It was time to pack up and leave Charters Towers where we said a fond farewell to Bill. We were off to hunt for dinosaurs.

Heading west we crossed the great dividing range and the road became flatter and straighter. We began to see that quintessential outback red dirt.

There were so many RV’son the road. We saw our first 4 trailer road trains for this trip.

Approaching Hughenden we spied a large solar farm and a wind farm on the distant hills. We spied a giant windmill at Prairie.

On arrival in Hugenden we went directly to the RV Park we were quickly registered, paid our $10 donation and set up camp. We were glad to get there early in the afternoon as we suspected it would fill right up later in the day. The park is right next door to the showgrounds and provides camping for self-contained vehicles only. You can’t even let your grey water out on the ground at this one.

We set off in the car to visit the Flinders Discovery Centre, the home of a skeleton of a Muttaburrasaurus. Scattered around town are sculptures of ancient creatures and of course, a Muttaburrasaurus.

Maddie wanted to go check out the lake and have a swim but when we walked over to the lake the beach was full of mucky looking algae. I’m guessing that the beach isn’t cleaned until summer. So we walked around to the playground instead. We then walked down to the boat ramp and pontoon. The water looked pretty murky there too. A couple of teenage girls walked by and said ‘ watch out for the crocs! There’s a couple of freshies in the lake’. Maddie looked suitably frightened by that prospect however I suspect they were joking as we’d left croc country behind.

We were correct in our assumption that the RV park would fill up and by nightfall there wasn’t a spare spot left.

We were up bright and early to head out to our tour at Texas Longhorns. Caretakers Bill was on the job bright and early and wished us a great tour.

It only took about 15 minutes to drive out of town to the property where Texas Longhorn Tours are held.

We were all checked in by Lynda and then her husband Mick came along and gave us a little talk on why they started breeding Texas Longhorns and why they love them so much. We watched a short video of the history of the breed.

While we were watching the movie and listening to Mick Lynda had prepared a delicious morning tea with nice hot tea, homemade Anzac biscuits and a yummy butterscotch slice.

Following our yummy morning tea it was time to load onto the 4 wheelers and head out on safari. Katie was our driver. Each vehicle held 8 people. First stop on the tour was the Love Shack. This is where all the AI happens. Lynda demonstrated how that works and showed us the various bloodlines that they use to produce calves. We were shown the fantastic cattle crush designed and built by Mick to hold these amazing cattle with their very long horns.

Next stop was the cattle yards where the kids were excited to meet Dougal, a Scottish Highland steer. Dougal is so quiet you can just walk up behind him and pat him. His hair was so soft!

In the paddock near the cattle yards were the two huge grey Percheron horses that Mick and Lynda use to pull a large wagon for their wagon tours every Wednesday.

Back on the 4 wheelers and Mick led us out into the paddocks to check out the cattle. The first paddock was full of cows and calves. This is where we saw Matilda, the current Australian record holder for the widest horns.

Then we traveled into another paddock that houses the steers. We were able to stop and get off and some of the cattle were so quiet and seemed to enjoy a pat. The two American Bison were the bossiest of this group of cattle and they just barged their way through the gentler Longhorns.

Back at the homestead we visited the JR Gallery of Horns. This old stable has been turned into a memorial for old JR who once held the Guinness World Record for the widest set of horns.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our tour at Texas Longhorns and recommend it to anyone passing through the area. 5 stars!

Back at camp Rich and I borrowed the car and went out to Mitre 10 to swap and go two gas bottles then we drove around to visit Bill’s wife Bea. Bea had a fall the week before and had broken her kneecap and was waiting to have surgery. She couldn’t visit us so we went to her. We had a lovely hour chatting with Bea and it was great to catch up. We hope her knee surgery goes well and recovery is quick.

Bill joined us at our camp for a drink and a yarn after he finished his caretaking job for the day. He is so passionate about his hometown and can talk for hours about Charters Towers. It was great to listen to.

We finally got away from our great camp at Majors Creek Farm Stay around 10.30am. It was a slow start to the morning.

It had been a fabulous camp amongst the mango trees. We all could have murdered the roosters next door though. There were two of them and they set off very early in the morning. They sounded like they were trying to outdo each other with the loudness and determination of their cock-a-doodle-dos. Be warned if you camp there that the roosters are right next door!

