Horseshoe Bay to Gympie

 Wed 8 June – (My birthday!) A lovely morning, so a swim before lunch. Back down again in the afternoon for our last time swimming and enjoying Horseshoe Bay. What a great spot. We walked over the road to a resort restaurant and sat outside watching the sunset and had a great Chinese/Thai meal. Delicious!!! What a way to spend your birthday!!

 

Thurs 9 June – Left the camp and drove to the tyre place for two new front tyres. Hopefully this will be our last expense on “Andy” for a while. Nothing unexpected, however. Sometimes you just have to spend the money. Part of the deal. A 200km drive on the Bruce. Some days the number 1 highway in Australia is a lovely smooth road and at others it is really rough. Today was the latter with many holdups for much needed road works. We turned towards the coast for 20kms to Seaforth. We are camped on a reserve right on the beach in a large area. We walked along the beach, but it is low tide. No swimming possible anyway. (Crocs). It is much cooler today as we are further south but there is also a cold front from the south. Nice and sunny but it got cold tonight. Jerseys and track pants for the first time.

Fri 10 June – Cool in the night but another sunny day. We sat in the sun and did some research on flights coming home and storage. In the afternoon we rode our bikes along beach in both directions from the camp. Tried to walk out to an island but the tide was too high. Cold night and  we broke out our slippers.

Sat 11 June – Drove to Mackay so that Val could have a haircut and we needed some warmer jerseys. Unfortunately, the “Just Cuts” had a 2-hour delay, so we bought what we needed and will deal with Val’s hair later.  Another 130kms down the Bruce Highway to Clearview. This is a cheap camp with great views. We managed to get the last waterfront site. I gave Val a haircut. We booked flights home for the 4 August from Adelaide.

Sun 12 June – The tides here are amazing. Last night the tide was low right out  as far as you can see. We woke this morning to the tide right up to our beach. Everyone packed up and left and were replaced by a new lot by lunchtime. We walked the length of the beach and read and watched people set up. After lunch we walked around the camp. The unpowered sites that we are on are great, but the rest of the camp is very average. Most in our area have a campfire tonight.

 

Mon 13 June – We left Clearview and drove 200km south to the Cave Showgrounds where we found  a great unpowered site in the sun. We walked down the road to the Cave General Store and bought a couple of things including an ice-cream and a lettuce ($9-75!!!) A great sunset.

 Tues 14 June – There is only one small town between MacKay and Rockhampton (336kms) We called into Rockhampton for fuel and to exchange our gas bottle before continuing to the south Calliope free camping area. This area was formed when the Bruce highway got a new bridge creating two large areas either side of the Calliope River. We have stayed on the north side before but found a great site on the riverbank on the south side. It is much warmer at night now.

Wed 15 June – We walked over the old bridge and had scones with cream and jam at a small café. There is a heritage village which we explored.  Some of the original houses fitted out as they would have been. Other houses had rooms devoted to various items like cameras, kitchen ware, hats, tools, radios, etc. There was also a school,  church, and a pub. All very well done. A shower of rain in the afternoon.

 

Thurs 16 June – Very warm in the night. A 120km drive to Agnes Water where we are booked for 2 nights. The camp was expensive but right on the beach. We stayed here a few years ago. The cheap camp we stayed in last time has gone!! Val did some bookings for the next few days. After lunch we walked down to the beach and had a swim. Cooler than our last swim in the sea at Bowen 8 days ago. With the cooler temperatures we thought the Bowen swim might have been our last for this trip. Agnes Water is a beautiful beach.

Fri 17 June – A cloudy day. In the morning we biked out to 1770, 14kms return. This is the area where Captain Cook made his second landing in Australia. The sun came out briefly later in the afternoon and we walked the beach. Too late for a swim, however.

Sat 18 June – Drove 120kms to Bundaberg where we had a big shop up for food, an extra duvet, socks, and shoes for Val. We parked at the showgrounds for the night. Sat in the late sun behind “Andy”. Listened to the Crusaders thump the Blues in the Super Rugby final.

Sun 19 June – Drove out to Burrum Heads to a great little camp overlooking the Burrum River. We walked a nice path along the river to the sea passing some lovely homes. An ice-cream on the way back where we watched the sunset over the river.

Mon 20 June – A cooler morning. I tried to fix our little, faithful transistor radio which we listen to the ABC in the mornings before getting out of bed. Unfortunately, it is buggered!! Walked along the river again and took our chairs over to the river’s edge for a sit in the sun and read. We rang Jill and Carolyn and jacked up visits for next week.

 Tues 21 June – A very short drive to Hervey Bay stopping at Jaycars for a new radio. Hervey Bay is pronounced as Harvey Bay for some reason. We are in another small camp a couple of blocks from the beach. After lunch we biked along the Esplanade passing the tourist shops and restaurants and ended up around the other side of the bay at a headland. On the way back we stopped off at a bar on the beach for a beer. A great ride 17kms.

 Wed 22 June – We biked along the esplanade cycleway in the opposite direction to the Urangan Pier. This huge pier is over 1km long with many people strolling to the end. There are also many people fishing but did not see anything being caught. We continued to the marina and boat harbour before returning to the local shops for new thongs (jandals) for Val. A 10km ride. A very late lunch and back down to the beach for a read in the afternoon. Hervey Bay is a beautiful holiday destination.

Thurs 23 June – On our way out of Hervey Bay we stopped at Bunnings for a few things including paint for our hubs. After getting new tyres at Bowen, we have managed to lose a hub cap and “Andy” is looking a bit sad. We stopped again at Maryborough for groceries but the Woolworths we chose was being remodelled and had very little in stock. Back on the road for our 139km journey to Gympie where we stocked up and drove to a free camping area beside the Bruce Highway.