This morning we watched the fishermen launch their boats onto the beach & waiting for the tide to come in. They didn’t have to wait long as the tide advances so quickly. We sat outside & I had a coffee as the tide filled in & the beach filled with fishermen. I only saw them catch a few small fish, nothing of any size or worth keeping. This place is absolutely beautiful, the mangroves out on the rocks are covered in water up to their leaves. As the tide drops the boats start coming back in so that they don’t get stranded way out on the sand.
We had a seafood lunch from the bistro again out on the beachfront & again we saw lots of dugong grazing on the seagrass out the front. There were also some turtles swimming & feeding close to the shore. As the tide receded I walked out on the beach & close rocks then ventured down to the creek at the end of the campground, no water at all. We then played a game of 5 crowns, then cheese & bikkies plus a glass of red. Another great day.
From Blacks Beach to Clairview today. The road winds through the cane fields of the Mackay district, then into some small mountain ranges, then more cane fields. The mountains of the Great Dividing Range loom over to the west of the highway. At one stage we are stopped on the highway for around half an hour as roadworks are completed. The traffic builds up a very long way behind us. The opposite lane is let through first and a massive stream of traffic slowly passes by before our side of the road is allowed through.
Clairview is squeezed between the highway, railway line & the sea in a narrow strip of beachfront. Our site is beachfront & we reverse in & set up before heading over to the onsite bistro for lunch. We find a table & chairs in the shade out the front with views of the ocean only interrupted by the swaying coconut palm trees. We order a seafood basket, a Corona & Ginger beer. We are surprised to see dugongs grazing on the sea grass out the front, but they are so very quick in popping up for a quick breath & down they dive again to eat. We stay watching the dugongs then watch as the water rapidly recedes as the tide departs. The tide here has more than a 6 metre range & the edge of the water is around a kilometre out from shore. Ron goes for a walk on the sand but quickly starts getting bogged in the underlying mud so then heads onto the rocks & heads out towards the island. I start getting worried as I see him disappearing into the distance, I am concerned about the tide coming back in. No problems, brains engage & he turns & starts walking back in as the tide turns, it takes a while as it is a long way out.
The ocean breeze is nice & cool & we enjoy some cheese & bikkies plus a glass of red as the sun sets. Tereza is feeling better again, so another great day.
Today Tereza is feeling so much better again & we decide to drive around & have a look at Mackay, unfortunately we haven’t had a chance to explore the many places around here. It is a beautiful day. Our first drive is to Mackay’s North Beaches. Beautiful drive, lovely views. We are heading to Dolphin Head, oh my gosh!!! The big houses. Most of them are very stylishly, architecturally designed to get the best of the best views, but huge – you wonder how many people live in these houses. It is beautiful & nice to see how some of the other half live. Next we drive to the top of a small knoll at Eimeo. The Eimeo Pub takes its prominence with magnificent vies out over the ocean. Ron immediately decides that we will return, this is the place we would have lunch. While I love the views I am not sure if my stomach is ready for very much food.
We then drive as far north in Mackay that you can drive, Shoal Point. We drive out along the rough shorefront track to Hodge’s Road Park & watch a fisherman standing in the shallows cast-netting for bait fish. There are great views from here across the very large shallow bay to Cape Hillsborough in the distance. We follow the esplanade around the shorefront soaking in the splendour then drive around this small beachside suburb looking at all the different houses.
Next we follow the shore down through the suburb of Bucasia to the boat ramp, more crocodile warning signs. There are a mix of old & new houses along the way with a mix of old & new boats in the creek off the boat ramp. There are lots of beautiful paperbark trees along the seafront & at the boat ramp we come across a giant paperbark tree. We explore the suburb of Eimeo next, the beach here is small but very pretty. Mango Road, leading along to the Eimeo Hotel has a beautiful grove of trees enclosing the roadway.
We stop at the Eimeo Hotel for lunch & get a seat in the shade overlooking the beaches & ocean with a view out to the Keswick Group of Islands & also Brampton Island, as well as numerous small islands & rocky outcrops. The water is such an amazing colour, the photos do not do it justice. For lunch we shared a fisherman’s basket whilst I had a Corona beer & Tereza a ginger beer.
