Thursday 11th June in Bowen (Home of the Big Mango)
Drove out to the Information Centre where they had a big Mango outside and picked up some more information for our trip further up north.
Quite a cold start to the day at 12deg. This is quite cold for here as the lows are usually around 17 deg. They say that Bowen is surrounded by some award winning beaches and secluded bays, so we drove out to the start of them. First up was Horseshoe Bay which is small and cosy with white sand and crystal clear water and just metres off shore there is a spectacular coral reef providing fantastic snorkelling and scuba diving. We both went for a swim as the day had warmed up considerably, (about 26deg) the water was great. Pity I hadn’t packed my mask and flippers. We decided to do one of the more challenging walking trails (2.5 klms) which have a quite a few climbs and also some fantastic views of the bays and beaches .Along the track there was an old site where there had been a World War ll radar station and an anti-aircraft guns. It’s all gone now but you can still see where it all been. During the war there was the base for the flying boats (Catalina’s) which operated bombing missions into the Far East. Up and on past Mother Bedrock a rock balanced precariously on a granite outcrop along some more great beaches, stopping to chat to some English girls who were up here picking tomatoes and so extending their visas for a year. It appeared they didn’t want to return home as there was no work and the weather was better up here. Back to the car we skipped lunch except for a shared apple and drove up to Flagstaff Hill for the sweeping views out and across the township and the bays and off shore the northern islands of the Whitsundays.consisiting of 74 islands extending down south to Mackay. Before driving back to the caravan we stopped off to buy a couple of fresh mackerel steaks and some prawns for dinner. We could see the fishing boats unloading so we knew it was very fresh. Had an early dinner and enjoyed a great healthy meal. Sat down for the evening and checked the maps out to see where we would head for tomorrow as we continue to make our way north and to the warmer weather which we are looking forward to.
Drove out to the Information Centre where they had a big Mango outside and picked up some more information for our trip further up north.
Quite a cold start to the day at 12deg. This is quite cold for here as the lows are usually around 17 deg. They say that Bowen is surrounded by some award winning beaches and secluded bays, so we drove out to the start of them. First up was Horseshoe Bay which is small and cosy with white sand and crystal clear water and just metres off shore there is a spectacular coral reef providing fantastic snorkelling and scuba diving. We both went for a swim as the day had warmed up considerably, (about 26deg) the water was great. Pity I hadn’t packed my mask and flippers. We decided to do one of the more challenging walking trails (2.5 klms) which have a quite a few climbs and also some fantastic views of the bays and beaches .Along the track there was an old site where there had been a World War ll radar station and an anti-aircraft guns. It’s all gone now but you can still see where it all been. During the war there was the base for the flying boats (Catalina’s) which operated bombing missions into the Far East. Up and on past Mother Bedrock a rock balanced precariously on a granite outcrop along some more great beaches, stopping to chat to some English girls who were up here picking tomatoes and so extending their visas for a year. It appeared they didn’t want to return home as there was no work and the weather was better up here. Back to the car we skipped lunch except for a shared apple and drove up to Flagstaff Hill for the sweeping views out and across the township and the bays and off shore the northern islands of the Whitsundays.consisiting of 74 islands extending down south to Mackay. Before driving back to the caravan we stopped off to buy a couple of fresh mackerel steaks and some prawns for dinner. We could see the fishing boats unloading so we knew it was very fresh. Had an early dinner and enjoyed a great healthy meal. Sat down for the evening and checked the maps out to see where we would head for tomorrow as we continue to make our way north and to the warmer weather which we are looking forward to.
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