It was a cloudy and overcast day as we headed west. We crossed the mighty Burdekin River over the Macrossan Bridge. It is hard to imagine the water level being almost up to the bridge!

I had contacted an old friend who we had met when crossing the Nullarbor in 2016. Bill and Bea now live in Charters Towers and, after contacting Bill, found out that he was currently caretaking the campground for the Council at the showground. We went directly to the showground where Bill was waiting for us. He had a great grassy spot picked out for us with access to power and water and we quickly set up camp.

Pa and Riley decided to have a quiet reading afternoon but, after lunch, Katie, Ben, Maddie and I set off to check out ‘the Towers’. We drove up to Towers Hill and wow! The views from up there are amazing. There were boardwalks with information boards telling the history of the Towers.

None of us had any idea of the significance of Charters Towers in Queensland or Australia’s history. At one time Charters Towers was known as ‘The World’ as it had the most significant gold mines in the world at that time. It was once the second largest town in Queensland after Brisbane. It is now home to some 8,000 people.

A gold rush started in 1871 when the adopted Aboriginal child of Henry Mossman, Jupiter Mossman found gold in some quartz. They’d been caught in a terrible storm and their horses had escaped. Jupiter was collecting the runaway horses when he found the quartz. The three men then went to Townsville and lodged their claim.

This started a gold rush and people came from all over the world to try their luck. The town had some 28 pubs at one time and many fortunes were made and lost. Some of the historic buildings in the CBD are from that time. These include the grand Post Office, the City Hall, the Ambulance Station, the Newspaper, and the Stock Exchange Arcade.

For so many years the Stock Exchange in Charters Towers set the price for gold world wide. Isn’t that amazing!

By the end of the peak period around 1916 some 7,000,000 ounces of gold had been mined in Charters Towers. At today’s prices that would be worth some $21billion US dollars.

Mining continues in the area with three mines still in operation. These mines employ over 2,000 local people so mining still plays a significant role in the area.

Towers Hill also played a significant role during WWII. Some 29 concrete bunkers were built into the hill and they were used during the war to store bombs and other ammunition in the fight against the Japanese. There was a very real fear in Australia at the time that the Japanese would invade and the Charters Towers area had thousands of Military personnel based there.

Some of the old bunkers are now a memorial and have interactive displays. Ben was a bit disappointed that you couldn’t go underground into the bunkers!

Down the hill from the Lookout is a memorial to all the miners at the Miners Walk. This is a boardwalk with information boards about the miners and there’s a list of all the miners who have died over the years. Ben and Maddie loved the glass covered mine shaft that they could lie on and peer down into. It is filled with water at the bottom but apparently goes much further down.

We took the kids back to camp and set off again to check out Goldtower. Goldtower is a relatively new complex housing large shopping , a shopping plaza, Mitre 10, a new child care centre under construction as well as being home to the incredible Wall of History mosaic.

It is also home to The World sculpture and an old poppet head that has been restored with a huge pile of fake gold at the end.

The Wall of History is an amazing artwork along one side of the Plaza building and is 7 metres high and 80 metres long. It depicts the history of Charters Towers from the accidental finding of gold by Jupiter Mossman through to the golden age of the town. The mosaic is made from over 5,000,000 tiny tiles and is truly spectacular.

On the walls of the large stores are another set of mosaics also depicting life in Charters Towers through history.

It was great to catch up with Bill. What a great camp spot we had.

We set off from the Big4 Adventure Whitsunday at 9am. I think we were all glad to be leaving. We’d enjoyed our stay but we were ready to be without all the people. Airlie Beach is lovely but it is a tourist town and busy with lots of visitors. The Big4 is a huge park but it was almost full for the 5 nights we were there. We were all looking forward to having a bit of space around us.

Stopped at Bowen to check out the Visitor’s Centre and The Big Mango, another big thing to add to the growing list we’ve seen.

We saw lots of vegetable growing around Bowen. It was near there we saw our first pineapple plantations and mango orchards.

After Bowen the road passes though very flat cattle country. The A1 was very busy with trucks, RV’s of all types, buses and cars.

