Rockhampton

A very busy country town on the Mighty Fitzroy river. Not alot to do within Rockhampton itself except look at the hundreds of cow statues about the place!

Agnes Water/1770

GO THE MIGHTY BEARS - GARY LARSON OVAL - MIRIAM VALE



Our luck of fine weather had run dry and it was time to rain! Agnes Water and the town of seventeen seventy are places on the Queensland coast you can surf and also snorkel on the outer reef – Lady Musgrave Island. This area was where Captain James Cook first anchored in Queensland and where Sir Joseph Banks took many samples of Australian flora. Although the sky was clouded over and it was drizzling we could imagine how pretty the area would be on a fine day – this is somewhere to come back to

Carnarvon Gorge

We decided to head 5 hours westward towards Carnarvon Gorge National Park. Although the temperature dropped by 5 degrees during the day and about 10 degrees at night it was well worth the drive and the stay.

Carnarvon Gorge stems from the Great Dividing Range and extends almost….km. The park is fairly visitor friendly with marked walking tracks throughout the national park.
The Gorge was beautiful – not only did we explore the gorge but also the many side gorges and Indigenous art sites but we also saw King Ferns (these ferns have not changed in structure since the dinosaurs).

It was an amazing 3 days although absolutely freezing

Sarina – Yeppoon – Emu Park – Byfield NP

Sadly leaving Brampton Island behind but very happy to get off the ferry that transferred us back (rough seas) we stayed the night in Sarina – a sweet smelling sugar cane town. (interesting smell in that town...)
Yeppoon and Emu park were our next stop so we could get our final piece of warmth and sunshine before we descended south.

Byfield and Capricorn Coast national park fringed the towns – both abundant with lengthy sand dunes and turtle nesting grounds. From Yeppoon we could see the last of the islands of the Great Barrier Reef area.





We also came across some interesting locals – especially one that had a tattoo on each foot – one saying ‘right’ (on his right foot) and the other saying ‘left’ (on his left foot).

Mackay/Brampton Island

Mackay was very much a big country town that catered for miners in the surrounding area. The coastline was pretty but there wasn’t much else Mackay had to offer for the passing tourist.



Due to the recent slump in tourism we managed to grab a bargain on travel to and accommodation on Brampton Island. We spent a couple of days there bushwalking around the island – very picturesque,







accidently hitting kangaroos with golf balls, getting chased by plovers (who had just killed two magpies), emulating Stosur’s tennis skills and watching a swimwear shoot on the beach! It is amazing that it takes ten people to take photos of one swimwear model!

Airlie Beach/Conway NP/Eungella NP

We explored the nearby national parks on our way out of Airlie beach – pretty beaches and views towards the Whitsunday Islands.



Eungella National park was our destination – a place up in the mountains so we were prepared for a cooler evening! We were lucky enough to see some platypus swimming at dusk in the river within the national park and also meet some locals at the makeshift pub down the road from our campsite. Many of the towns buildings were damaged during Cyclone Oilua? Earlier this year thus the pub being run out of the sport club house.

Eungella National park was gazetted due to it’s lush rainforest – including king ferns and platypus in abundance. We were lucky to see the view from our campsite – normally shrouded in mist – of Mackay and the east coastline.



We were also lucky to see a platypus swimming around in the creek in the morning.



On our way out of the region we headed towards the lower end of the National Park – Finch Hatton Gorge – a surprise! As the water flows from the mountains the waterfalls and creek were gushing, Jamie went for a brisk, invigorating swim and we watched crazy French backpackers climb a waterfall…..again we left before they did anything that would need medical attention.

So far....

Whitsundays

We guessed the best way to see The Whitsundays was on a boat so we began our 3 day sailing trip on Monday morning. We boarded the ‘Alexander Stewart’ at 8:30 in the morning and set sail into the deep blue sea.







The trip was amazing! We had a great crew and made some great friends on board
We snorkelled once or twice each day in different spots around The Whitsundays (see map), we saw Maori wrasse, parrot fish and a wobbegong! We also bushwalked on the islands and swam at Whitehaven beach – beautiful white sand and crystal clear water. The sand is all made of silica – broken down from Quartz (and very good for polishing jewellery and body exfoliation!)






