River. Upstream is two road bridges & downstream the river is littered with moored boats, a beautiful sight. After lunch we go for a short walk along this amazingly revitalised waterfront precinct & read some history of the town & port. The old buildings are mostly all restored & looking magnificent, this was the commercial hub of the city in its heyday in the 1800s & was obviously a wealthy city as evidenced by the multitude of outstanding stone buildings. We have a slow pleasant walk back to our car & then drive further along the waterfront, the newer parts are a disappointment compared to the older rejuvenated part of town.

The beachside town of Keppel Sands is our next destination & another pleasant drive in the countryside an hour later gets us to this sleepy little holiday hamlet. We drive along the shorefront & most of the houses are old fishing shacks with a few new builds here & there. Some of the houses have great views over the beach & out to the Keppel group of islands. We wondered how come the trees & bushes died conveniently in front of a lot of the houses.

Next it is back to Kinka Beach & our Karavan, no dinner tonight, we both had too much for lunch. Another great day.