Away off to the left as we travelled north we could see the line of hills that form part of the Great Dividing Range

Spied another big thing at Gumlu so we stopped for a pic with The Big Pumpkin. There was a large fruit and vegetable stall selling all sorts of fabulous produce. The area is a huge vegetable growing one. Vast fields of vegetables were on both sides of the highway

We came into The Burdekin Shire. The Burdekin Shire grows the most amount of sugar cane in Australia. Huge fields of sugar cane with the little cane trains again. We crossed the very wide Burdekin River after Home Hill.

We pulled up at Plantation Park as we came into the town of Ayr for a lunch break. This is a huge park with plenty of room for parking. We found a good spot under some trees near the huge Adventure Playground. A temporary Visitors Centre is located in the park and further on was another big thing, a giant carpet python.

We had to check that out. Turns out that it is a sacred place for the local Indigenous people. Gubulla Munda is the totem for the local people and it is in this spot that some of the ancestors bones were reinterred after being returned to Australia from the UK. There is scientific evidence that the Birri-Gubba nation have been in the area for over 40,000 years.

From Ayr we started to head inland. We avoided going all the way to Townsville and turned off onto the Woodstock-Giru Road.

We left behind the cane fields and found our camp for the night at a farm stay in Majors Creek. The farm stay is on a Mango orchard. There is a mailbox at the front gate that contains registration forms and maps of the farm. You are free to park anywhere under the huge 100 year old mango trees in the front paddock. They have two powered sites, potable water is available, rubbish bins and you can have a fire. They provide a few fire pits and you can collect wood in the paddock.

After setting up camp the kids walked down to the back of the farm and had a play at the creek. You could see from the debris in the trees on the creek bank how high the water level in the little creek can get up to.

We utilised one of the fire pits, an old washing machine inner, and had a great night around the fire. Late in the afternoon another motorhome came in but they camped away from us and we felt like we had the place to ourselves. That was lovely after being in the Big4 for the last 5 days. On to Charters Towers in the morning.

It was a chill day at Airlie Beach on Day 5 of our stay. Everyone was tired from our big day at Whitehaven Beach & Hill Inlet the day before so it was a reading books, watching TV, playing games, sort of day. Just what everyone needed. You have to have a down day every now and then to recharge.

It was a hot day 29° and 45% humidity. I really wouldn’t like to be there in summer if that was a mid winter’s day.

Katie, Maddie and I went out in the late afternoon to do the groceries and a little surprise shopping for a birthday that’s coming up soon. We bought some nice surprises!

The kids spent the afternoon at the pool and water slides. It was my turn to cook so I cooked fish and sweet potatoe chips with a spinach, beetroot, walnut & feta salad. Delicious.

We were to pack up and leave the next morning and begin our journey inland. I think we’d all had enough of the coast and being around lots of people. So I found us a camp via WikiCamps at a farm stay on a mango orchard. That should be fun.

It had been a great 3 weeks traveling along the Queensland coast and exploring some of the places we’d heard of. We’d enjoyed our stays at Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Rules Beach, Yeppoon, Cape Palmerston, and finally Airlie Beach. We’d enjoyed walking on beaches, swimming, doing tours of the major attractions, learning lots of history and what each area is known for. It had been a leisurely pace with two night stays at most places.

Now it was time to head inland to Charters Towers and then on to the Dinosaur Trail.

Do you know what the top 3 most photographed places are in Australia?

Our tour guide told us yesterday and we are thrilled that now we’ve been to them all.

1. Uluru – we went to Uluru in July 2022 while on a 6 week camping trip with our daughter, Katie and her three children, Riley, Ben & Maddie.

2. Sydney Opera House – we’ve been to the Sydney Opera House many times over the years for all sorts of events from School Presentation Nights to concerts and dining. This is one from the archives.

3. Hill Inlet, Whitsundays – what can I say. Hill Inlet is stunning!

Our day began very early as our exciting cruise to Whitehaven Beach & Hill Inlet with Cruise Whitsundays required us to be at the Port of Airlie by 6.45am. That meant departing from our Big4 Adventure Whitsunday at 6.30. We were all ready on time and drove out the boom gates right on time. At the Port of Airlie is a large carpark right next door to the Cruise Whitsundays terminal building. We paid for one day of parking $13 and headed inside. We’d already been sent our confirmation which had a QR code so we didn’t need to check-in, just had to wait for our boarding call.

To fill in time we shopped in their little merchandise stall, as you do!

