Cairns to Hervey Bay

Thursday, June 15, 2023
Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia
Friday June 16   Cairns to Home Hill
We left Gen’s early, dodging peak hour, simply heading south.  Our first stop was in the beautiful coastal town of Cardwell, billed as Queensland’s oldest town.  It has beautiful gardens, sculptures, an amphitheatre…on the waterfront overlooking Hinchinbrook Island.
At Ingham we had another stop.  Coffee and supermarket, then on again through seemingly endless fields of sugarcane.  After skirting Townsville we did a side trip, heading for the coast for lunch.  Wrong!  Very shortly before arriving at the coast we were confronted with signs saying “Authorised vehicles only” – Queensland Institute of Marine Science.  Pity that wasn’t signposted at the highway, 20km away!!!!
We took a track into “Bowling Green National Park” to find a picnic spot.   That was a success, but the track was so dodgy, on the edge of wetlands, we decided not to continue, and returned to the safety of the main road!  Why Bowling Green?  All we can suppose is that it was named for the extensive very flat salt pans.
Actually, the main road is far from safe.  We were basically pushed off the road twice by B doubles overtaking when they didn’t have enough time/space.
Back into sugar cane territory we stopped to camp in a caravan park in Home Hill, just after crossing the Burdekin River.  Wendy went for a bike ride to check out the area – the river, its unique bridge, the sugar cane trains going into the mill some really good information boards along the way.
Back at camp, Rick had done a repair job on our tent’s LED lights.  We enjoyed a roast dinner – thanks to a Woolies cooked chook and veggies roasted in our wonderful little Omnia oven.
Saturday June 17  Home Hill to Brandybottle Camp
We really should stop this leaving early caper!!  We could easily have been at our destination before lunch, but since there wasn’t much to do there, we found some activities along the way.  
We checked Bowen out.  Lots of nice parks and water front, then Wendy found a walking track in a National Park, just off the highway.  2km round trip and a vertical rise of 185m, sounded like a good workout…it was more than that.  Half of the way there wasn’t track at all, just a few coloured markers to give the general direction up a very rocky and steep dry creek bed!  The rest could vaguely be called a track, but it had never been properly cut, so there were all sorts of tricky bits on edges, lots of tree roots, fallen trees, and steep, dry slippery dirt.   Thank goodness for walking poles.   A couple of young women on the trail were seriously struggling without poles.  The said they were “In awe of Wendy”!!! We investigated the story behind the name “The Leap”.  An Aboriginal woman carrying her three-year-old child leapt off a cliff to evade capture by the Queensland Native Police in the 1860s.  It's pretty sad there's no mention of her anywhere on the walk.
We decided to treat ourselves to a café lunch, so ventured into Mackay.  Wow, what a big city!  We wanted a sea view, so figured the Surf Lifesaving Club café should work.  It did.  The beach had quite coarse sand but was really long and clean.   The harbour is formed by some enormous breakwaters to protect the huge ships that some in to be loaded with sugar.
We arrived at Brandybottle Camp – basically a greenish paddock, but being further south and late in the day, we didn’t need shade!  We tried playing a few tunes in the common area but no one was in the least bit interested!!   We couldn’t believe how cold it was in the evening.  We didn’t come prepared for a fire, so had to cringe off to bed!
Sunday June 18 Brandybottle Camp to Agnes Water
There was an incredibly heavy dew overnight, so packing up was a bit unpleasant!  No, we weren’t patient enough to wait for the tent to dry!
Back on the Bruce highway, travel wasn’t quite as unpleasant as it seemed there were less trucks on the road.  Probably because it was Sunday. 
Once again we decided to visit a city!  Gladstone this time.   It was really interesting to see the enormous coal loading facility at the port and also that the artificial breakwater has been made into a park.  It was a beautiful place to have lunch.
Continuing southwards we finally escaped the Bruce Highway as we headed to the coast and the town of 1770.   Along the way we called into “Travellers Retreat 1770”, put up the wet tent and scooted off to check out Agnes Water and 1770 itself.  It really is a beautiful area and fast becoming a tourist mecca.  We went to the end of the road, checked out the lookouts then walked back to the Captain Cook monument.  1770 was named because it was the first port in Queensland where Cook brought in the Endeavour.  Seems incredible now, as the entrance has been silted up and there are sandbars everywhere!
