The adventure carries on

Chris at Cedar Creek Falls

27^th September we head out of One Mile Creek cane fields and into Airlie Beach.  This is now the third visit here in less than three weeks.   We walk around the town again, and around the Lagoon that is on the water front and very nice on a hot day.  We have a shower in the caravan park before heading out to Cedar Creek Falls. 

Andrew at Airlie Lagoon

Unfortunately because there has been no rain for a while the falls are not flowing but there is a nice swimming water hole under the falls. 

 We stand and watch into the water and see a number of snapper turtles swimming around.  

Little snapper turtle

Andrew at top of cliffs at Cedar Creek

We then clamber up onto the rocks and have a hike up the cliff face to look down the water hole below.  A nice view from up here and another water hole up the top.  Would look pretty spectacular if the water was actually flowing.

Lizard around Cedar Creek

  On our walk down the rocks we notice a large lizard in front of us scurrying around.

4wding with the tinny and trailer - not a good idea

View Dingo Beach

After Airlie we head towards Dingo Beach and have a walk onto the beach.  The tide is low so we walk quite away out in the sand and notice a number of starfish lying amongst the pools of water and a few sea slugs amongst them.  After our walk we decide to venture up a hill we notice to see if we can get a good view of Dingo Beach below.  It looks lovely from up there but the road is very uneven and narrow with holes along the way and is a real good 4wd track.  The trouble is we are pulling the tinny and trailer so not a good time to be 4wding and harder to turn the 4wd around as the road is so narrow.  Christie is now out of the car and directing Andrew so he manoeuvres the trailer back and forth until we manage to turn it all around, a bit of a scratch down the side of the car and we are out and heading back down to Dingo Beach.

A short distance from Dingo Beach we head towards a place called Hideaway Bay, which is lovely and come across unexpectedly into Gloucester Passage.  We are thrilled to be here again as this was one of our favourite spots when we were boating around. 

Our camp spot at Gloucester on the beach we love

Chris sorting out the car

We drive down onto the beach and hide the car amongst some trees and bushes and set up camp for the night right on the waters front to where we were in the boat not long ago.  We have Gloucester Island and passage in front of us and love it here, its so relaxing and peaceful here and the view is breathtaking.

The view from our house on wheels

Sunsetting over Cape Gloucester

We walk along the beach for about half an hour down to Monte's bar and restaurant and sit on the outside deck again watching the sun setting and enjoy a few sun downer drinks. 


We both feel really content and happy sitting here, it is such a delightful spot and we will come back from time to time.  We feel lucky to be camping in our house on wheels free for the night when we see that the cheapest accommodation along the beach is $250 a night.

Andrew at Cape Gloucester

Friday 28^th September 2012.  Woke up this morning to see the sun rising across the horizon over towards Bowen and it really looked beautiful with the orange pinky colour skies.   We lay in bed and listened to the waves crashing against the shore for a while whilst looking at the boats anchored in the harbour that we were in with Mingo less than two weeks ago.  Oh how time flies. 

Sunsetting over Cape Gloucester

  It’s such a great spot here at Cape Gloucester and we wish we had more time to spend a few more nights camping on the beach.  After breakfast of tea and toast we packed the car up and headed out.  Driving down the main road of Hideaway Bay we notice that there is a lot of land for sale so googled the prices and they ranged from $450,000 for beachfront land to $260,000 for beach views.  We would love to be able to buy land here and we both believe that this is a real up and coming area even though it is 70km north from Airlie Beach and about 100km south from Bowen.  It really is tranquil here will be interesting to see what the land and houses are worth in a few more years.

Arriving in Bowen at the Big Mango

Heading towards Bowen now for a drive along another stretch of long road, with not a lot of scenery apart from more sugar cane.  The drive took just over an hour and as we drove into Bowen we stopped at the information centre to get our usual sticker for the 4wd and patch for the blanket.  Our history of travels!!! 

Our first impressions of Bowen by road are pretty much the same as they were by sea, not much of a town, old and run down and of course dry.  As we drive through the main street we head to what are apparently award-winning beaches, we are sceptical considering the rest of Bowen is “not much”. 

As we head around the corner and arrive at a little inlet called Horseshoe Bay, we now realise what all the fuss is about. What a perfect little spot, so beautiful with a nice beach and large rocks to clamber on around the inlet.  There are a number of people swimming as the day is warm and the water a nice temperature.

Us at the Bowen lookout

Horseshoe Bay, Bowen

Andrew walking down from the Bowen lookout

We buy a coffee and paper at the local beachfront café and sit on the beach relaxing for half an hour before we head the 170 meters to the Bowen lookout. 

Not a long walk and pretty easy as there are steps made of rocks amongst the shrub up to the most amazing view over to Gloucester Island and passage to the south and Cape Upstart to the north.  It was a very sunny clear day and we could see for miles, the view was spectacular.   

 It 
Its funny seeing these sights by land now and you do get a pang in your stomach of wanting to be back on the ocean again. 

Back in the car and we are now heading quickly into Townsville for the 200km drive from Bowen, we now need to be there by 1430 hours to view the apartment that Andrews work has organised for us.  We were hoping to stay around Bowen or Ayr / Homehill tonight but instead drive the 2.5 hours to Townsville to view this apartment, as we do need accommodation for the weekend. 

Townsville city

We arrive in Townsville to a clear afternoon on 28th Sept and just made it with five minutes to spare to meet the real estate agent.  All good with the unit, except that we can’t move in until Tuesday that is a bit of a pain,  as we just want to get things settled and unpacked.  Also four nights in this heat on the boat makes it a sweltering time.  Oh well the boat it is.  The afternoon is spent doing washing, sorting through a few things in the car and then driving around to find us a second car as the other one we found on last stop in Townsville has now fallen through.  We spend the weekend pottering around Townsville, going for a few drives and finding our bearings. 

Townsville River

Townsville Lagoon pool by River

We head down to the dam for a walk along the river there and to the Riverway swimming lagoon area which is in a lovely location and packed with people.  We head to the markets and a few second hand shops later in the afternoon as we are wanting to buy a couple of things for the unit.  We feel as though these few days are being wasted just filling in time as we could be getting everything ready in the unit.  Also with the car and tinny and big boat all now full of stuff scattered all over, it’s a bit hard to take off anywhere as we cant unload any of it. 

Andrew at top of Castle Hill looking over to Magnetic Island

Chris at top of Castle Hill with Townville in the background

We have a drive up the top of Castle Hill on a clear day and see the amazing views of Townsville and Magnetic Island below and go for a long walk to the end of the Townsville port and jetty and around to the entertainment centre and casino to have a look.  We manage quite well to fill in the long weekend and are now already to start work tomorrow 2nd October.