Right on time our boarding was called and before we made it to the gangway our QR code was scanned. Then down the gangway onto the pier and to the big catamaran that would take us out to the islands.

Once onboard we were directed by crew to the top floor front section that is enclosed and air-conditioned with comfy cloth seats. This area was reserved for only those passengers doing the whole day trip. All the rest had to find hard plastic seats outside and down below.

The big cat moved quickly and in no time at all we’d left the harbour and were heading out to sea. First stop was Daydream Island to drop off and collect passengers then it was on to Hamilton Island to do the same.

It was with great excitement that passengers spotted humpback whales on this section of the journey. One even breached with its entire body out of the water and making a huge splash on landing. What is it about whales that makes humans feel good? I swear there were smiles all around the boat after seeing the whales.

We arrived at Whitsunday Island and the famous Whitehaven Beach and we had to get on tenders to reach the beach. About 30 people at a time were tendered across. It took a little while to get everyone onshore. The crew set up a white marquee on the beach and began setting up all the equipment for lunch as well as beach equipment. They had stinger suits for those who wanted them, beach toys for the kids, beach volleyball and folding beach cabanas for those that wanted some shade.

We wandered along the beach and found a spot to set up and promptly hit the water. OMG how to describe the water? It is crystal clear and, because the sand is 99% silica and so very white, the water colour is turquoise. The sun was out and that makes the water appear even bluer.

It was gorgeous to swim there. Rich went for a long walk along the beach, chatting to people as he went. The rest of us just enjoyed swimming in that gorgeous clear water.

Our BBQ lunch was served right on time and we all wandered across to the marquee where a buffet had been set up. BBQ’d Steak, Bacon & Chicken with a variety of salads and a bread roll was our choices and our little group took ours up into the trees where there are tables set up so we could eat in the shade.

At 1pm we were called back to the beach to depart for our tour of Hill Inlet. The small group of 16 passengers had Tom as our guide. Tom was a lovely young bloke who has worked in a variety of places including working in ski resorts in Canada. We were taken across to Hill Inlet in the tender boat and dropped off on the beach. We had to carry all our bags with us as we were guided by Tom across the shallows.

As we waded through the knee high water Tom pointed out a small Lemon Shark and lots of sting rays. They didn’t seem to be too fazed that lots of tourists were walking through their territory and just fluttered away from us.

We walked past the ‘instagram’ tree. So called because it was one of three to be blown onto the beach during a cyclone and has become one of the most photographed trees in the islands. The whole of Whitsunday Island is a National Park and the NP service removed the other two trees but they’ve left this one behind on the beach. What do you think?

Our walk took us up into the sand dunes where we found a spot with benches for a a brief rest. Tom directed us to leave our bags there and we’d pick them up on the way back down from the lookouts.

Tom said there were 300 stairs and I believe him. The track is a well made and well worn one through the dunes and up and up to the three lookouts. Wow wow wow is all I can say. The views are as stunning as the pictures I’d seen. Tom kept telling us that we’d got a really good day as it doesn’t always look like that so we were very lucky. The sun was out and there were a few clouds but they just make the photos better!

These lookouts are one of those places where I really can’t stop taking photos. The wind changes or the sun goes behind a cloud, the tide changes the swirling sands and your photos are different. It truly is a stunning sight.

Tom explained that we were looking at where one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was made. It sounded like it was a bit of a disaster really as they had all sorts of trouble. The movie was supposed to be set in the Caribbean however there’d been a hurricane there and the entire crew was moved to Whitehaven. However there are no coconut palms on Whitsunday Island. Two boatloads of fully mature coconut palms were brought out to the island each day, and because Whitsunday Island is a National Park, the palms had to be taken away at the end of each day. This involved a crew of 50!

One of their boats capsized and a huge amount of filming equipment was ruined.

The actor Johnny Depp was also fined heavily because he brought his little dog with him. No dogs are allowed in the National Park and he was fined appropriately.

No wonder it is so expensive to make a movie!

Tom guided us back down the path and steps to a different beach on the other side where we were picked up by the tender boat and driven back to Whitehaven Beach. We had enough time for one last swim before it was time to re-board our big catamaran for the journey home. The tide had come in so this time we didn’t have to be tendered out to the big boat. Instead it pulled right up onto the beach and lowered a gangway for us to walk up. A thoughtful crew man was at the top with a hose squirting all the sand off our feet before we went on deck.

