Trekkin

Day 90 – Sunday 17^th October 2021 – 0 Km

It is ninety days since we started on this journey & we have decided to stay put. We have a lazy start then a slow walk over to the south side of the old bridge to look at the southern camping area & the Calliope River. We find the southern toilet blocks on a rise in a stand of hoop pines with a good view over the camp ground. We talk to James, or really to River more, they are at our house checking the mail/bills.  The little sweetheart tells us that “you are away such a long time”.  We agree with him, we miss them all so much. On the walk along the river we stop & have a nice long chat with some fellow travellers. We do meet some nice people.

The Whistling & Brahminy Kites are always gliding overhead looking for a feed as the river is so full of fish. There are lots of swallows nesting under the old bridge & the swallows are continually flying in & out as they feed the chicks. We spot some Ashy Woodswallows having a splash on the edge of the river, they are not afraid of us at all & come very close. The high level highway bridge downstream is a long way off the river & a local told us that in the last big flood the water was only a metre below the roadway. That is a lot of water as the bridge is very high.

We have lunch sitting in the shade near our van looking out over the river then Tereza reads a book & I sit & snooze, sometimes waking & looking at the huge range of bird species flitting in & out of the trees along the river bank. Not far from us is a drying branch for some cormorants & in front of us is a fig tree with lots of small berries & fig birds continually landing & feeding. This area is so rich in bird life. Later on I wander down to the bridge again & watch as some youngsters cast net for bait fish, they are surprisingly successful catching lots of small bony bream.

We decide on an ice cream & walk back up to the Heritage Village & the café in the old railway station building. As we walk up the gassy bank we disturb a small flock of Owl Finches, they are such pretty little birds. We sat at the café & ate our ice creams & chatted to the friendly volunteers who take great pride in their village. They are so nice they invite us to stay & go through the village again & camp longer even though it is a two day free stay at this beautiful place.

Back at our van we sit & have afternoon tea & this time we are entertained by a family of Grey-crowned Babblers as they demolish the dead branches on a tree in front of us while looking for insects. They do a really good job of prying the bark off with their long sharp beaks.  As the sun starts to go down we walk back down to the old bridge to watch the sun set over the river & the tide rising again. We chat again to some fellow travellers & it is nearly dark before we walk back up to our van & cook dinner. Another great day.

Day 89 – Saturday 16^th October 2021 – ? Km

An easy start this morning as we don’t have that far to travel. It is a beautiful morning in 1770, so calm & clear after the storms of yesterday. A few people near us are moving out this morning as well & because things are fairly tight we need to wait a little for others to move so that we can hook the Karavan up. We stop at the dump point on the way out & then refuel at Agnes Water. There is hardly any traffic heading out of 1770, most people are heading in to 1770 as it is the weekend so it is a calm & peaceful trip in to Miriam Vale on the Bruce Highway.

There is a nice big parking area for caravans in Miriam Vale & we find a shady spot before going for a short walk in the main street, it is only one block long & on one side of the street. The buildings are all old, some impressive, others weary. At the pub there is a small market on the corner & the Miriam Vale wood chop events are on today, a big occasion for the small town. We browse & do a little bit of retail therapy & make a small contribution to the town’s economy. The café we have lunch in is small & friendly, with seafood again the choice of us both, very tasty.

Back on the road & we pass the turn-offs to Tannum Sands & Gladstone before crossing the Calliope River & turning in to the Calliope River free camping area. We chose the north side to camp at & we find a nice spot with a good view of the river, in the shade & near the only toilet facility for both sides of the river. 

