The trip up to Mackay was fairly uneventful with no new disasters to report – although one potential disaster was 
averted. Regular blog readers may recall us being bogged down to the axles on a beach with me frantically digging and Sandra doing her King Canute act trying to turn back the advancing tide. On our way to Mackay we detoured to stretch our legs and headed for a convenient beach. The dirt road was rough and twisty and, as we emerged from the final bend straight onto to the beach, with horrible memories of the last escapade Sandra screamed for me to stop and reverse before she got that sinking feeling once again. Manoeuvre successful, the only untoward experience was Sandra, bounding from rock to rock, lost her footing and fell onto the rocks 
soaking herself and ripping her trousers. Luckily, unlike the last time when she fell down a gully, I had the camera and was able to record the event.
Arriving, via the Bottleshop, at Martin and Eleanor’s house we spent a pleasant evening catching up with the last 40 years trying to remember events, people and places. Eleanor, who has lived in Australia for many years, has not lost her Inverness accent and, although she does not think she has a strong accent, the evening was punctuated with “Rubber Bumpers an’ Woolly Jumpers” moments (an in-joke that only Invernessians will appreciate!)
Our hosts were a mine of local information and the following day we set out to visit Fitch Hatton Gorge and Eungella National Park. The former’s main attraction is a steep waterfall surrounded by rocky ledges and a deep pool at the bottom. There were many signs about the dangers of the area and jumping from the rocks into the water was strictly prohibited. On any other day it would have been idyllic however we arrived on a public holiday – the car park, such as it is, was overflowing and, when we got to the gorge it was heaving with youngsters blatantly ignoring all warning notices and throwing themselves off
every rock ledge and tree they could find. It looked dangerous but good fun and I was rather taken by the message on one young boy’s t-shirt as he threw himself off the highest ledge – “It’s only good fun until someone gets hurt – then it’s hilarious”. Not particularly tempted to commit suicide I sat down with the camera to capture some “hilarious” moments. Fortunately that sort of hilarity was in short supply although there were several near misses.
The national park was rather more staid in comparison although our old friend the Duck-billed Platypus was very much in evidence and Sandra managed to get some pretty good photos. Evidence of recent cyclone activity was all around with broken and stripped trees and we saw a house that had been demolished by a fallen tree.
Saying good bye to Martin and Eleanor we set off for Airlie Beach to spend a few days and take a trip out to the barrier reef. Unfortunately the rain, which has constantly dogged us
on this trip, arrived in bucket loads. As there are no national park camping sites in the vicinity we toured the local commercial sites finding each one muddier and more forlorn in the downpour than the last. We finally settled on the BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort – not our normal sort of camping place but it offered the least muddy ground and a good swimming pool – what the hell we deserve a treat now and again.
Airlie Beach was a big disappointment – although the weather may have played a part in this assessment. However the beach itself was not much to write home about and the main shopping
street wouldn’t have looked out of place in Majorca or even, God forbid, Blackpool. So today we have gone for a drive and I am writing this in one of the most beautiful and tranquil spots we have found so far called Dingo Beach. We have the place totally to ourselves although a couple of parrots have been distracting me. Sandra is sitting beside me crafting away making her sun hat embellishments trying to build up stock for her market stall in Darwin.
Tomorrow we are off to the Whitsunday Islands– unfortunately there are still “stingers” in the water (very nasty jellyfish some of which can, and do, kill in a
particularly painful way) so we will have to wear all-encompassing lycra body suits when we go snorkelling. I suspect Sandra and I will look like multi-coloured Michelin Men!! 
averted. Regular blog readers may recall us being bogged down to the axles on a beach with me frantically digging and Sandra doing her King Canute act trying to turn back the advancing tide. On our way to Mackay we detoured to stretch our legs and headed for a convenient beach. The dirt road was rough and twisty and, as we emerged from the final bend straight onto to the beach, with horrible memories of the last escapade Sandra screamed for me to stop and reverse before she got that sinking feeling once again. Manoeuvre successful, the only untoward experience was Sandra, bounding from rock to rock, lost her footing and fell onto the rocks 
soaking herself and ripping her trousers. Luckily, unlike the last time when she fell down a gully, I had the camera and was able to record the event.Arriving, via the Bottleshop, at Martin and Eleanor’s house we spent a pleasant evening catching up with the last 40 years trying to remember events, people and places. Eleanor, who has lived in Australia for many years, has not lost her Inverness accent and, although she does not think she has a strong accent, the evening was punctuated with “Rubber Bumpers an’ Woolly Jumpers” moments (an in-joke that only Invernessians will appreciate!)
Our hosts were a mine of local information and the following day we set out to visit Fitch Hatton Gorge and Eungella National Park. The former’s main attraction is a steep waterfall surrounded by rocky ledges and a deep pool at the bottom. There were many signs about the dangers of the area and jumping from the rocks into the water was strictly prohibited. On any other day it would have been idyllic however we arrived on a public holiday – the car park, such as it is, was overflowing and, when we got to the gorge it was heaving with youngsters blatantly ignoring all warning notices and throwing themselves off
every rock ledge and tree they could find. It looked dangerous but good fun and I was rather taken by the message on one young boy’s t-shirt as he threw himself off the highest ledge – “It’s only good fun until someone gets hurt – then it’s hilarious”. Not particularly tempted to commit suicide I sat down with the camera to capture some “hilarious” moments. Fortunately that sort of hilarity was in short supply although there were several near misses.The national park was rather more staid in comparison although our old friend the Duck-billed Platypus was very much in evidence and Sandra managed to get some pretty good photos. Evidence of recent cyclone activity was all around with broken and stripped trees and we saw a house that had been demolished by a fallen tree.
Saying good bye to Martin and Eleanor we set off for Airlie Beach to spend a few days and take a trip out to the barrier reef. Unfortunately the rain, which has constantly dogged us
on this trip, arrived in bucket loads. As there are no national park camping sites in the vicinity we toured the local commercial sites finding each one muddier and more forlorn in the downpour than the last. We finally settled on the BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort – not our normal sort of camping place but it offered the least muddy ground and a good swimming pool – what the hell we deserve a treat now and again.Airlie Beach was a big disappointment – although the weather may have played a part in this assessment. However the beach itself was not much to write home about and the main shopping
street wouldn’t have looked out of place in Majorca or even, God forbid, Blackpool. So today we have gone for a drive and I am writing this in one of the most beautiful and tranquil spots we have found so far called Dingo Beach. We have the place totally to ourselves although a couple of parrots have been distracting me. Sandra is sitting beside me crafting away making her sun hat embellishments trying to build up stock for her market stall in Darwin.Tomorrow we are off to the Whitsunday Islands– unfortunately there are still “stingers” in the water (very nasty jellyfish some of which can, and do, kill in a
particularly painful way) so we will have to wear all-encompassing lycra body suits when we go snorkelling. I suspect Sandra and I will look like multi-coloured Michelin Men!! 
So you get the local wild life to do your typing.
ReplyDeleteHi Jim and Sandra - glad all is going well - met up with the Murrayfield Hotel crowd today.We missed you and did not speak about how jealous we are or anything!!!
ReplyDeleteMairi