Afternoon tea was served onboard and we settled in to enjoy the ride back to Port of Airlie with a short stop at Hamilton Island. We arrived at the Port at 6pm. It had been a long day but our little group were all happy that we’d had such a fabulous day.

Back at camp it was 6 tired campers that were happy to go to bed early. What a fantastic day!

The day for our much anticipated Crocodile Cruise had finally arrived. We were all up and ready to walk to our meeting point on the footpath outside Big4 Adventure Whitsunday at 8.40am. At 8.50 I called the Cruise people and was told the pickup was not as written on our confirmation but across the road at a pub and the bus was waiting for us. Drat! We quickly had to rush up the footpath and cross the busy main road to meet the bus. We will definitely let them know to update their documentation with the correct info.

There were already people on the bus and we quickly set off towards Prosperpine. In the town of Proserpine the bus went via the caravan park to collect more people then we headed out of town and eventually onto a gravel road and into the mangrove and paperbark forest.

Once we arrive at the Crocodile Safari Base Camp the big bus had to do a three point turn to turn back around and go out the same way.

Base Camp consists of a very large tent roof with picnic tables, BBQ and other cupboards and a central concrete area around the large central tent pole. We were greeted by Stu who gave us a run down of the day and what to expect, as well as all the regulatory safety stuff he has to tell us. As if anyone is going to go in the water!

They have 2 brand new toilets that Stu said was where all the paperwork is done. Everyone was told to make use of them BEFORE we boarded the boat cruise as the cruise goes for 2 hours.

We watched the boat being lowered by crane onto the murky brown river below. The tide was still going out so the water level was a long way down. Luckily for us they have built a substantial metal staircase down to the boat and the boat has a gangway on the front so it was just a matter of descending the stairs and stepping on board.

Again Stu had to give us a safety briefing explaining there is a fire extinguisher on board our fully aluminium boat so probably the only thing that would burn would be if one old us spontaneously combusts. Another safety feature he has to mention is the round life preserver on a hook at the rear of the boat. He did say that if someone had the misfortune to fall overboard we’d probably see a Jesus moment and they’d be walking on water to get back on board rather than worrying about us throwing them a life preserver. The third safety item required by law to be brought to our attention was a life vest. There is one for every passenger and Stu demonstrated how to put one on however he did go on to say that if there was EVER any chance of us sinking he would run the boat as fast as he could and as far as he could up the bank so on one would ever have to go in the water!

All of that was so comforting! NOT!

We set off upstream and we’d only just got around the first corner before we saw our first croc, a small female lying in the mud of the river bank. From then until our return we saw many crocs of all sizes from a huge male at some 5 metres long, smaller females, 2-3 year olds and even some hatchlings near their mother.

Stu kept up his commentary the entire time and I think he could fill a book with his knowledge of crocs and in particular the Prosperine River crocs. He was a wealth of knowledge about these incredible creatures that can live for 100 years.

When a croc was sighted Stu would manoeuvre the boat so both sides of the boat were able to see it and get their photos.

The big males are territorial and in their territory is only them and the smaller females. They kill any smaller males and attack any large ones that dare to come into their territory. We saw three of these huge males who Stu estimates are 60 years old. Sadly the Proserpine River crocs were hunted to extinction and this hunting only stopped when there were none left 60 years ago. Since then hunting has been banned so the big males we saw could only be 60 years old. They could easily live for another 40 years on their patch of the river.

Stu explained that the river is like a sushi train for these crocs. The tide goes in and out each day so the crocs just have to lie in the water facing the way the tide is going and grab whatever prey takes their fancy. Their diet is mainly Barra and Mud Crabs, although when the water level goes up over the banks they have been known to take wallabies, kangaroos and even Brahman cattle.

One thing I learnt was that croc teeth are designed like needles. When a croc snaps its jaws on prey the teeth form holes like perforations of paper. So just like you can tear perforated paper a croc can tear its prey into bite size chunks so it can be swallowed whole. Crocs can’t chew so all their food must be swallowed whole. If a croc catches a big Barra they will take it over to the bank and toss it about until the Barra head is facing towards the throat so it can be swallowed whole.