After lunch it was the turn to look at South Mackay, we drove across the Pioneer River into the CBD of Mackay, then turned along the river and followed the Oceanside south to the furthest south new suburb in Mackay called Sol. Here the new blocks range from 350 sq. metres to 400 sq. metres in size, very tiny. They do not have any views at all, they are behind the dunes covered in beachy type scrub. We drove down to the carpark of the beach in front of these house blocks, called Far Beach, more crocodile warning signs. The riverfront at Mackay has a nice drive along it with a lovely little park at the end near a large boat ramp. The tide is running out very fast past the boats moored in the river.
We venture north back over the river & out to the boat harbour. The marina is full of boats & protected by a huge breakwall. We drive out along the breakwall & park at the end of it for a view of nearby Slade Rock and the nearby offshore islands. We spot 13 coal ships moored offshore waiting to load coal at the Mackay coal port. The tide is out & the sandy beaches south are now very wide. The entrance to the boat harbour has an old lighthouse standing prominently.
Slade Point is next on the agenda & we drive along the waterfront looking out towards our camp over at Blacks Beach, the tide is even further out & there is lots of exposed sand. More big nice houses here as we drive around to Lamberts Lookout with more great views south over Lambert’s Beach & the offshore islands. We can see the port & coal loaders in the distance. Back to Blacks Beach & I have a long walk on the beach on the very large & exposed sand spit, I walk most of the way to Slade Point, the tide is that low. We just cannot get over the very high & low tides up here in the north, how very far the water goes out & how very high it returns. Tereza has a rest after the big day and is feeling a lot better. A great day.
Day 73 to day 77 – Thursday 30 September to Monday 4th October 2021 – 0 Km
The next few days have been like all the life has been sucked out of me. Just sleeping, not enough energy, an effort to even move. On top of it all I have severe diarrhea. Thanks to modern medicine (very heavy doses every day) we are getting back to living. Back to eating (not with a great appetite) & keeping it down. We stay put at the van park, Ron goes out to replenish food supplies when needed. Tereza slowly improves each day thank goodness.
We are in an absolutely beautiful spot, looking straight out at the beach amongst swaying coconut palms. The beach is very wide when the tide is out, the high tide of around 5 to 6 metres fills that all back in surprisingly quickly. School holiday long weekend is on now & the van park is full of families with kids on bikes & scooters, lots of families on the beach enjoying the warmth & sparkling water. On the windy days there are some people kite boarding out the front. One afternoon we spot a dugong in the water, a very rare sighting & the first one I have ever seen.
Tereza had a bad night and is very lethargic. I pack the Karavan & we get away around 10am from Cape Hillsborough. The drive of round 50 kilometres through the farms & forests, past large craggy mountains is pleasant, though Tereza is sleeping, she is still very unwell. We arrive at Blacks Beach van park (thanks to the GPS in the car) at around 11pm & I set up. This van park is right on the beach & we are around 20 metres from the sand with good views of the ocean through the swaying coconut palms. Thankfully we are shaded by a large paperbark & a large coastal almond tree plus we get the cooling sea breeze straight off the ocean. Tereza sleeps most of the afternoon.
Today Tereza is not feeling well at all, very tired & no energy at all. We stay at the Karavan & I search for & call doctors in Mackay, the nearest large town. The first two doctor clinics I call do not have any available doctors. The third clinic I call has an appointment available this afternoon at 4.10pm. We leave Cape Hillsborough around 2.30pm & just as well, road works slow us down, however, the trusty GPS takes us to the front door & we pull into the car park at 3.30pm. Tereza promptly vomits as soon as we get out of the car. The doctor is wonderful & he tests for possible diabetes with high sugar levels to start with, sugar is normal. Temperature 39.8. Next a urine test & the diagnosis is a severe urinary tract infection. He prescribes a long course of strong anti-biotics with the strong message that if things do not improve go straight to Mackay Hospital emergency department. We drive to the chemist & fill the script & Tereza takes the first course straight away in the car. We decide that we will shift camp to Mackay tomorrow on the drive back to Cape Hillsborough, so that we are close to the hospital if the need arises. Tereza goes straight to bed & I wake her for the next course of tablets at 9pm as per the doctor’s advice. Not a good day.
