Yesterday we gave up on waiting for the weather to improve- we thought we might have to stay here forever waiting! Yesterday Chris, Marg and I drove to Airlie Beach regardless. John and Ruby stayed behind as John was itching to get back on that ride-on mower. He hasn't mowed a lawn in weeks, and people who know him at home know that he does like to keep his lawn looking nice.
The windscreen wipers were on almost for the whole trip there and back- the rain, although mostly not heavy, did not let up. The mountains had clouds apparently permanently stuck on their tops, which looked rather pretty if a bit bleak.
First we went to the Cannonvale shopping area, which holds all the ubiquitous chains we expect to see everywhere. Chris did a bit of boring shopping in boring shops like Supercheap Auto while Marg and I stayed dry in the Prado.
Airlie Beach itself is of course a tourist trap, with many shops for the backpackers and other tourists, but it's not really a beachy place as much as a town for boaties. There are a number of marinas with some beautiful boats in them, yachts and cruisers, big and small. There are numerous big apartment blocks on the surrounding hillsides (and it's very hilly). The beach is tiny, and you can't swim anyway because of the stingers. There's a very nice boardwalk along the front and we had a pleasant barramundi lunch before making another dash for the car, which we'd had to park a long distance away. Because of the rain, we didn't get a chance to take a photo of the area.
Shute Harbour, about 10 kilometres further along a winding and hilly road, is quite lovely, with delightful views of many islands. We were enquiring about ferries to various islands, but discovered that only Hamilton Island can be visited from here. (We were horrified to see our bugbear, Pay and Display parking, which we met everywhere in England).
So back to Abel Point on the other side of Airlie Beach to enquire at the opposition ferry wharf. We've decided to do a day trip which passes a number of the islands, stopping at Whitsunday Island for lunch and snorkelling, and returning past yet more of the islands. (Just hope the weather improves!) We'll probably go on Monday, which has the best forecast. There's to be a cruise ship visiting that day, so we may not be able to book then.
Near Abel Point is a little beach called Shingley Beach for obvious reasons. Chris got talking to a French backpacker who was complaining about the weather and being bored with nothing to do in the rain. We can relate to that!
On the way back, we detoured to check out Proserpine, which we'd passed on the outskirts a few days ago. Not worth the bother.
The road between Proserpine and Bowen is quite boring, with miles of spindly trees and not much else to look at. The road is quite good with long straight sections, but it really does become tedious with same-same flat landscape and foliage. As you near Bowen there are tomato fields, we saw people working in one of them the first time we did that section- very labour intensive, there were at least 20 workers. No crop visible, so we think they were thinning the bushes.
Closer still to Bowen is the Information Centre and the supposedly renowned Big Mango (big monstrosity, and big ripoff as it reputedly cost $90,000! Can you believe it?!?) The guy at the info centre said he doesn't like it because it's upside down- the committee which ordained it said that's how they get packed, but he says it's not how they grow. The stalk is next to the ground. He said it needs another coat of paint but I think it needs a stick of dynamite. Admittedly it might help if it was painted by someone who'd actually seen a mango. BTW, he said it's never been fully paid for- the committee used to run chook raffles and the like, but most of them have since died and nobody's worried about it.
Back at the motel, it was still raining, and a small watercourse had appeared between the two vans, which are facing one another. Luckily the ground is sandy so it disappears quickly once the rain eases, but it makes things a bit unpleasant when it's pouring.
In the late afternoon, another van arrived, friends of Kim's from Brisbane. They have just driven off- I didn't get much chance to speak to them, thought they would stay longer. I hope the cranky man from the caravan park saw the third van here- he came to enquire about us the other day. We're parked next to the motel on a spare block of ground, and as it's the corner of the street I suppose it does look as if we've just decided to free camp here. The block belongs to Kim, and will one day be part of motel extensions, so we simply told him it's private property and he went off grumbling.
This morning looks a bit brighter, with no showers so far (9am)- a little patch of blue sky is visible. It's too early to say it's going to be a fine day, but fingers crossed!
No comments:
Post a Comment