Crocs are reptiles, aquatic and nocturnal. During the day they mostly lie on the riverbank in the sun to regulate their bod temperature as they are cold blooded like lizards. They are most comfortable in the water though where they can move very quickly powered by their very powerful tail. They do most of their hunting at night in the water and this is when they are wide awake.

They are certainly impressive to see in the wild like that. The two hour cruise seemed to go by in minutes and all too soon we were pulling back up at the bottom of the stairs.

Arriving back at base camp we found our BBQ lunch all ready for us with sausages, chicken, steak, fish and onions to choose from. The central table held bread rolls, butter, potato salad, noodles, green salad, and a variety of dressings. It was all delicious.

Following our lunch the other fellow Steve hooked up a tractor to a number of carriages and took us all on a drive through the wetland forests explaining along the way the significance of these wetland areas and how important they are the the estuarine environment. It was hard for us to imagine how high the water level rises during period of high rainfall such as one recently where they had 2 metres of rain in one day. Yep that is NOT a typo. I did say 2 metres of rain in one day. Staggering!

Steve pointed out the various flora, fauna and birds and animals that call this habitat home. He stopped a couple of times and discussed how indigenous people used certain trees or plants for food or medicine or even poison.

Back at base camp we found delicious camp oven damper waiting for us along with billy tea that Stu made is a huge billy. Stu explained, especially for the foreign tourists, what a billy is and how we make tea in it. Steve explained how the damper is made and we were even allowed to take a copy of their secret damper recipe. I took one so we can try that when we go outback.

Around 3pm it was time to board the bus once more and return to our accomodation. What a great day! I thoroughly recommend the Crocodile Safari at Proserpine if any of you are ever up this way. It is a family business that has been taking tours for 25 years so they really know what they are doing. 5 stars.

Back at the Big4 and Ben & Maddie wanted to head directly to the pool and slides so I volunteered to be the adult supervising and sat myself on a deck chair in the afternoon sun and wrote this up while I watched the kids.

Another lovely day, 27° and sunny. Perfect.

What a gorgeous morning we woke to. Rich turned the TV on to get some news and the forecast for the area was 28° and sunny. Perfect!

Chores!! I made the most of the gorgeous sunshine to do a couple of big loads of washing and get it hung out. Changed the sheets, washed the towels as well as the last few days clothes. This inspired me to give the motorhome a good clean. Bathroom cleaned, everything put away in its place, floor mopped and the inside felt nice and clean again. Shame about the outside. We’ll have to buy a car wash broom to do the outside!

Our travel companions were having a big sleep in.

Our neighbours in a Jucy Van left early and we both remember waking during the night to their whiz-bang door opening and closing. They really do go whiz-bang! I wasn’t feeling too closed in once they left as we now had a large patch of grass next door. Although it probably won’t last and another camper would probably arrive later in the day. The park is very busy.

Who uses the laundry in a park? I usually don’t but these ones looked particularly clean so I gave them a go. They did a great job. The amenities and camp kitchen were also very clean.

After KT and the kids were up we checked to see what they wanted to do for the day and it was no surprise to hear that the kids all just wanted to stay in the park and play. There’s so much to do as well as organised activities such as scavenger hunts, daily find a word, biscuit icing, chocolate ball making, bingo and more. Katie planned to get some school work done so Rich and I borrowed the car and headed off to explore Airlie Beach.

Wow! Airlie Beach is stunning. The water is the most incredible colour. Turquoise is how I would describe it. It only takes 10 minutes from the park to right in the heart of downtown which is really only 3 blocks long. We found our way to the Marina where we were to go on Thursday to catch our Cruise Whitsundays tour to Whitehaven Beach & Hill Inlet. We parked the car in the carpark there. It’s pay parking $13 for the day. We paid $8 per 3 hours and set off on foot back toward the Main Street.

Millions of dollars worth of boats could be seen in the marina. I do love boats!

We continued walking past the Whitsunday Sailing Club and around past an amazing playground with huge rope climbs and slides. The beach looked lovely until we walked by this sign.

We enjoyed a wander along the pathways and found ourselves in the Main Street. We wandered past all the hotels, shops and restaurants. Sadly the fish and chip shop was closed on Tuesdays so we had to find somewhere else for lunch. We ended up at Hog’s Breath Cafe which had a lovely view across the Airlie Lagoon.