Up at 5.20am this morning & down to the beach to see the eastern grey kangaroos & agile rock wallabies on the beach. A ranger feeds them pellets on the beach at sunrise each morning & they are not afraid of people. A group of around 60 campers are there to see them fed, young & old & there are people coming & going all the time. I have a chat to the ranger & he tells me the eastern grey kangaroos have been raised from orphan joeys by the caravan park people and are now roaming free. I come back to the van & have an early breakfast then we decide to walk out to the nearby Wedge Island as it will be low tide at 7.45am & the causeway to the island will be uncovered. It is a 2.0 metre low tide and when we get there the causeway is a long way out of the water. We walk along the beach & across the causeway to Wedge Island, there are quite a few others taking advantage of the tide as well.
On Wedge Island there is a nice sheltered sandy beach, when the tide is in. Now there is sand up to the vegetation & lots of rocks near the water. We walk & explore to the end of the beach & enjoy the views across the bay & the surrounding high mountains, this is another dimension to the beauty of Cape Hillsborough. The tide turns & we make our way slowly back across the causeway & then back along the beach. It is amazing how far the tide is out, it is equally amazing that it can be another 2 metres lower at dead low tide. Back at the caravan it is morning tea time, then a rest to recover from the long walk.
After lunch we go on a drive to explore the nearby area. Our first stop is at Smalley Beach, at the end of a long dirt road with a national Park Campground as well, with only one camper. We get out of the car to have a look at the beach & come across a very large Lace Monitor (goanna), at least 2 metres long & very fat. The beach & surrounding mangroves & overlooking mountain is beautiful. We drive next to Ball Bay & drive slowly around it looking at both the beach & the houses. Next is Halliday Bay where we have a similar slow drive before making our way to Seaforth. This town is spread out a very long way in a narrow strip along the beachfront, all the way from Seaforth Creek to Finlayson Point. One thing that amazed us was the size of the massive caravan park at Seaforth, full of school holiday campers.
Back to camp & afternoon tea, a siesta then cheese & bikkies with some red wine. Dinner was simple & another early night. This sea air certainly makes us tired.
Packing this morning & on the road around 10am past many cane farms. Once we got into the hills the countryside is very poor looking with scraggy trees & cattle grazing. A few old volcanic plugs dotting the landscape here & there. The highway is fairly busy, still lots of caravans on the road. I miss the turn-off into Cape Hillsborough, the only signage is for Seaforth, so a few kilometres down the road I find a place to pull over & turn on the GPS guidance. Yes, that was the turn. We drive past more cane fields before the countryside becomes hilly & poor soil again, then onto a dirt road that is in good condition. We continue to Seaforth, then back to bitumen & then the turn-off to Cape Hillsborough, where, surprisingly (not) it is hilly. The end of the road is the caravan park, a small island in the middle of the Cape Hillsborough National Park. It is around midday & we set up then go for a walk on the beach, this place is an absolutely beautiful paradise surrounded by very large trees growing to the high tide mark.
After lunch we played Yahtzee then rested for a while then another walk down to the beach. One man I spoke to is from Cairns here with his family. Everyone else goes to Cairns for their holidays. The people from Cairns come to Cape Hillsborough. This is a really nice place, a good choice.
The alarm went off at 4am this morning, a quick breakfast then I am on the road out to Peter Faust Dam, a bit over 20km west of Proserpine. I am meeting a fishing guide at 5am at the boat ramp on the dam for a 6 hour session of barramundi fishing. The temperature is 11C and there is a bit of fog on the road on the way to the dam. I arrive at the dam at 4.50am & as I get my bag & coat out of the car my fishing guide turns up with his shiny red bass boat in tow with a 160HP Mercury 4 stroke motor on the back of it. My fishing guide’s name is Col & he quickly gets the boat in the water & we are away from the dock just before 5am & blast across the dam in the dark at around 80 km/hr. This is a very big dam with a surface area of around 43 sq. kilometres and is renowned as the best barramundi fishing dam in Queensland. Col is following his tracks on his GPS unit & is missing all the trees sticking out of the water. He has some very powerful LED driving lights on the front of the boat that turn night into day.
