Mackay
The weather was horrid, raining ,cloudy and windy as we set up the van in a old but clean park in the middle of town.
The first job was to find a new water tank cap for the van as somehow we have lost it whilst traveling, then a quick shop and stayed indoors for the rest of the afternoon.
We were in Mackay for four nights and looked around the town, the waterpark and out to the marina and harbour areas the first day.
We drove around the beaches to the north of Mackay, stopping at Dolphin heads, Shoal point and Slade point. Being on the coast and seeing the palm trees is beautiful with all beaches looking so inviting but alass they are off limits to swimming. Marine stingers in the waters here mean wetsuits are needed to swim and some areas also have signs warning of possible crocodiles, so no swimming here.
Then another day we drove south to Sarina , Sarina beach and Hay point.
Sarina has a large sugar mill and tour but unfortunately it was booked out. We sat in the town at a park on the highway for morning coffee and counted 60 vans going north in just 20 mins. Looks like the caravan nomads are out and about in droves, luckily we have booked most of our parks going north, something we don’t like doing usually.
Although some changes will occur as we are always changing our minds on how long we what in an area and what direction we are going.
Just north of Sarina but south of Mackay was Hay point. This port and coal loading harbour is at the end of the mining trail from inland and the trial finishes here at Hay Point. This port was established in 1971 and moves 80 to 130 million tonnes of coal annually.
We had three more nights before we were due in Airlie Beach but decided to book in early and missed the area around Ball bay. The brakes on the van were playing up again and John wanted to get somewhere where an auto electrician is situated in case we needed one. In the meantime we have cleaned all the plugs which were very dusty and we hope this has fixed the issue. Next trip will tell but all the lights on the break controller are flashing the right colours now.
AIRLIE BEACH
We had 15 days in Airlie which was both relaxing and exciting .
Jackie and Marc friends from Sydney, by total coincidence happened to be here at the same time as us for our first week. Marcs son who lives here had had another baby, so grandparents duties and christenings were on their agendas.
It was nice we could catch up with them in between their family commitments
We stayed at Seabreeze caravan park not to far from town and opposite there was a lovely walk which was also partly on a broad walk around the bay that took you past the marina and into town. We walked this 2.5 km walk many times sometimes all the way to the town and sometimes just to the marina. A video by John shows more details of this walk, see further down.
Stopping at the marina was essential as we checked out the facilities here and have booked a month in the marina with our upcoming new boat for august September next year. The marina looks amazing and has heaps of facilities shops restaurants plus the use of the resort pool etc as well.
We did a few trips out to the islands while here in Airlie Beach.
1/
Half day fishing tour, I was the hero of the day catching the most and best fish!!
The coral trout was really good to eat and the trevally used for a fish curry. Unfortunately we didn’t catch as many fish as we would have liked, no the luck on the day.
2/
A day trip to Hamilton Island, where we checked out the marina here for next year , had lunch at the pub and swam at the resort pool on the other side of the island. The ferry stopped briefly at Day dream Island on the way back to Airlie.
3/ A two day one night island trip on a 70 year old sail boat with four other couples all young but good company. The name of the yacht was Summertime.
The trip out was a bit rough with 25 knot winds but allowed for the sails to go up on the boat and into sailing mode.
We travelled through the Hook Island passage and around to Whitehaven beach which is on Whitsunday Island.
First was the climb to the lookout which had great views over the beach but being on the out going tide the muddy inlet colours spoilt the view which is usually much better than our pictures, but still amazing.
The sand on this island is the purest white sand in Australia and the rest of the world as it is 98% pure silica
And then over to the beach for a swim using a wetsuit to prevent the stingers which are in the waters up here in the north.
The boat moored in a sheltered bay overnight off Hook Island. John worked on Hook Island resort for a couple of months back in 1982 when he was 21. That resort including the underwater observatory went out of business about 15 years ago and now due to time and cyclones is completely gone .
That night with the spot lights on we saw many dolphins chasing fish through the water with the fish skipping along the surface trying to escape their predator’s.
A few very large GTs joined in and do they make a splash when they get the fish they where chasing. This went of for hours and was amazing to watch.
The next morning the kayaks came off the roof of Summertime and after the crew persuaded me they could get me Into the kayak it was off for a paddle for 1:5 hours.
The water was like glass that morning and we weaved our way along the edge of the island and through the mangroves.
We had hoped to see reef sharks, turtles and stingrays but we only saw a few stingrays and a big clam.
Next we went snorkeling for an hour in Stone Haven Bay seeing lots of pretty little fish and good coral.
After lunch on the boat we motored back to Airlie, the return trip was really calm the weather the best day for the last month but no sails up for the return trip. More photos below and some of the sunset and views from the boat and the island adventure.
Other activities in Airlie included
1/ A trip out to Shute Harbour, which used to be the main tour boat departure point and marina, but like Hook Island it is all gone and disused now. There are now two large marinas in Airlie beach and this is where all the boats depart to the islands from. Below the views from the lookouts over Shute Harbour.
2/ Lunch at Northerlies near Airlie Beach with Jackie and Marc, It felt just like we were sitting on a beach in Fiji. The scenery, the food and the company all good.
3/Another day trip was exploring Dingo beach and Hideaway bay, which are 50 km up the coast from Airlie. The first four pictures show Dingo & Hideaway, then onto morning coffee at the Gloucester eco resort a few kilometres further north, it looks out to Gloucester Island. We might bring the boat here next year as well.
4/ We drove out to Prosperpine dam where we thought we might stay at for a few nights but we were put off by the amount of mozzies and midgies. The dam is 22 kms west of Prosperpine.
5/ Another day we explored the national park and Conway bay, also stopping at Cedar Falls all of this a short drive from Airlie. I n the photo below note the number of crocodiles lerking behind John 🙂 !!!!
Conway Beach/ Bay.
6/
One day John finally persuaded me to try an electric scooter which we hired for two hours. see Johns video above.
So much fun!!! Even if I was to chicken to go very fast, we are now trying to buy some as we see so many broad walks that are too long to spend lots of time walking and the scooters would be perfect. Unfortunately no one seems to have any in stock but we will keep trying as we travel north.
We just loved Airlie beach and the Whitsunday islands, and are so looking forward to bringing the boat here for a month next year.
We loved the relaxed atmosphere, the water, the islands and found just walking into town and around the broad walk and marina stopping for coffee or lunch really enjoyable.
7/ etc
We rarely eat out but did it often, mostly for lunch, and this really added to the atmosphere while in Airlie. Overlooking the marina and beaches and seeing the islands off shore while having mostly seafood lunches was fantastic. We are a little seafooded out as we also shopped at Fishi a seafood shop at Airlie and we seemed to be eating it constantly. We also had lunch at the Yacht club and a few times at the intown Airlie pub. One afternoon was nibbles and drinks at KC’s Grill which is owned by Marcs son Jeff, this was the after the christening event their family had attended.
Some of our good times are also on Johns video above..
Next is off to Bowen where our next blog will start
