Hervey Bay to the Sunshine Coast

Our next stop was Hervey Bay with it's lovely beaches and views across to Fraser Island. We stayed right on the waterfront at Urangan and spent a few days swimming, walking, bike riding and eating seafood from the local fish market and the Boat Club across the road. Unfortunately a day trip to Fraser Island was a bit too pricey so we'll have to put it on the To Do list. We heard the Wards might be doing a trip up here next year..... Next camping stop was beautiful Rainbow Beach. The walls of colourful sand were amazing and we had two perfect sunny days before it started raining again. Sean and Stephany only had one rainy day on their 2006 around Australia adventure and we have hundreds (it seems)! On November 20 we drove south through huge pine plantations and on to very nice big roads to the Sunshine Coast (where there was no sunshine to be seen..) Ashleigh and Hannah were very excited as it was time to go to Australia Zoo!!! Poppy went to a kennel while we had a fabulous day at "Bindi's Zoo". There was so much to see and we were absolutely exhausted at the end of the day. Our favourites things were: feeding the elephants because it tickled your hand (Hannah), watching the tigers play with the keepers in the swimming pool (Ashleigh), the wombats (Simon) and the Jabirus (Sam). We stayed at Landsborough one night and then moved to Mooloolabah where we enjoyed the surf beach and the Thai and Indian restaurants!

Hello Luke and Poppy!

November 13th was a very exciting day as we picked up Luke and Poppy from Luke's place in North Isis, near Childers. After stocking up with some groceries then some ice creams from Mammino (delicious! - try the macadamia and ginger) we drove about 40km out to Woodgate Beach. Over the next 2 days we swam in the "semi" surf, fished at Theodolite Creek, had a couple of bbqs and caught up on things. Poppy was extremely well behaved and we don't think travelling with her will be too bad after all. Ashleigh tried out her Uno skills on Luke (who is apparently the world champion...) and didn't come off too badly. She is still rejoicing that she made him have to pick up 12 cards.

Bundaberg

The tropical fruit in North Queensland is fantastic and we are always stopping at roadside stalls to try more. Our favourites are papaya, pineapple, mangoes (of course) and mango melons that taste like a mixture between rockmelon and honeydew. Sugar cane and mango farms were everywhere along the rainy drive into Bundy. After having a quick look around we made our way out to the coast again and camped at the lazy seaside suburb of Elliot Heads. Over the next few days the sun came out and we had a fabulous time swimming and fishing at the river mouth. There were often people kite surfing in the inlet as the wind was always up.

The Discovery Coast

When we left Mackay on November 4th it was pouring with rain and it continued to rain for the 330km drive to Rockhampton. We checked in for one night at a caravan park beside the brown Fitzroy River and noted the signs that warned of crocodiles living on the banks. Glad we weren't in a tent! The next day we dropped into Gladstone for a look at Queensland's largest port and the huge mountains of coal waiting to be exported to Japan, South Korea and India. Gladstone also has a Rio Tinto alumina plant and the state's largest coal-fired power station. There are big massive trucks everywhere and it is going to get even busier here when the Santos liquefied natural gas project takes off. After lunch we continued south to the Discovery Coast and the beautiful village of 1770. We stayed 4 nights at Agnes Water and swam in the ocean for the first time since Broome. No crocodiles or stingers here! Yipee! Agnes Water is also Qld's most northerly surf beach so we had a lot of fun on the boogie boards.

On to Mackay

On October 27 we stopped in at beautiful Airlie Beach and spent the day swimming in the waterfront lagoon pool and admiring the sensational views of islands and sailing boats. In the late afternoon we continued south and camped at Halliday Bay, near Seaforth and the Cape Hillsborough National Park. The beaches were lined with paperbarks and coconut palms, and in the morning we saw the tracks of a nesting Sea Turtle along the sand. Our next stop was Mackay where we checked into a caravan park at Black's Beach that had been recommended to us. The "village life" at this park was quite busy with several families staying there and a number of permanent residents who worked on the coal mines. Mackay has become very expensive as there is a shortage of residential accommodation. Every day we walked along the beach several times, and Ashleigh and Hannah played with their new village friends. On Halloween the kids all dressed up and went 'trick or treating' around the park (many times). We are still ploughing through all the candy!