'Wherarwee' in Oz: log 04-05 The Whitsundays

The weather has changed over the last few days, the days are around 25º & the nights are cooler so we are sleeping better now. We thought it was inland but it’s the same on the coast.

Today our destination is MacKay, checking ‘camps 6’ we see there is no freecamps & only Tourist Parks in town so we pick a campground at Seaforth, 46 k’s North of MacKay. There is only one small store in town so luckily we have most things we need. We noticed, as we were driving along, that the 12 volt equipment in the front of the van stopped working, not worrying we arrived at Seaforth where we booked into a campground (still $20.00 p/night & we had to pay extra for hot showers). When I went to change the fridge to gas, it wasn’t working either, checking further, nothing in the 12 volt circuit was working. So, 3 hours & a lot of work later I found the trouble to be with the fridge itself, once identified it was a simple matter to rectify the problem (all the vibration had worn through the insulation on a live wire). We relaxed for the remainder of the day & while sitting outside, some woman came up & asked to see through the van, she spent some time with us then invited us to see her van the next day.

As it was another great day we decided to hop on the scooter & ride into MacKay, but before taking off we visited the local Sunday markets, bought lots of fruit at good prices.

MacKay has grown into another very large country town & the waterfront development is fantastic, large blocks of units with shops below wind round the shoreline of the vast marina, pathways make it enjoyable to see everything from the shoreline & there is a very wide ramp at the end of the marina that can take 5 trailer boats at a time. Of course the camera is back in the van so no photos. Returning to the campground we saw the other couple & visited them for a while.

Bypassing Proserpine, we went to an information centre where we booked a 3 island tour & accommodation as there are no free camps anywhere along the Whitsunday coast. Arriving at the tourist park we found they had a very nice pool, a mini golf course (18 holes), tennis court, netball court, spa & a childrens playground. After lunch we went for a swim & sat around the pool doing some reading. Then went for a walk along the main road checking out the sights.

Today we were up early getting ready for our boat trip. Bud picked us up promptly at 7:45 & delivered us at Airlie marina (huge, there’s obviously no shortage of money here). Boarding the boat, we were offered tea/coffee/biscuits/cake, then off to Daydream Island, nice but we wouldn’t stay there as there is not enough to do. O.K. if you just want to chill out. Then morning tea, same but with vast fruit platters. Next we were off to Hook Island, the sea is so calm, the sun is shining & the temp is perfect. Arriving at Hook we found it to be very undeveloped (25 years ago it was just camping &, although they call it a resort, it looks like it has been constructed for old building material that has been washed ashore, YUK). Live coral was close to shore here so this is where we went snorkeling, there was a lot of dead coral but there was also various types of live & very colourful coral, fish were also here but only because they get fed by the boat crews, & they were all small. Back on board from snorkeling it was now a huge smorgasbord lunch. While we were eating the ship proceeded to Whitehaven Beach, actually running up onto the beach & lowering a bow ladder for us to disbark. We spent 1 ½ hrs on the beach, walking, swimming & sunbaking. Back on board it was a/noon tea, same as morning tea, then the trip home arriving just after 5:00. A great day & cheap for what you got.

Did I mention pineapples? We have been buying huge pineapples @ $2.00 ea, juicy, sweet, delicious.

Taking a shortcut to Bowen, we did some shopping, nearly had our first collision. Driving out of town when some half asleep idiot pulled out of a parking space & proceeded across the road, hitting the brakes & the horn gave him a bit of a fright as he jumped & looked at us, but still continued leisurely across the road. We then proceeded on to Home Hill, a free park with hot showers. Some towns know how to look after travellers! Met some more motorhomers & picked up a few tips for later on. Townsville tomorrow.