On the way back to camp we stopped and collected wood.  We weren’t going to be cold again!!
Monday June 19  Agnes Water to Cania Gorge
We ran our gas bottle out, so thanks again to the Trangia we had a cuppa and porridge for breakfast.  We returned to Agnes Water village and found a gas supplier happy to help us.  It was a perfect morning, so we took our breakfast to the beach where we hoped to see some surfing.  Beautiful beach, but no surf!  We had to be content with a school group making sand castles!
It was wonderful to be off the Bruce Highway as we headed west to Cania Gorge where we were meeting up with our good friends Glenn and Aileen Scotney who we met when living in Chile. About half of the trip was on dirt roads, mostly in good condition.  It was a beautiful drive and we spotted some great looking wood so stopped to load it onto the roof.    While we were doing that, the caretaker of the property happened along.  She was rather a character and gave us a bit of entertainment!
We arrived at Cania Gorge early afternoon so enjoyed a great catch up while setting up camp.    Glenn and Wendy did a short walk amongst the fabulous sandstone pillars, walls, caves and amazing formations.
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Aileen is the queen of fish and chips, having run a fish and chip shop in the past, and since Glenn is a great fisherman, we were treated to a spectacular feast.
Tuesday June 20   Cania Gorge
How delightful to not move camp for a change. A lovely slow start, then Glenn and Wendy went off on another spectacular walk for a few hours.
We were back at camp for lunch.  That’s when Wendy’s dramas began.  She decided to boil a couple of eggs and as she put them in the boiling water, one cracked…to reveal it was rotten.  What a stench and of course it wrecked the other egg as well.  Changing the menu, she made a wrap and was half way through eating that, and helping Rick with an app on his phone when a kookaburra swooped down, took the wrap, gave her a significant fright and a scratched leg!!!
In the afternoon we drove to the Cania Dam where, at a lookout, we had a much better view than the one we slogged up to in the morning!   Wendy did a walk to an old gold mine site but it was pretty disappointing!  On the way back we collected more wood so we could have a big cooking and keep warm fire.
We expected this to be our last night under canvas, with lots of visits to friends and family for the rest of the trip home.  It was a perfect night to finish off.  Great company, huge fire, fabulous 3 course meal, no wind, lots of stars and we attracted the biggest  crowd for the trip when we played music before dinner.  Thanks to Aileen for the photos.
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Wednesday June 21    Cania Gorge to Hervey Bay
Another big plus for our last night of camping, the fly was a bit wet, but the tent perfectly dry when we packed it at 7.30am!  We had a very amusing photo shoot session trying to get Louis, the dog to look at the camera, especially as we had set it on a timer so we could all be in the picture.  
Aileen and Glenn were heading north and we took off to the south, taking a series of quiet minor roads that meandered across the ranges for most of the way.  At the tiny village of Dallarnil there was a school and one business – a café!  We had to give it some business of course.  A bonus was they had some beautiful big passionfruit for 20c each!!
We had a wander around Childers, it had a great vibe, with well preserved old pubs and other shops and some good street art.  Lunch called so we detoured to Burrum Heads where we enjoyed a picnic in a park with a water view, beautiful sunshine and no thieving birds!
We arrived at our AirBnb tiny house early afternoon.  It was perfect, especially for our immediate needs – a washing machine and space to dry the tent’s fly!   Wendy ventured out on her bike, enjoying the bike trails, but not finding the tourist information centre.  Mr Google sent her to the wrong end of town.  Still, a 25km ride was just perfect!
In the evening we met up with Ricks nephew Miska and wife Chris and had quite unusual pizzas in a top rated pizzeria.  We last saw them in Perth, last year, so quite a treat to see them as they’ve recently relocated.
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Comments

Elaine
2023-06-21

Great you were able to spend time with Miska and Chris

Denise
2023-06-21

Ooh, I remember sailing around Vape Bowling Green, and thought it was never going to end! Thanks for the travelogue and pics. Dig out the thermals for the trip south.

Rod
2023-06-21

Ahhh, the sugar cane. Aahh the trucks. Brings back memories. Do not hurry home unless you like cold, wind, rain - all 4 letter words. So glad the trip is still an adventure. Travel well

2025-02-14

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