Anne here - We now began to trek south in earnest to meet our deadlines. We could have done with an extra day to visit Wallaman Falls, but I have put the seven 'waterfall' national parks in North Queensland's coastal hinterland back on the bucket list until we can do a visit during the wet season.
Our first stop was at Bowen staying at the same Top Tourist park on the Fort Dennison side, although we have decided we will not stay here again – the cleanliness of the amenities did not match the price demanded. We unhitched and went for a drive. Once again we had reached town on a weekend and after 1pm Saturday nothing is open. The lure of the beaches was strong and we visited Horse Shoe Bay, Rose Bay and Port Dennison again.
Rose Bay, Bowen - Qld
(Double click on any photo to enlarge)
Looking across from the Port Dennison jetty to the marina, Bowen
It was disappointing to find the dugongs have moved on – I suppose the sea grass in the area is exhausted. Only a lone turtle remained and he was floating, an indication of illness. I did try to ring around to get him some attention but the local vets were not available and the turtle hospital at Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville did not have an after-hours number listed for marine animal emergencies.
Next morning we travelled on to Clairview, between Camilla and St Lawrence. The Clairview Beach Holiday Park is opposite highway and railway line, but right on the beach and relatively quiet. There is a licensed bar and they have a set meal menu at night. It would seem a very popular place with anglers year round as the beach, estuary and islands have a great reputation for their great fishing. The park ships in water used for drinking and showers, but the rest is bore water. It was a pleasant enough stop-over with one of the locals feeding the lorikeets and another showing off the tricks his dog could do. Jim got a chance to swap helpful tips with one of the caravaners parked next to us.
Looking north along Clairview Beach
Looking south along Clairview Beach
In the morning we headed south, stopping briefly at Malborough to fill up with diesel. We stopped at the local park for lunch and found this bird which the locals called Lazy Jacks, but are really Apostle Birds
Apostle Bird at Marlborough, Qld
Tannum Sands is south of Boyne Island and Gladstone and a place we visited briefly and marked for a future stop. The caravan owners had taken over four days before and the amenities had been recently renovated. We took the opportunity to do the washing. It is really a very quiet, clean caravan park with the odd Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Kookaburra and really worth more than one day, but we were hurrying south towards Hervey Bay.
Eastern Grey Kangaroos at Tannum Sands
The Kookaburras visit the neighbours at Tannum Sands
No comments:
Post a Comment