We enjoyed our lunch and a couple of cold beers until a poor young waitress managed to spill two schooners of cold beer all over Richard. She seriously did! His shirt was saturated. The other staff quickly grabbed tea towels to help mop up the beer but his shirt was dripping. The new owner was on duty and he gave Richard one of their Hog’s Breath T-shirts to change into. That was a nice touch and much appreciated by Rich. We were able to finish our lunch and Rich walked out looking very trim in his new black T.

We walked back to the car via the Airlie Lagoon. What a fabulous facility with lots of picnic tables to sit at, lovely grass areas under palm trees and the lagoon even has a sand beach on one end. And it’s free.

Back in the car we drove the short distance to Shute Harbour and discovered the harbour there appears to be more for commercial vessels. Shute Harbour is not very big so we turned around and headed back through Airlie to the caravan park.

We’d had a lovely explore of Airlie Beach and it certainly is a stunning beachside town with modern buildings, hotels and lots of holiday apartments.

Back at the park I spent the afternoon watching Riley, Ben & Maddie at the water park.

It was my turn to cook and we made hamburgers. Ben and Maddie assisted Pa cook burgers, bacon and eggs on the BBQ at the camp kitchen while I prepared the buns, lettuce, cheese, beetroot and tomato. Everyone could make their own burger. We all ate together under our awning and discussed our day. We were all looking forward to our Crocodile Cruise the next day.

What a great team we were at packing up camp. Everyone just gets in and does their jobs and in no time at all we were packed up and ready to move on.

We were all excited to be finally going to Airlie Beach. This trip had been in the planning since our last big one to the Red Centre 3 years ago. Early in the planning we decided that the middle of the trip was to be a 5 night stay at Big4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort in Airlie Beach. That park has won best park in Queensland for three years in a row. We were all really looking forward to getting there.

We saw a few cane trains working along their narrow tracks collecting full bins from the farmers to take back to the mill. The whole area is cris crossed by little cane train tracks.

Passing through Sarina again around 10am and the day was a glorious sunny day without any clouds in the sky. The mountains in the distance were a hazy blue with their rugged peaks and valleys. Cattle all looked fat and healthy grazing in the long grass. The cattle around the area were mostly grey Brahman or red Brangus cattle.

Just before Mackay we saw a sign at a huge roundabout indicating that Coal Terminals were off to our right. I thought they would be interesting to check out however we continued on. We used the Ring Road to bypass Mackay and we saw another huge sugar mill in the distance. We were still surrounded by sugar cane fields. It was mostly farming country all the way to Airlie Beach and we seemed to arrive very quickly. The Ring Road was excellent and seemed fairly new. It saved quite a bit of time avoiding the Mackay CBD.

I was surprised how big Mackay is. Some 130,000 people call it home. It’s a big city by Australian standards.

It was 6 excited travellers that finally drove into Cannonvale, the suburb before Airlie Beach. We checked in to the Big4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort, our much anticipated destination. Wow! what a park! Kids were going to love it. We were allocated two grass powered sites that were back to back. The sites are very small and there is just enough room for the van & awning on one with the car parked in front. The motorhome is parked a round the corner and we were able to have both awning & slideout. There’s a grassy patch in between us at the back of our site that the boys have used to set up their swags. We were surrounded by lovely garden beds full of tropical plants.

The park has some 90 cabins of all sizes, 42 powered grass sites in one section, 20 drive-through powered sites, 38 powered slab sites and another section with 33 more powered grass sites. Surprisingly there’s only two amenities blocks for the whole park.

In the very middle of the park is the main feature, the pools with water slides and a mega waterslide park. As well as a tennis court, basketball court, giant chess, a playground, mini golf, badminton court and a dining area with a cafe van. There are jumping pillows and a Kids Club. Right down the back of the park is an animal park with sheep, goats, geese and a variety of ducks.

We’d travelled some 3000km to arrive at this point in our 6 week trip and we were all looking forward to 5 nights in the one place.

After we arrived and set up camp I went for a stroll around the park. Pa settled in with a book. There were kids everywhere and lots of families. Our kids headed straight to the pools and waterslides as soon as they could and spent the whole afternoon going up and down slides. An adult has to be on hand to supervise so I relived Katie for a couple of hours and found a sun lounger to lie in the warm sun and read my book (while I supervised). Heaven!