We set up then walk to the Calliope River Historical Village next door, this village consists of lots of old historical buildings that have been moved here from their previous locations, restored, furnished & open for display with a story on each building. The entry & food kiosk is the old Yarwun Railway Station building. We spend a good 2 hours walking around, looking at every building & the displays inside & reading the stories of each, it is very interesting. There is also a good collection of farm machinery & railway history. Inside the small Wright Cottage is an interesting display & we are surprised to find a possum resting on a shelf in a room suckling a young possum. There is even an old Freemason Hall completely furnished as it was left & the old school is also very interesting, Tereza & I reminisced about our memories of the desks with inkwells. The old Hazeldean Church is beautifully simple with an exquisite pulpit made by a farmhand of the time. We finished at 4pm just as the volunteers were packing up & leaving. Back at our van we relaxed with cheese, bikkies & a glass of red before walking down to the old bridge on the old Bruce Highway over the Calliope River. This old bridge is built on top of the old ford & you can still see the old rocks cemented in place to make the ford easier to cross. There are lots of people fishing for barramundi from this bridge as the tide comes in. It is remarkable watching the river flowing downstream over the rocks under the bridge then seeing at the next rockbar downstream the river flowing upstream with the tide. After a while the river is roaring over the rocks under the bridge as it floods upriver. The sunset is beautiful over the river & we walk back to our camp. The moon & stars are lovely & we have a nice cooling breeze blowing from the coast. Another great day.

Day 88 – Friday 15^th October 2021 – ? Km

Our first stop this morning is the Agnes Water Museum, a pleasant small museum full of interesting stories & artefacts. The primary focus in the museum is Captain Cook & his landing here in the year 1770. Here we found out that the town of 1770 was named in the bi-centenary year, 1970.  The small settlement was formerly known as Round Hill, being built on the banks of Round Hill Creek and under a small hill known as Round Hill, named by Captain Cook in 1770 when he landed at this spot. We also found that Agnes Water was named after the small ship Agnes that was lost at sea & a tree was found with the word Agnes carved on it whilst the ship sheltered in Round Hill Creek during a severe storm. There was also a fair bit of interesting local history of the early settlers & how the small township started without power, water, roads nor any other trappings of civilisation. They had also the usual collection of sea shells, rocks & minerals plus some aboriginal artefacts. There was some interesting stories about some of the shipwrecks nearby, including a very recent incident in 2017 when 7 local fishermen lost their lives in the sea nearby.

We then drove down south & turned in towards Red Rock Beach & Wreck Reef. This is a very rough dirt road full of rocks & giant potholes. We drove very slowly with the car on its high suspension setting & bounced back & forth & up & down as we rocked along. At the end of the road is an equally rough car park with some signage telling us about the walking track. The walk is 3 hours return to the beach & recommendations to carry drinking water & food. We decide to give this a miss, at least the bush scenery is interesting, there are lots of healthy grass trees with vigorous flower spikes on them.

The lady in the museum gave us information on where the cairn is that marks the spot near where Cook & crew landed in 1770 so that is next on the agenda. Remarkably, it is very close to our campsite & when we went walking yesterday we were very close but did not see it. We had a short walk around here & enjoyed the view out towards the sea again & the mouth of Round Hill Creek. Today there was a kite surfer enjoying the strong winds.

Lunch was next & down from our campsite is a bistro looking out over Round Hill Creek & the boats moored there. We got a front table & ordered a seafood basket plus fish & chips as well as a couple of Corona beers. As we were sitting waiting I overheard some women talking in Hungarian so I talked to them & their friends, they were all Hungarians so I went & got Tereza & she had a good chat with them. A storm was threatening as we were finishing lunch so we hurried back to our van to close our windows, just in time. Luckily we only got the outskirts of the storm and a little bit of rain and a bit of wind. We sat in the van & caught up on some of our emails & paid a few bills plus did a bit of planning for the next part of our trip & booking in plus a bit of reading. Another storm came through a little later & again not much to it.

Cheese, bikkies & red wine finished another great day.

Day 87 – Thursday 14^th October 2021 – 138 Km

Another easy start to the day, the only minor hassle was the dump point was on the diagonal opposite of the van park so it took a bit longer than usual. Our first stop was on the Tannum Sands esplanade again, we wanted to have another look at the turtles being used as speed humps at the pedestrian crossings. Very innovative & the first we have seen. The whole esplanade & town is so well cared for with many nice gardens, paths, bbq areas & just little extras that you can’t stop from saying, aahh!