We all celebrated Jamie’s birthday with a Sara lee cheesecake and a magical sunset over the sea

Townsville to Airlie Beach

Townsville

We caught up with Kelly and Marty in Townsville. They gave us the grand tour of the strand, took us to the best ice cream parlour in Townsville and then drove us to the cowboys vs manly game. It was a fun game being surrounded by angry cowboys fans and listening to the not so energetic cowboys theme song – with a theme song like that you wont win a game.


Airlie Beach

We left Kelly and Marty behind to get ready for their farewell bbq and headed toward Airlie Beach. There wasn’t a lot to see along the way except for the town of Bowen which was apparently the place to be. (well it had an 80 page brochure dedicated to this one town) The town of Bowen, known for it’s BIG MANGO is also known for the location where the film Australia was filmed – no Hugh in sight. Bowen was a pretty town by the coast with some beautiful beaches and many green turtles swimming by the jetty.







We arrived in Airlie beach, checked into our sailing cruise then ate a $2 steak meal at the hotel!

Magnetic Island

On our way down the coast we saw a father cassowary with his two chicks crossing the road - lucky sight!




Magnetic Island, about a thirty minute ferry ride from Townsville, was settled by white people around 1860 and soon became a popular destination for tourists. There was a quarantine station on the island that held new migrants before they made it to the mainland. It also played a major role during WW2 as a look out for Japanese bombers coming close to the Australian coast.
We caught the ferry over on Wednesday afternoon after driving through sugar cane and banana farming areas. Since it was state of origin we decided to have a XXXX gold on our way over to lull the Queenslanders into a false sense of security (didn’t work)
Horseshoe Bay was our camping destination and the Marlin Bay Tavern was where we watched the state of origin surrounded by crazy Queenslanders.





Magnetic Island was a surprise – so many beautiful bays, bushland and we even spotted some koalas in the wild!

Mission Beach

Mission Beach was only half an hour down the road but a completely different atmosphere. On the way we saw Josephine falls and The Boulders.





The town of Mission Beach was still quiet but there were more backpackers around and wicked vans parked in dodgy areas. Mission Beach is the access point for Dunk Island, skydiving and white water rafting on the Tully River. The beach was beautiful (again) and the view from out tent was of coconut trees and sandy white beach. Jamie went white water rafting on the Tully River and we both kayaked to the South side of Dunk Island – national park away from the resort. On our Kayak we saw turtles, dolphins, blue rays and a white tip reef shark – apparently friendly and shy. The lady we kayaked with had a great job – kayaking in the Coral Sea everyday – they are thinking of selling the business….would be a great one to take over!

Kurrimine

Kurrimine was the next stop – a sleepy fishing town situated next to King Reef. We were recommended to stay here from a traveller we met in Georgetown. The campground was right on the water and again, filled with avid fishermen and their wives. Mostly grey nomads filled the park with their tinnies and their four o’clock drinks circle (we weren’t invited)
We explored the hinterland – beautiful waterfalls, made friends with the Kurrimine locals down at the pub and watched the Innisfail Leprechauns play the Yarrabah sea eagles – very interesting

Fitzroy Island 19th-20th

Fiztroy Island is about a 50min ferry ride from Cairns – it is a small coral sand island that is mostly national park. It was originally only used by a lighthouse keeper until the lighthouse was moved to a smaller nearby island. In 1981 a resort was opened on the island but was closed in the last few years. We went over to camp the night and discovered that a new resort was due to open in about 10days – looks pretty spiffy! Fitzroy island was very quiet and pretty – we spent time bushwalking, beach sitting and water trampoline bouncing!

Back to Port Douglas 16th -18th May

We left Cape Tribulation behind and headed back towards Port Douglas (so Jamie could watch the tigers – we won’t discuss the result!). Along the way back we walked through the canopy of the Daintree – great views from the top!




We spent the next day on the beach, enjoying the warm weather! We stayed in Cairns the followi

ng night in the bad lands.