It was Katie’s turn to cook and we enjoyed spaghetti bolognese sitting at our tables under their awning. It was a happy and delicious meal together.

I promised Maddie a beach walk so we set off in the morning to see what we could find. It is a short walk through the mangroves onto the long beach. The tide was way out again and we enjoyed exploring. Maddie found a coconut and we wondered where that might have come from. A Pacific island perhaps?

We found strange mounds of squiggly sand all over the beach and a couple of jelly fish. Rocks with barnacles and different types of seaweed were other finds as well as a collection of shells.

On the way back to camp we spotted bush turkeys and funny black & white ducks that I later found out are called Burdekin Ducks. They look like they are dressed up for a night out and make the funniest noises at each other. I’m not sure if they are wooing or arguing!

Katie had a school work day while Pa and I took the kids to the Sarina Sugar Shed for a tour. We packed our lunch, water bottles, the kids scooters & helmets and set off in the Prado.

Our first stop was at Sarina Beach to check it out.

Next stop was the Sugar Shed. It is situated in Sarina’s Field of Dreams Parklands. The parklands also house an Art Gallery, Art & Craft Centre, the Tourist Centre, a museum and the Sarina Sugar Shed. The Sugar Shed is a miniature sugar mill and distillery.

The parklands have parking, a dump point, BBQ’s, picnic tables, a playground and lovely grass areas. We found a spot to park and walked along the concrete pathways following signs to the Sugar Shed. We’d booked a 12.30 tour and they last for an hour.

After checking in we had a short wait for a guide. She handed out name tags for us all to wear. People all had different names. Mine was Derek!

Outside the mill our guide explained how sugar cane is grown and how it was once harvested compared to modern day machinery harvesting. She explained and pointed out the various parts of the huge sugar mill we could see behind the fence.

Here’s an interesting fact for you. When they plant sugar cane it is planted in 20cm long pieces flat along the ground. This is because sugar cane has eyes, sort of like a potato, and that is where the cane shoots from. Cane can be harvested after twelve months and then every 12 months for 7 years before it needs to be ploughed in and replanted.

Inside the miniature mill we were shown how the cane is first rolled to squeeze out the juice and then all the processes that follow until you end up with white sugar at the end. All the parts of the process had a name like the ones we were wearing. Derek was ‘Derek the Dryer’ one of the end processes where the sugar is dried.

Here’s another interesting fact for you. What we buy in the shop as Raw Sugar is just white sugar with molasses added to it. Brown sugar also is white sugar with molasses added.

The sugar cane process produces lots of by-products such as sugar cane mulch that people use on their gardens, molasses, and a product called dunder that is sold back to farmers to use as fertiliser.

At the end of the tour we were herded into the tasting room where we could taste a number of jams, relishes and sauces, a range of liquors and the kids watched our guide make them fairy floss.

It was a very informative tour and the kids seemed engrossed in the telling of the sugar story.

We’d also ordered a platter to finish off our tour and it was packed in a takeaway container for us. We found a picnic table near the playground and sat down there to enjoy our platter and our packed lunch.

During lunch we decided to head north and check out Mackay. As we drove out of Sarina we spied another big thing, The Big Cane Toad sitting on his pedestal in the middle park.

We drove northwards to Mackay, through town, over the bridge and out to the marina. As usual with marinas there was millions of dollars worth of boats bobbing on their moorings. You can drive all the way to the end of the breakwater and the views are pretty special. I read on the way back that crocs have been sighted in the waters of the marina so, it might look pretty but do not go in the water!!

Ben and Maddie were ready to burn off some energy so we googled the nearest skate park and found one at Slade Point so we drove out there and they had a good time skating.

After the kids had burnt off some of that boundless energy we got back in the car and drove back across the Pioneer River and all the way back to Cape Palmerston Holiday Park via Serena. It was about 5pm when we got back to find Katie had a very productive school work day and was ready for a break.

We had another little fire and Rich invited our neighbours to join us. They were from Mackay and were camped in a brand new Jaypod. It was their first time camping and they were enjoying the experience.

My turn to cook and we ate lasagne, salad and garlic bread. Scrumptious!