The Caravan park at Forrest beach was attached to a hotel, which was newly rebuilt after one of the cyclones that periodically hit the coast up here. The park was packed and we had a small site, fortunately we had good neighbors and had a few fun nights. The pub/park had a bit of "entertainment". The famous Whip crack kid and his flaming sisters had traveled all the way from north west NSW to perform here. A little circus also came to the park. It consisted of a 15 year old clown, a contortionist with a bad back and a juggler, together with with 2 goats and an. alpaca. We didn't make it to the circus but some of the kids at the park enjoyed it.
cath on forrest beach |
There are some nice people up here. We had to have our car serviced in Ingham and had to get a Taxi the 25km back to Forrest Beach. There is only 1 cab in Ingham and we had quite a wait. It was a $50.00 fare. The cabbie was a nice bloke and on the trip explained how hard it was to make a quid, then proceeded to tell us that he would take us back the next day free of charge.
I had no desire to stay in Townsville so we drove down for a bit of a look. It has certainly improved since my last visit. The boulevard area is terrific.
golf course at Bowen |
cape hillsborough cabin (1987) |
After a quick visit to Mackay to catch up with friends Barry and Rosa we headed inland, away from any more sandfies. We stopped at Fairbairn Dam just outside Emerald. I have heard a lot about the mining boom in central Queensland but travelling through it really brings home how extensive the coal and gas mining is.
Large mines, roadworks, electric rail lines, white twin cab utes and villages of dongas litter the landscape. It really is huge.
cath on one of the 24 creek crossings |
The Gorge is quite spectacular. We did the full gorge walk which ended up being 23 km and took us 7hrs 20min. The most spectacular sections were Wards canyon, the amphitheater and moss garden. All of these involved climbing steep steps and some vertical ladders. Suffice to say we had a couple of days not walking afterwards.
Tomorrow we move on southwards.
more photos
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