Follow the travel diary of Val and Rosney (The Man) as they travel from Brisbane to Cairns. First travelling by tilt train from Brisbane to Hervey Bay – where they pick up a rental car and continue on an unhurried drive to Cairns.
Part one, Part two, Part three.
Rockhampton to MacKay:
Weather hot and sun-struck.
The Man is not flash, he’s very snuffly and not full of happiness. Once again the road view of life was very ordinary, but we did have a stop at a little place call Malborough which looked like it had been sunburnt to the stage all was brown, anyway it had a tiny general store, which made a damn good cup of coffee. This cute little aboriginal girl aged about five came into the shop in her nightie to buy a bottle of fizzy drink, she flashed us a curious glance and then figuring we were okay, gave us a most endearing smile. A little charmer…
From this point I took over the driving as the man was snuffling and as you would know it, for the first time came across some serious-repeated-caution signs of steep winding road ahead. Well, I commented to The Man, see what happens, put me behind the wheel and warning signs immediately appear. Well, there was a wee ant-hill, but in comparison to NZ roads nothing to write home about, which bought back memories of the Aussie guy we met down south NZ who had had a driving-confidence-breakdown due to our back country roads.
Knowing how easy it is for me to lose my way, (no sense of direction) The Man took over the wheel a few K out of town and navigated us into McKay (population 120,000). First up we tracked down the info centre, got a town map then it was off to find some emergency supplies – cold beers, wine and breakfast food. The man at the info centre told us the shops would be closing a 3.30pm, and as it was now 1.30pm and as we didn’t want to drop dead of dehydration we didn’t waste any time. Parts of Australia do not have Sunday shopping, supermarkets do not sell alcohol (as in NZ), and as Monday is a holiday (Labour Day) everything will be shut tight.
Our accommodation at the beach was real nice, but no eating places nearby, so it was a rush back into town to buy foods for lunches and dinners – where we noticed the supermarket shelves were running near-bare. Back at the resort we went for a walk down the beach only to find the water was way out on the horizon, and it was quite a walk to get our feet wet. Talked to some local and it turns out they have a huge-tidal-flow, way-out and way-in. Witnessed a bad scene when some guy threatened to slice his kid up, then kick him in the head. Grrrr- makes one wonder!!!!
It rained overnight, feels very muggy. First it was off to the crowded market day, lots of local crafts, plus imported cheap-child-pleasers. Did buy two cakes of soap for our own use, made in India with sensual names. The Man is still suffering with snuffling and coughing, have a note here that I’m thinking of calling in the flying doctor.
Spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing with the masses, did the marina, local walks and a cool-as ice cream parlour, then back to base for a rest time for Mister Snuffles in the hope he will improve before tomorrow when we move on to Airlee beach. We did stop at the emergency chemist for more snuffle-cold-fix-supplies and the nice lady chemist told me it’s often a problem with tourists getting used to the indoor air-conditioning, and what the fellah needed was a walk in a brisk breeze, the trouble is we have to find a brisk breeze first as the weather is hot/still and humid.
New things: it’s a 25-minute walk to reach the water at low tide. Fantastic local bag-piper walks out onto the beach at sunset every night to practise his pipes, apparently his wife kicks him out! Blue crabs are cute. Saw a possy-cat climbing up a palm tree – now that’s a first for us! Met up with some folks from home, plan to meet up with them at Airlie beach for a meal as we are both heading there.
Monday: MacKay to the tourist town of Airlie Beach:
We awake to the sound of rain, the clouds are down and the humidity is soaring.
It rained on and off most of the trip, and have noted there’s a lot of traffic on the road. Couldn’t find any toilet stops along the way, so I had an open-air pee amid long grass behind a wispy tree, all the time keeping a wary eye out for sneaky snakes and deadly spiders (to hell with other sightseers). When we arrived at Airlie we found nothing appeared to be open which seemed strange, but it was a boo-boo on our part as around a few corners and further up the road was the ‘real’ tourist centre, which when we discovered it, was truly buzzing.
Booked into our accommodation which turned out to be a nice 2 bedroom villa with plenty of room to spread out – it is said wildlife roam the grounds so am looking forward to bumping into a few dinkum Aussies. I make a note here that this is the first time I’m really finding the humidity hard to handle, took a cool afternoon shower and washed my hair which had been reduced to a great heap of nothingness.
Later that afternoon we wandered down the real town, then met up with our Whakatane friends for a relaxed evening meal. Come morning it is still raining, and the weather forecaster says we can expect scattered showers for the next few days, as we are well and truly into the tropics now, that is to be expected. Airlie is a busy place, there seems to be non-stop traffic going back and forth to Shute Harbour where the boating trips depart from.
We had thought about going for a boat ride, but the weather is so gloom and ocean looks unkind, so figured it was money wasted in the respect as The Man is prone to seasickness. Instead we went walking around some little bays (I’m sure the crocs were watching us) and then I got to go ‘girl’ shopping and bought two sarongs (have a note here that I’m impressed with the beachwear).
Airlie (population 1,206) had come so highly recommended I guessed I expected to find ‘Paradise’, but I was disappointed. The only wildlife we came across other than the standard gecko (which are here there and everywhere) was a hoodlum bunch of Kookaburra which I tried to get close to, but each time I got near them, they flew off to another tree, then another. I must have looked like a bloody idiot going hither and yonder in pursuit of these laughing birds, so gave up. Airlie is pretty place to connect to boat trips and go tourist shopping or dine out, nothing else really for land-lubbers unless you are sit back and do nothing people (which we are not). The Man’s snuffles have improved, which is happy stuff. Tomorrow it is off to Townsville with a stopover at Bowen to see the movie set-up for ‘Australia’ and a chance to walk in the star-steps of Nicole Kidman.
To be continued….
By Val Bird
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