Today is fairly quiet, Tereza has been feeling a bit off colour the last couple of days, she has been sleeping a lot today so we stay at the van park most of the day. I fixed a few minor things, also refilling the water tanks. I did a little bit of shopping & picked up some medicine. The most important reason for going to town, I had run out of red wine. In Queensland there are lots of alcohol shops around, so not a problem to replenish. Tereza felt a lot better tonight, no fever. Another great day.
My goodness, was it ever windy during the night & still blowing very strongly this morning. Our washing is first item on the agenda today, followed by breakfast. Our clothesline under the back of the van gets filled again, a very handy spot.
The drive to Cedar Creek Falls takes only around 20 minutes through cane farms then cattle farms then bush. The car park is full & overflowing back down the road, we are lucky that someone is just leaving. The falls are not that far from the carpark & they are not falling, it is the dry season, so no rain. The large pool at the base of the falls looks a little stagnant & no-one is in swimming. A few people are at the top of the falls, one person is throwing large rocks over the edge to hear the splash. There are warning signs about not jumping from the top all around, there have been deaths & serious injury.
Next is another short drive to Conway Beach, this is again through small farms and ends at the mouth of the Proserpine River with a collection of around 50 houses plus a caravan park in the back. The wind is blowing very strongly & the sea is covered in whitecaps with the sea a muddy brown colour. It is not very pleasant standing on the beachfront so we get back into our car & drive to Wilson Beach, another small hamlet with about the same number of houses, but no caravan park. We don’t get out of the car, it is so windy. We then decide to drive to Shute Harbour through Airlie Beach. Again more cane farms but as we get closer suburbia is expanding rapidly out from the coastline, it has changed so much since we were last here 16 years ago.
Shute Harbour is very windy as well, we notice a yacht that has been blown onto rocks next to the road. We stop at the Lion’s Lookout overlooking the ferry terminal & the wind is whipping down the harbour so we get back into our warm car. Airlie Beach is very busy, it is school holiday time & there are lots of people around. We are fortunate to get a carpark in the main street then we go looking for a seafood place for lunch. There is one not too far away & it is fairly busy, we have around a 20 minute wait for our seafood. The view is pleasant, looking out over the park to the bay that is packed with sailing boats sitting on water that is such an amazing blue colour. There is a nice path along the beachfront & we have a short walk along it, there are lots of people. On the beachfront is a really large public lagoon that is free to use & caters for all ages, it is a great facility to have. There are lots of people sitting around on the grass under the swaying palm trees.
We refuel at Cannonvale & head back to Proserpine then out through it a further 21km to Peter Faust Dam, the water storage facility for Proserpine & the Whitsunday coast. This is a really large dam with a collection of caravans & motorhomes camped on the shoreline. It is really windy here as well & there is no-one on the water. This dam is usually a very popular fishing spot, but today it is just so windy. The drive back through the cane farms is pleasant & we get back to camp at around 4pm, collect the washing & prepare dinner. Another great day.
This morning was pack up & move again, this time a leisurely drive down to Proserpine. We departed Bowen around 9.45am and encountered lots of roadworks along the relatively short drive. The countryside is very dry with patchy shrubs. We arrived in Proserpine around 11am & checked in to the caravan park & set up. After set up we had an early lunch then ventured into town, first stop was the Proserpine Museum. The museum is full of interesting stuff & is well laid out. One interesting fact we found out is that Midge Point is not named after a proliferation of the nasty biting insects at that place. Midge Point is named after the boat that discovered the point, a small boat called the Midge, from a ship called the HMS Fly. Amazing the small things you discover.
There are some interesting stories in this museum of some adventurous people & there are also some items of history that are not that well known, such as the poisonous gas testing during the 2nd World War.
Next was a bit of grocery shopping plus looking for a new toaster as our trusty toaster died this morning & it was binned in Bowen. It took a bit of a search but we found one in IGA after checking out a few other shops. On the walk along the Proserpine main street we came across a mobile ice cream vendor, so we tasted some local ice cream. The temperature was 35C so it was a welcome refresher. Back to our Karavan, pack away then a game of cards then dinner. Another great day.
Off to Horseshoe Bay again this morning to see the beach with the tide in, it is just as beautiful. We stop at Gray’s Bay on the way back & enjoy this beautiful beach as well, it is postcard picture perfect. By this time it is 9.30am & the Bowen Museum should be open. It is a nice little museum staffed by friendly volunteers until 12.30pm. The museum is nicely laid out with a good mix of items reflecting all aspects of the history of Bowen. In the museum we couldn’t take any photos.Next to the museum is a small slab cottage from Moss Vale Station that was relocated to this site and reassembled, then filled with items from this era. Again, very interesting.
We then walk around the streets of Bowen and admire the painted murals on the walls, do a bit of window shopping & admire some of the old restored buildings. There is not much shopping activity going on in Bowen. Only one men’s, one women’s & one shoe shop, there was anything to tempt us. Hotels & alcohol stores are plentiful. Off to the Fisherman’s Co-Op for lunch again, on the shaded back deck again overlooking the fishing fleet. While we were in eating, outside an excavator dragged a sunken sailing boat out of the adjoining small boat harbour, it was full of water & had to be pumped out before retrieval.
