The long and winding road

We made an early start on Wednesday 3rd July to allow plenty of time for a walk along the waterfront in Bowen and still reach Airlie Beach in time for a tour of the Whitsundays. The boat took us to South Molle Island, our base for the next couple of days. We strolled along the beach to see the sunset before dinner and a reasonably early night - the rooms seemed like luxury after the previous night's accommodation!

Whitsunday sunset

The next morning we sailed across to the main Whitsunday Island. We had a view over the famous Whitehaven Beach, and later headed over there for a spell of exfoliation using the beach's constituent bright white silica. Back at the hostel we tried our hand at opening coconuts using a spike on a pole - not easy but significantly less of a challenge than using a small knife had previously proved to be.

THE Whitsunday view

Friday morning allowed us some time to explore our island and check out the best island walk in Queensland - an ascent to a view over many of the Whitsunday islands. After some fish feeding it was time to return to the mainland. Not quite ready to move from this lovely area, we hung around the lagoon and stayed the night in Airlie Beach.

View over South Molle Island

Early Saturday morning meant time to return, well refreshed, to the road, with newly acquired travel mate Alex; he had also been on a Whitsunday tour and we were heading in the same direction. Our first stop was Mackay for breakfast and some quick explorations of the waterfront and botanical gardens, before continuing on to Yeppoon for the customary barbecue by the beach. The final leg for the day was to a campsite by the Boyne River, and right next to the highway, making it not the most peaceful night's sleep!

Waterfront at Mackay

Next day we took a short drive across to Tannum Sands to visit mum's cousin JoAnne, and husband Jeff. They treated us to a cooked breakfast which kept us going all day! A walk along the local beach was followed by a visit to the small towns of Agnes Water, for some swimming, and 1770 - so named because of James Cook's landing there in the same year. The penultimate stop of the day was a brief walk about in Bundaberg before relocating slightly south to a campsite for the night.

With Jeff and JoAnne