We pull up in amongst a lot of dead trees & Col points out some big barramundi he can see on the side view sonar scanner. He hands me a fishing rod & we start casting lures towards where the fish should be as the dawn starts to approach & the stars start to fade. We cast for a while & I get a tap on my line. Col explains that this is how the barramundi usually bite this time of year, not a big snatch & run that I am used to with other barramundi I have caught. A few casts later & I am on to a big fish, it gives me a bit of a workout then I manage to get the fish close to the boat & I have to avoid the electric motor on the front of the boat so that the fish doesn’t wrap the line around it. I manage to drag the fish away from that & then it dives under the boat. My rod tip is under the water & way under the boat, I am desperately trying not to let the rod touch the boat as the rod may snap if it does. I manage to drag the fish out from under the boat, then it makes a few more short runs before I manage to turn it & get its head into the mouth of the net that Col is holding in the water.
Col gets the lure out & we try to measure the fish, it is a huge barramundi & gives a few more kicks as we try to measure it, 98 cm long & very fat. This barramundi is a beautiful deep golden colour with some brown on top, perfect disguise in the waters of this dam. I pick the fish up & Col takes a few photos on my phone before I return the barramundi to the water head first so that it gets a flow of water over its gills. We keep fishing in this spot as the sun comes up but no more luck. Col then takes us to another wooded spot in the shade of the hills & again, there are plenty of big barramundi on the fish finder, but no luck. We try a few more spots then troll slowly to another spot, again no more luck. We finish in another nice spot with lots of big barramundi swimming past & I get one more touch but no fish. My arms are nearly falling off when it turns 11am & we call it a day. Col thinks the water temperature at 22C was too low, the temperature should have been around 26 or 28C for the barramundi to bite more freely. We blast back to the ramp at around 90 km/hr & Col wastes no time in getting the boat out. There are a few holiday makers with boats messing about around the ramp.
The air temperature is around 28C as I drive back into Proserpine through all of the cane fields. The town of Proserpine is marked by the tall smoke stacks billowing as it is in the middle of cane harvest time now & the sugar mill in town is working 24 hours a day. I get back to the caravan before midday & have a very quiet afternoon, I am exhausted from the full morning of fishing & the early start. A little later I head into town & buy some prawns & fresh buns for dinner, they are delicious. Tereza is still feeling unwell & is more subdued with dinner. We have a game of cards & then it is an early night for both of us. A good day.
Today was another trip into Airlie Beach, last time we spotted a Hungarian Street Food stall & decided to visit it for lunch, they are only open Thursday to Sunday from 11am. We parked near the Whitsunday Sailing Club, so of course, I had to go & have a closer look at it. There were some very large white Bird of Paradise flowers out the front, beautiful. There were a few Pacer sailing boats on the lawn out the front on the shoreline of the clubhouse. There is a very large children’s playground nearby and it has some very tall climbing shafts & long twisting slides down. There are lots of people at the picnic tables inside the park grounds.
There are so many flats & apartments built on the hills overlooking Airlie Beach. We were at Airlie Beach 16 years ago, everything is so different from the sleepy little beach side town. Busy shops & restaurants, I suppose it is progress. The walk along the beachside esplanade is very pretty with the line of palms lining the walkway & the path is not too busy with tourists yet.
The Hungarian Street Food stall opened at 10.30am so we walked straight in & had a chat with the owner as we ordered some Langos (Hungarian fried bread dough), pocket Langos (Hungarian fried bread dough pockets with bacon, cheese), then for dessert, the Kurtos kalacs (Hungarian chimney cake) and a Chimney cone with custard & ice cream. It was all very delicious. As we were sitting there we were amazed at the number of people that came in to sample the Hungarian fare. She was very busy serving & cooking all by herself.
On the walk back to the car we walked past a coffee shop & someone called out to us, it was our Kimberley Karavan Neighbours from the camp at Yungaburra, Hans & Chris. We sat & had a good chat with them before heading back to the car and off on a short drive around some other parts of Airlie Beach, felt disappointed that we couldn’t drive to the beach PRIVATE ROAD, I suppose that is progress too. We then drove back to our camp at Proserpine & both had a nap, very unusual for us, I think we had to sleep off all the great Hungarian food.
At afternoon tea it was time for a coffee & we finished off the remaining Kurtos kalacs, yum. We called & had a chat with some Canberra friends, everyone we talk to tells us DON’T COME HOME, they are still locked down. Worst still we have to drive through N.S.W. where they have a lot of Covid cases. In Queensland we are free to go everywhere, don’t even have to wear a mask. The border was closed down before the Covid could spread.
It is time for dinner then a game of cards, Ron won so it is a great day for him. Another great day.
Trekkin 