The trip south on the Bruce Highway was uneventful with a moderate amount of traffic, plenty of caravans in the mix still. The countryside is rolling hills & it is still very poor land with scraggy trees. We pass through some small towns before turning off the highway to the town of 1770. When we get to the small town of Agnes Waters on the coast we turn left out a narrow peninsula to 1770. Our campground is towards the end, after the small marina and we set up in a tight campsite under a nice big shady tree. We look out at the river & the boats moored there.

We go for a walk along the edge of the river out towards the mouth, this is a very pretty spot, there is a small boat sailing out the river & a large catamaran motoring in through the channel markers. We chatted to a few of the fellow campers, everyone is very friendly.  Not as many grey nomads as we have been used to on this trip, here is a lot more young people with young children.

After lunch we drove out to the lookout at the end of the peninsula & had a lovely walk through the trees to the lookout platforms with great views over the ocean & coastline. Down on the sandspit next to the river mouth there are a group of tourist having a ride in an old military amphibious landing craft painted pink. We stop at the next spot along that has the old anchor recovered from the old ship the “Countess Russell” that was wrecked on Wreck Reef near here in 1873. There are a few nice houses enjoying the views from the high spots along here as well. Some houses we like the design of, others not so.

Angnes Waters is the next destination, it is not that large, though there is lots of high end accommodation buildings there near the beach. We drive through the small town & down to Chinaman Beach, this beach is steep with deep water right along it, not very inviting for a swim, it looks dangerous. Apparently there are lots of sea turtles nest along this beach during egg laying season. Back to camp & Tereza makes steak Diane for dinner tonight, delicious. Another great day.

Day 86 – Wednesday 13^th October 2021 – ? Km

Out of bed before 6am, breakfast & on the road by 6.50am & into the Gladstone Marina. We arrive at the Curtis Ferry Terminal around 7.20am & organise ourselves for a morning on the barge doing deliveries to the outlying islands of Gladstone Harbour. We wait for most of the cars to be loaded before walking on to the barge & climbing the stairs to the top bridge deck. It is interesting looking at all the working boats & pleasure boats when we are leaving the confines of the marina. As we enter the harbour we pass close to a fully laden coal ship, it is a massive ship & very wide.

There are a number of small islands that we pass, some with houses on them. Turtle Island is owned by a wealthy Singapore businessman we are told by one of the crew. The shipping leads twist & turn around the many sandbars & sometimes we see sand churned up behind the barge, the barge only draws one metre when loaded. The voyage across this large harbour is very pleasant with flat seas & a gentle wind, the temperature is very nice.

Our first stop is at the small settlement of Farmers Point on the northern tip of Facing Island. There are a number of cars on the beach & the barge noses into the beach & lowers the ramp onto the sand. There are some National Parks people, Maritime Services people & a group of volunteers in a small convoy of cars doing a beach clean-up before turtle nesting season starts.

Our next stop is across the channel at the small township of South End, surprisingly on the south end of Curtis Island. Again there are people & cars waiting for the barge to arrive, a few cars get off & a few cars load on. One of the channel markers between the two islands has a very large Osprey nest on it with an Osprey nearby.

The voyage back is just as pleasant & interesting seeing everything from a different side. The tide is now low & we stop at Panorama Point, the northern tip of Quoin Island to pick up a car from the sandbar that is now exposed at low tide. We have a great view of the port foreshores as we come back in & all of the terminals & wharves for handling the different types of commodities that are shipped from here. We arrive back at the Curtis Ferry terminal around 10.30am and wait for the cars to unload before we walk off. A thoroughly enjoyable boat trip, very reasonably priced & well worthwhile.

It is only a short drive around to Spinnaker Park so that is next on our agenda, we stop at the Spinnaker café & have an early lunch. A seafood platter again (for a change), it is delicious. We are entertained by the Ibis & Blue Cheeked Honeyeaters looking for scraps off the tables after people leave them. We have great views of the harbour & watch a Liquefied Natural Gas ship being guided out by some tugboats. Next on the agenda is a walk around the garden at the end of the peninsula. The path is very wide & well formed & it takes us past a large pond covered in flowering water lilies, both pink & blue colours, it is stunning, however, as always, the photos do not do it any justice. We spot a Willie Wagtail gathering nesting supplies on the branch of a paperbark tree.