The views from the top of Flagstaff Hill were just as beautiful today, a little less wind, the seas are a different shade of blue. We then ventured down off the beaten track & out on the northern seawall of the boat harbour, the tide is way out now and we walk along the beach to another sailing boat that has been burnt out, washed ashore and slowly being destroyed by the elements. It is unusual in that the supporting structure of the hull is steel tubing, most unusual. Back to the Karavan & a game of Yahtzee before dinner, showers & bed. Another great day.
This morning we visit Mullers Lagoon, right in the middle of Bowen. We drive all the way around the lagoon looking for a parking area, but don’t find any. We finally park just down from the shopping centre. This lagoon is a very large man-made lagoon with nice pathways plus seats, bridges & BBQ areas. There are a number of small islands in the lagoon that are the breeding sites for some ibis & also whistling ducks. The trees on the islands are full of ibis and the nests in the trees have small ibis chicks in them clamouring to be fed. During our photo taking we neglected to see one very important thing, it is only once we downloaded the photos onto the computer we saw a crocodile basking in the sun next to some ibis. We did walk close to the edge of the lagoon a few times.
There is a grove of frangipani that is only just starting to flower plus a grove of bougainvillea that is in flower that we wandered around looking at as well. We did chat at length to one local, he needed a chat we think, he was very nice & has lived in Bowen all his life in the same street. We then walked over the road to Woolworths to buy some bread, we can’t believe it is shut on Sunday. We drive into town & look for the IGA supermarket & buy a few things, including some hot pork belly, complete with crackling. We eat this for lunch with some fresh buns down on the grassy foreshore near the Catalina memorial, delicious.
We drive back out to Horseshoe Bay to see if the markets are still on, they aren’t, so we stop for an ice cream at a roadside van. They have real fruit in the ice cream that is mushed as it is served, absolutely delicious, I nearly had another. On the drive back to our Karavan we drive to the distant end of Queens Beach and walk out onto the beach for a look, it is still a fair walk to the Don River mouth. Back to our Karavan & we unload the groceries then go for a walk on Queens Beach heading north this time. We walk nearly all the way to the end before turning & making our way slowly back & enjoying our walk in the nice cooling breeze. There are a few people out on kite boards & we have a chat with one bloke as he is setting up.
Cheese & bikkies plus a glass of red wine while we have a game of cards finish off another great day.
Bowen is beautiful, it is a tidy town with nice wide streets, well-kept gardens & lots of beautiful beaches & bays. The sea has the most amazingly beautiful azure colour. Our day started with a short drive to Horseshoe Bay, a very pretty little bay with a small beach & rocky ends. We walked on to both ends of this small beach & soaked in the views, the rugged large rocks & swaying palm trees add to the overall look. There were a few people in swimming & a lifeguard on duty. Next we drove around to Murray Bay and walked along a bush track then over rocks onto this beach, again it is very pretty. There are two properties in the back of Murray Bay, both with stunning views & nice gardens. We decided to walk along the track towards Horseshoe Bay until the next little rocky bay. Very picturesque with the backdrop of a mountainous Gloucester Island looming across the water.
Another short drive to another beautiful bay, this time it is Rose Bay, spoilt a little by the large apartment blocks backing the beach. Again the beach is book-ended by massive granite rocks at each end, again it is very picturesque. This beach has a dominant rock formation with a large granite tor standing out on the hill & its name is Mother Beddock Rock. We drive around the suburb of Rose Bay & the other beachfront of Kings Beach that extends a very long way towards Flagstaff Hill & Bowen Harbour. The tide is out a very long way & the beach has a huge expanse of sand. The access to this beach has the warning sign for crocodiles, so no swimming here either.
Our next stop is Flagstaff Hill & this has a great 360 degree view of Bowen & surrounds. It is a great vantage point & the council are in the process of completing a new visitor centre on top of the hill, the construction is nearly complete. The views are very impressive & again we enjoy the views of Bowen & the surrounding waters & islands. Across from Flagstaff Hill is a small island with a lighthouse on it that is accessible by walking to it at very low tide. The tide is not low enough today.
We drive around a collection of houses on the point enclosing the boat harbour & pick out the house with the best location, it would have great views. Next we drive to the boat harbour for a look at the yachts moored there & find the Bowen Fisherman’s Co-Op with attached seafood shop. We stop here & order a seafood basket then wait at our table overlooking the boat harbour & watch a heron catch a fish along the rock wall below us. The seafood is very tasty & it is 2pm by the time we leave.
The Bowen waterfront has a large concrete hardstand that was used by Catalina seaplanes during World War II, the small memorial has an interesting short history & is laid out very well. It is a small attractive building. The Port Denison Sailing Club is next to it, this club was established in 1864, making it one of the oldest sailing clubs in Australia. There is no activity at the sailing club on a Saturday afternoon, very unusual, I suppose because of the very low tide, the water is very far out. We drive along the rest of the foreshore around to Doughty Creek with two boats resting on the sand deep amongst the mangroves due to the low tide.
