Day 199 - Saturday 15 July - Bowen

Day 199

Saturday

15 July 2017 – Started my next book A Time To Kill by John Grisham

Townsville - Bowen

The day was clear and bright when I got up just before 7am to use the loo. I returned to bed though happy to stay under the doona for a little longer. We were both up by 7.45am, aware we needed to get cracking.

Paul began sorting all things outside with the car, while I sorted inside and made up breakfast before eating and going for a shower. Paul followed me and once he was back we were ready to make a move, just as the 9am news came on the radio.

Out intended destination was the seaside holiday town of Bowen about 3 hours drive south as you followed the A1. There were plenty of cars on the move for a Saturday. We followed the ring road around Townsville before continuing south. Ayr was the next major centre we reached. We missed the ring road turn off, as the GPS was playing funny buggers, so we drove through town before rejoining the Bruce Hwy.

The drive was punctuated with cattle farms and the odd mango orchard, but much of it was sugar cane. We really had no idea as to how big the industry was. It’s huge! It is kind of scary knowing the health implications.

We stopped briefly for fuel before finally making it to Bowen. We followed google maps on my phone to navigate to our chosen caravan park only for them to have a sign at the front stating they were full. We noticed a park sign pointing around the corner so we headed there instead to enquire about staying only to be met with sorry expressions and a shake of the head.

We were told to check another park, so we traversed town, finally making to the Top Tourist park at Port Denison. We thought it was going to be strike three, but were told to go and check a site for size which we did and decided it would do fine. Paul went to take the car off while I paid up for three nights and then we brought the vehicles in and set up for our stay. It was a tight squeeze but we managed thankfully. With ourselves comfortably in, we had lunch and Paul rang Jaden to check on things at home. We then took off in the car to check out the town.

We stopped first at Woollies for a couple of bits and then drove to Horseshoe Bay to check out the beach. It was very pretty but looked even better when we followed the trail to Rotary Lookout and took in the 360° vista of the surrounding bays and the Whitsunday Islands. 

We returned to the car and made our way around to Rose Bay, another lovely little beach being occupied by numerous young back packers.  We drove to the opposite end and stopped to take in the amusing view of an older girl with a long handled shovel busily burying her brother so that all that remained was his head.

We followed the road back towards our caravan park at Port Denison but decided to head up Flagstaff Hill Lookout for further great views of the Whitsundays and the land around Bowen. The lighthouse just off the coast was quite visible and apparently, on days of low tide, you can walk across the sand bar to the island it is perched on. 

Happy with our afternoon excursion, we made our way back to the van to hang out for a short time, have a drink and relax, though it didn’t last for long as I knew we needed to walk.

We took off out the front of the park, wandering up the path along the waterfront to the BIG MANGO. There were some boards in a gazebo outlining the town’s involvement in the Baz Luhrmann movie “Australia” that we checked out and then we made our way up the main drag. 

A woman in an XR6 ran into a trailer that was parked by the side of the road and then did a runner. Unlucky for her, we had already taken a photo. We stopped in at the newsagent for some paper to write the owner a note and posted it through his car window, then we noticed a sign on the ute with a mobile so we rang it instead but didn’t get an answer. 

We decided we should have a drink at the Grandview hotel where scenes from the movie Australia were shot, so we bought our drinks and proceeded to the beer garden. The place has gone through recent renovations and still smelt like fresh paint. I was expecting movie paraphernalia, but didn’t see any in the area we walked through.

We enjoyed our drink and were joined shortly after by Keith Littlewood, the owner of the trailer. We passed on our details and he was very grateful for our help. When we finished our drinks, we returned home, ready to get into dinner. 

Paul did the cooking while I spoke to Mum and Yogi via Skype.

After eating, it was time for our usual quiet session, catching up on the days events. Just before bed Paul decided he needed to head for a quick walk to settle his belly and make up for the lack of steps, so we did a quick walk to the fishing wharf checking out the wholesale fish venues and noticing a possum perched on the pole of a fence.

Once back we were happy to bring the day to a close.