We drive around to the lookout on Auckland Hill, this has great views back down on to the marina, Spinnaker Park & the nearby docks on the harbour shores. Next we take the short trip down the hill to James Cook Park & have a walk around this rejuvenated dock area. The new cruise ship terminal looks great as does the surrounding foreshore parkland with beautiful sitting & BBQ shelters plus a lovely path along the foreshore. The park also has scattered remnants of the port, such as old lighthouses & lead lights. The Rotary Club has built a waterfall from the lookout on Auckland Hill down into the park & it is very nicely set off by the cascading red bougainvillea. While we are in the park we sit & watch as some tug boats pull a fully laden coal ship away from the dock & guide it on its way out the harbour. It is the same ship we saw this morning when we were on the barge, it was low tide then, it is near high tide now & the ship needs all the water it can get under its keel, they apparently draw 16 metres fully laden.

The old business district of Gladstone is next & a few of the beautiful old buildings remain. We walk around a little bit looking, but our pick is the grand old Grand Hotel with beautiful iron lacework along the 1^st floor verandas and a Widows Walk on the roof. It must have had great views of the harbour when it was built.

Our next stop is the Round Hill lookout in the middle of Gladstone, this has an amazing 360 degree of Gladstone & district. As we walk around the summit we read all of the signs that explain what all the features are & the various industrial complexes that surround the city. It is very interesting & we spend a long time slowly making our way around.

Back out to Tannum Sands & we drive back down to the Esplanade & stop at the beach to have a look. There is an amazing sculpture of a seahorse made from recycled metal on display in the park, it is very well made. The beach has a lone kite boarder foiling around the ocean, he makes it look very easy.

For dinner we walk along the foreshore path around one kilometre to the surf club & have a nice meal. I have a delicious seafood platter & Tereza has some very tasty lamb chops, washed down with some Corona beers. The walk back in the dark along the path is very pleasant and it is a nice way to finish another great day.

Day 85 – Tuesday 12^th October 2021 – 234 Km

Up early this morning but no rush packing up & we are away around 9.20am heading south again. The road out to Rockhampton is pleasant through rural farmland, then along the Fitzroy River, as we get close to Rockhampton, the buildings are more light industry such as boat repair. As we turned on to the bridge to cross the river the two cars that had been following me for a fair while get in the outside lane, a Porsche Macan followed by an Aston Martin sports car with the number plate 007SV6. We saw these cars yesterday too in Yeppoon.

Rockhampton has a lot of light industry & all the businesses of a small city & they line the road out of the city. The Porsche & Aston Martin turn off just in front of me into suburbia & we re-join the Bruce Highway on the outskirts of Rockhampton.

The country side is very poor with scraggy looking trees & not much in the way of grass, there are not many cattle in the paddocks & those we do see look in poor condition. There is not a lot of traffic on the road, still plenty of caravans though. There are enough overtaking lanes & I slow & let traffic pass that catch up to me. We pass the turn-off into Gladstone & not too far after take the turn into Tannum Sands, our destination on the beach. The Boyne River has a few sailing boats moored downstream as we cross it & we drive through the shopping centre of Tannum Sands & down to the beach. The Caravan Park is on the other side of town next to Wild Cattle Creek. We book in, set up camp, make lunch then ask at the office about things to do & places to see.

Next we drive around the foreshore of Tannum Sands then the 19km into Gladstone & head to the Visitor Information Centre, my goodness, is that in an out of the way location. A beautiful spot, but why in the heck would you have a Visitor Centre down near the marina. Fortunately the lady we spoke to there was very helpful & gave us all sorts of information & tips on things to do & see. We drove around the marina waterfront & out into Spinnaker Park, a beautiful long & narrow waterfront park that has the marina on one side & the harbour on the other. We decide we will come back & see all this tomorrow.

Back to Tannum Sands, a bit of grocery shopping then time for cheese, bikkies & some red wine before dinner from the BBQ. Another great day.

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.

