19TH JULY 2013 – CAPRICORN COAST, QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA

This morning en route we arrive in the small town of Serina - a really 'sweet' town being the centre of the sugar industry in this area.  Stu had felt he would like to acquaint himself a bit more with the nitty gritty so left me to my own devices for an hour while he attended a tour at the aptly named 'Sugar Shed'.  This took place in a miniature refining factory with authentic working machinery also in miniature.  Australia is the third largest exporter of raw sugar after Brazil & Thailand.  5 million tons of raw sugar are exported of which 70% is grown in Queensland.  At the end of the tour there was a tasting session of molasses, golden syrup & best of all,  a variety of liqueurs.  He turned them all down - couldn't face all that sweetness! 

 

Old sugar cane harvester.
(Looks like an out of space thing!)

 

Our destination today is Cape Palmerston on the coast a little south. It is a lovely new caravan park (2 years old), & first impressions are of a large paddock full of caravans. However we soon discover it has the most luxurious ablution block we have ever come across & is only $29 per night. The other surprise is that within a short stroll down an archway of trees is a huge beach. It is very tidal & the tide is out making it look even larger. Thankfully it’s a lovely afternoon which we spent exploring both ends of the beach, a really good long walk. It had 100’s of small blue soldier crabs ‘marching’ across the sands & whilst rock hopping we sadly found a large dead turtle which had obviously been there a while. Late in the afternoon a session of ‘bush poetry’, jokes & yarns was held in the central gazebo back at the camp which I thoroughly enjoyed. We were only booked in here for one night to catch up with laundry & refill with water but it was a really nice little sojourn.

Soldier Crab Cape Palmerston Beach

Cape Palmerston Beach

 

Next morning we made our way further south to the tiny town of St Lawrence, another freebie we visited at this time 2 years ago. It is a very large area & is actually their showgrounds & would easily hold about 200 vans. With an ablution block & $1 in the slot showers it is really good. On our arrival it is fairly empty but by evening it probably has about 100 vans. It reminds me of the tide - each morning it empties out a bit & every afternoon fills up again. This little community must be in shock at present as it has also been ‘invaded’ by the army who have taken over their recreation grounds as a base while carrying out exercises with the US. There have been dozens of ‘camo’ vehicles of all shapes & sizes carrying equipment out every morning & afternoon . Very noisy entourage! We heard on the news that the US dropped 3 bombs on the Great Barrier Reef which horrified all of Australia. Apparently something went wrong & they had to jettison them straight away no matter where they were??? Another surprise for us – we discovered 4 lots of Kiwis in camp! Two couples were travelling in convoy, plus two other couples plus us. Needless to say we had a ‘kiwi night’ with lots of chatting & comparing notes of our travels. We are the only ones who have done the whole of Oz, the others all come to Queensland for 3-6 months each winter to escape the cold & as some of them come from the Sth Island that’s not surprising. Would you believe one couple who live in Te Aroha, have been doing it since 1999. They were born & bred in Dargaville & come through Paparoa a lot to visit their rellies. They have promised to call in next time. It’s a small world! It was really nice to have some conversations & laughs together so our stay extended to 3 nights instead of one. Heavy rain fell late in the afternoon & during the 2nd night, but it was mostly quite nice & we managed a good cycle ride one day & a walk the next. Stuart purchased himself a VERY large jigsaw & was head down for about 3 days completing it. Magically it just fitted our outdoor table with fold up legs, so it was moved around at whim. He has also read about 12 books now so I think he’s finally been ‘converted’- Halleluya! We are certainly finding it convenient to go into the computer & borrow books from the library & certainly a lot cheaper too. So much easier than carrying books around with us though I have still read a few ‘real’ ones which have been passed onto me.

23rd – Rain overnight again & 17deg as we set off towards Rockhampton. Lovely country on this strip with lots of straw coloured paddocks of cattle, backed by blue mountains & lots of golden wattle blooming now. Some areas are completely covered by them like a sea of yellow. Drizzle followed us but thankfully by the time we reached ‘Rockie’ the sun was out so we were able to refuel the car, restock our larder & continued on for another hour to Yepoon on the coast en route to Byfield National Park. We only stopped long enough to visit the Info centre to find out about walking & cycling tracks in that area then on again. On arrival there our initial reaction was one of disappointment as it was very shady & the sites were anything but level. After trying several we just settled for one & made the best of it & hoped the sun would be more forthcoming for the next couple of days. We were delighted to wake next morning to much improved weather, lovely blue sky & sunshine. Needless to say we were out first thing that morning soaking it up & as the site next to us became vacant we decided to move to their site which was the only level one in the place.

Stoney Creek



Bush Turkey

Janice crossing Stoney Creek

 Then it was bikes out & off for a good bike ride heading to a cafe about 6kms away. The road was sealed & not a lot of traffic though the few trucks who passed us certainly didn’t slow down as they passed - thankfully they are not road trains way out here. It proved to be a fairly challenging ride as it was ups & downs all the way so we had to work the bike gears all the way. The cafe was a typical country Queensland establishment, in a tropical setting & nothing flash about it, so we opted to have lunch which was surprisingly good & cheap. Setting off again we too a turnoff to another campsite area to check it out. It was actually better sites but even shadier than where we were. However we did discover a walk which we thought we could do next day. Finally we had to head back over all the hills again & I was really glad to get back to camp after about 21kms – quite enough for me! Lots more campers in that night, most with their little campfires going as it was quite a cold evening. We don’t bother as it’s necessary to bring your own firewood & we can’t carry that around with us. We were blessed to have another fine, sunny morning & headed off in the car to find a walking trail about 20kms away. It took us down the most awful logging road with huge pot holes & trenches – thank goodness for the 4WD, – but at the end of it was the most delightful picnic area by fording a creek. The water was a most unusual milky blue/green & were it summer would have been enticing. That is, until you read the warning notices about the spine fish in the creek. It’s necessary to wear footwear & not put your feet on the bottom but ‘just swim’ as the sign stated. Just another little nasty critter they have over here. Anyway we set off on the track which took us along the creek through a mixture of pines & native trees until were had to do a bit of rock hopping to ford the creek. Then it ended up on another rough forestry road & we were not sure whether we were in the correct place or not. Stu usually has his little GPS with him but unfortunately left it in the car so we walked on & eventually came out not far from the picnic area again. We find so often that there is a lack of signs on these tracks which is quite annoying. Had a lovely picnic lunch & then headed off to another shorter trail back nearer camp which was more like a rainforest with vines & ferns etc & known for having colourful native pigeons resident. Although we heard one it was too far away to catch a glimpse. The day ended with heavy rain after dinner but we were well tucked up inside our little ‘home’. Tomorrow we move on again to a new destination.