Back to the long wharf & it is begging to be walked on. This wharf has been used by many ships over the years & has been the lifeblood of Bowen. Now it is used for recreation plus one finger of the wharf has some large working tug boats used for shipping at the Abbott Point coal loading terminal just north of Bowen. We spot a beautiful little Azure Kingfisher gulping down a meal on the rocks of the causeway on the walk out. It is extremely windy & we hold onto our hats on the walk out. This wharf is popular with walkers & there is a family group fishing out on the end. The walk back is slightly easier as the wind is pushing us back in. This wharf & the area onshore immediately nearby, not Darwin, was the scene for the Baz Lurhmann film “Australia”, an extraordinary transformation.
As we drove back through a very interesting main part of the old Bowen town, full of beautiful old buildings on very wide streets, we notice the water tanks on the hill over town. These water tanks are covered in murals depicting the wildlife & scenery around Bowen so we drive up there & have a look. The murals are very large & very well painted. The views from here are also very good, again 360 degree views over Bowen. We drive slowly back to camp past Mullers Lagoon, our destination tomorrow morning, it looks very nice. A coffee & game of Yahtzee then a light dinner before showers & bed. Something that we found out about Bowen is that most of our fresh vegetables in winter come from this region. Another great day.
This morning we are cleaning & packing the Karavan getting ready for departure. We put another coat of paint on a couple of the last doors & hung an internal door that was finished yesterday & dried overnight. After staying in one place over two weeks there is a lot of packing & sorting the car & the Karavan, We departed Townsville at 10.45am, it felt strange & sad leaving Will & Marlene, it was great spending time with them. We headed out on to A1 Ringroad that bypasses the majority of the Townsville suburbs. There were roadworks that slowed us down in a few places. We passed the massive army base as we left the city.
The road south is reasonably flat & we pass some poor countryside with sparse scattering of trees. Big mountains in the distance look great. As we approach Ayr the flat land is full of cane farms. The bridge over the Burdekin River just south of Ayr is a marvel of engineering. It looks very well structured & symmetrical it is an interesting structure spanning across this vast riverbed that is mainly sand. There is lots more cane farms nearly all the way to Bowen, with scattered mango plantations, but becoming more plentiful as we get closer to Bowen. There are also a lot of tomatoes growing in different stages – some ripe, some green & others just in flower.
We find our caravan park in Bowen easily, book in & set up on our site. There is a beautiful bougainvillea at the back of our van site. Lunch is next (at 3pm, but we had some snacks while driving) then a walk out the back gate of the van park & onto the very long Queens Beach. There are a number of people out kite-boarding on foiling boards, they are travelling very fast over the water. We walk as far south on the beach as we can go, stopped by rocks at another caravan park. The tide has turned. We walk back past the van park we are in. We turn off the beach at the surf club & admire a massive spreading fig tree that has some amazing twisted branch supports. A walk along the path through the park & we are at the gate of our van park again. We sit outside & enjoy some cheese & bikkies with a glass of red while playing cards & then have a chat with our friends Sue & John in Canberra. Canberra is still in lockdown, 30 new Covid cases. A hot shower, a bite to eat, a big come down from yesterday’s feasting. Another great day.
Another morning of sanding & painting for us then a quick trip to the shops to stock up on groceries. Then another coat of paint on a couple of doors before lunch. We hung some internal sliding doors in the afternoon, isn’t that fun, they can be easy or hard, these ones decided to be hard. More sanding & more painting – we would like to have the doors done before leaving tomorrow morning. It was time to get ready for dinner at C Bar Restaurant on The Strand again tonight. We luck in on a park right out front this time. More seafood delights & great company with Willy & Marlene. We were back at the house by 9pm then a quick coffee & chat before bed. All of us are exhausted after painting the whole day. Another great day.
This morning I started out by cleaning & fixing on the rest of the front door handles & weather strips then cleaned the glass panels from all the paint splatter & years of grime. The doors look great. Tereza was sanding a couple of internal doors for painting, so we painted them next then hung the internal sliding door that we finished yesterday. We had a feast of king prawns for lunch that Willy kindly provided along with fresh buns & a nice Asian salad mix.
Afterwards it was time to empty our toilet canister so we headed off to the closest dump point & also refuelled the car. Back at the house we put another coat of paint on the doors then said farewell to Rob & Sandra as they are flying back to Brisbane tomorrow. They have done so much painting that has helped with the overall progress of the house painting. Tonight was left-over chicken curry with rice & vegetables, we think it tasted even better than last night. Another great day.
Today was a stay at home & paint day. First up there was two loads of washing before breakfast then Tereza & I sanded & put the final two coats on the outside of the front doors with both doors in-situ. Left over chicken for lunch, Tereza made me a really nice toasted chicken sandwich. After lunch we sanded & painted two internal sliding doors before heading off to Chemist Warehouse to top up our medical supplies. Back from the chemist Tereza joined Willy & Marlene in the pool before Willy cooked a really delicious chicken curry. We went back for seconds. Another great day.
Trekkin 