Day 83 – Sunday 10^th October 2021 –  ? Km

Away at 8.20 am this morning to the Keppel Bay boat harbour where we have booked an adventure cruise with Freedom Fast Cats. We check in at 8.30am & look around at the boats before we depart, there is a great cod sculpture on the wharf. There is a pair of Osprey nesting on a light pole in the car park, with one Osprey feeding on a fish on another light pole.

We board at 9am & the boat is reasonably full with a good mix of passenger types. The mix of boat types in the marina is very interesting, with many millions of dollars of boats on display. The big catamaran we are on is very comfortable & fast, we quickly leave the boat harbour behind & enjoy the scenery of receding spectacular headlands & small islands. We pass a number of sailing boats either heading out or coming in plus a few fishing boats as well. The trip to Great Keppel Island takes around 30 minutes & as we draw close we get to admire all the sailing boats at anchor in the lee of the island. Our boat noses into the sand then drops a ramp onto the sand so that most of the passengers can disembark, we stay on board, time for our morning tea.

After morning tea we disembark & then walk a few short steps onto the glass bottom boat for the next part of our adventure. There are about twenty on board. We motor over to near the adjoining headland & look at the coral under the boat, we see some turtles, lots of fish big & small plus plenty of coral. Monkey Bay, not very far away, the next small bay around has a protected coral area & we motor there next. We see a lot more colourful soft coral, some large clams, some large brain coral & plate coral plus lots more bigger fish, as well as plenty of small fish. The glass bottom boat drops us back at the main beach & we get to explore the island for a little bit.

We walk up the beach & Tereza walks through the shark’s mouth, before we venture on to Tropical Vibes, a place recommended to us by friends. We do a little retail therapy & at the check-out we discover the girl serving is Hungarian. She has been in Australia 4 years & Tereza is the first person she has spoken Hungarian to in a very long time. It was a real surprise to her to hear someone talk Hungarian & she said she had to struggle to change her mind around to talk Hungarian, she has only been speaking English for so long. We walk along the promenade then onto the beach before walking along the beachfront in the water. The sand is so beautiful white & silky smooth. There are lots & lots of fish in the shallows. At 12.30 we board the big catamaran again & are served a nice lunch while we slowly motor over to our snorkelling spot at Monkey Bay. There is only about 15 of us, adults & kids now on the boat, nice for us, a small group. I am sure the cruise company would be happier with more people, things are tough because of the Covid lock down, tourists can’t come.

The snorkelling brief is very comprehensive before we are kitted out & enter the water. The boat has a very good swim platform off the back that is hydraulically operated.  The water is a little cool at first at 23C, however we quickly get used to it as we swim over to the coral. We get a lot better view of all the different corals & multitudes of fish whilst snorkelling. We take our time & are continually amazed at the variety & colours of the fish. We see some very large fish & some really big schools of small colourful fish that we swim through. We spend over an hour in the water snorkelling the reef & are the last back onto the big boat. The crew are very efficient in helping us out & cleaning our gear. We dry off & change, then it is time for afternoon tea as we slowly motor back to the main beach.

At around 3.30pm the big cat noses into the beach & a multitude of people get on, some that were dropped of this morning plus lots of new ones. It takes a fair while to load as the people have to wade through knee deep water to get to the ramp, the water is very shallow here for the big catamaran. The trip back is another 30 minutes & seems to be over in no time, the scenery is very pleasant & the ride on this big & fast boat is very smooth. We pass more sailing boats on the way back to the boat harbour. We are one of the last to disembark, we are not in a hurry. Walking to our car we see an Osprey chasing some crows away, the crows are too close to the Osprey nest.

Back to the Karavan & cheese, bikkies & some red wine, another great day.

Day 82 – Saturday 9^th October 2021 –  ? Km

First stop this morning is the Keppel Bay Marina where we have a look at the Double Head, a pair of extinct volcanic cones that provide shelter for the boat harbour. It is amazing the number of people fishing around these rocky outcrops, they are fishing all around it. The basalt columns are tilted and look amazing with their geometric regularity. There is a big fishing charter mother boat in at dock being cleaned, it must have just come into dock this morning. With this Covid in the other states tourist aren’t coming so they are finding it hard to keep going.

