Friday
3rd of November
We
left Yeppoon before 8.00 am as we had a long drive ahead to Mackay at
the southern end of the Whitsunday coast. I drove the van today for
about an hour and a half and we saw some isolated bushfires up in the
hills. We passed through trees and scrubland with very little
habitation between Rockhampton and Sarina, a stretch of about 200
miles.
There
were no fuel stations either until we reached a place called Yaamba,
where we found a dilapidated station but it had diesel at a good
price so we filled up.
In
Australia, the road signs never cease to amuse us. Today, we passed
several which stated that we were in a Fatigue Zone followed by signs
which gave a Trivia question ( to keep one awake); for example: What
is the floral emblem of Queensland? Further down the road was a sign
with the answer: The Cooktown orchid. Must remember that for a Quiz
night!
Then
the farmland became predominantly plantations of sugar cane. The
cane is usually planted in November and seven months later before
cutting, the fields are traditionally fired to burn off leaves and
maximise sugar content. Cut cane is then transported to the mills
along a rail network. Cane is juiced for raw sugar and molasses, as
the market dictates. Crushed fibre becomes fuel for the boilers that
sustain the process and ash is returned to the fields to be used as
fertiliser. We passed the huge mill at Sarina just south of Mackay.
In
1861, John Mackay settled in the Pioneer Valley, despite encounters
with the aggressive Juipera aborigines and within four years, the
city was founded and the first sugar plantations were established.
We
stopped briefly in Mackay at a BigW (Woolworths) to 'refuel' our food
cupoard and then headed for the coast where we have an amazing pitch
right next to the beach.
Highlight
of the day: Glass of wine at sunset gazing out to sea.
Thursday
2nd November
Awoke
really early due to a baby crying and a car alarm going off, but we
needed an early start for the next part of our journey.
We
actually left the campsite at 7.00 am and drove north on the Bruce
Highway bypassing Gladstone to reach Rockhampton which sits right on
the Tropic of Capricorn..
A few miles further on, we reached Yeppoon
for a nostalgic revisit to Wreck Point, where on New Year's Eve 1972
Peter popped the question and in response to my answer, he gave me
the ring-pull from the top of a Fosters can of beer for an engagement
ring. Karen asked for a re-enactment, so we did, but this time, the
'ring' was the ring-pull from a bottle of Bundaberg ginger beer.
Never mind, I still have the real thing!
We
met a fair dinkum Aussie ( in his eighties) up there and he regailed
us with some amusing tales of life with his “Sheila”.
We
stayed at the same campsite that we did nine years ago, only instead
of goannas, they had a resident wild emu, who thought it was a good
laugh to encircle our van repeatedly. Didn't dare get the crisps out!
Highlight
of the day: that Peter thought it was worth asking again!
Yes we had our Aussie flu jab before we left.
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