We drive around the shoreline to Yeppoon, then drive around a fair bit looking for a parking spot that is not too much of a walk to the beachfront. The Yeppoon Pine Fest is on today with markets, music & entertainment at the seaside stage. We walk through the markets (disappointing compared to a few we have seen since we are travelling) then sit & watch the kids performing in front of the stage with the magnificent backdrop of the ocean & Keppel Island group in the background. We get hungry & get a couple of steak burgers from the Lions stall, then a Tater stick to share  (we see other people eating them, now that we tried it we decided that we won’t need to have one again) as we watch.

Next is a walk along the foreshore past the Keppel Kraken, a magnificent children’s waterpark on the foreshore for any child to play in, it is very well designed. Further on is the Keppel Bay Sailing club with an old Lightweight Sharpie out the front on display. I have a chat to a few sailors there, some sharpie sailors & ask if they are heading to the National Championships in Canberra. They have been busy finishing the parade float for the street parade later today down the main street of Yeppoon.

We wander back to the stage & listen to some live music with the highlight being the Yeppoon State High School Brass Band, they are very good. While sitting there we see a couple of hang gliders taking advantage of the breeze & flying overhead before landing on the beach. The music stops & we walk to the street parade nearby, Tereza finds a friend on a park bench.

The street parade is full of people having fun, there are some great floats & displays, with the end of the parade marked by some trucks full of pineapples being handed out to anybody standing on the street that wants one. Tereza got lucky with a nice pineapple. We decided that we had enough, the fire spectacular is not until 7pm so back to our caravan park.

On our drive back we again followed the ocean & stopped at the Wreck Point lookout. Here there is another great sculpture & a story of the shipwreck the point was named for. The views are fantastic looking out to the Keppel group of islands, the view is very clear today & we can see a long way. We continue following the ocean back to Kinka Beach & our Karavan. Another great day.

Day 81 – Friday 8^th October 2021 –  230 Km

Packed & away on the road by 8.50am driving further south. The road tracks inland away from the coast & the countryside is mostly very poor looking with dry grass, scraggy gum trees & very poor looking cattle. We do see a cane farm burning & going up in smoke ready for harvest. The traffic is reasonably light and we are only stopped once for roadworks near Gladstone.  We turn off not far past the roadworks & head towards the coast through rural farmland and lifestyle size blocks of land. We drive past a group of small mountains that are the plugs of extinct volcanoes, some are mostly just rock, they are very striking on the landscape. As we get close to the coast the trees & grasses look a lot better, obviously a lot more rain.

Around midday we arrive at our destination of Kinka Beach (near Yeppoon) after 230km of driving. I check in to the van park, step around the big beautiful peacock as I walk out the door & then we set the van up. It is in a really nice spot under a group of gum trees. As we finish a lady in a pie truck drives past & stops, ringing a bell. Pies for lunch it is.

We decide to drive in to Emu Park for some grocery shopping, it is only 5km down the road from Kinka Beach. We drive around the ocean front at Emu Park looking at the scenery & houses before heading in to the centre of town & shops. We always seem to buy a lot more than what is on our list. The Drakes IGA supermarket is very good with a great range & well priced.

Overlooking the shops & beachfront is a monument on the headland that we decide to have a look at, the Singing Ship. This is an amazing sculpture that makes musical notes as the wind blows through the pipes, a very impressive piece of art. It is to honour James Cook, the navigator that named Keppel Bay, the waterway that Emu Park is built next to.

From the Singing Ship there is a Memorial Walkway that is a boardwalk along the cliff top that leads down to a memorial pavilion with displays that remember & honour the men & women that served in the First World War. It was a project by the Emu Park RSL & is an amazing memorial. This is one of the very best memorials we have ever seen. The adjoining park overlooking the Emu Park Beach has an amazing children’s playground plus lots of seating & BBQ areas. It is all very neat & tidy with well kept garden beds & mown grass. The views out over Keppel Bay to Great Keppel Island & all the surrounding islands is stunning as well. We are very impressed with this little town of Emu Park.

Back to Kinka Beach & our van where Tereza unloads & packs the groceries away before preparing dinner. Another great day.