A driving day - we are getting used to them! Funny how your perspective changes - a 500km day now feels like a walk on the park, a quick stroll. And we would not be that bothered by a 700km day if we needed to - basically drive to Inverness in a day! That said we can feel the traffic increasing as we drift further and further south.
It was with heavy heart we left Yeppoon - which pretty much gets my vote for paradise on earth - admittedly, we were spoiled rotten with catamarans, jet skis and more Aussie wine than most people drink in a month - but it really is a lovely place. Yes, the Whitsundays have the glorious white sand, the coral, the boats…but so does Great Keppel Island - but minus the people! What a superb place. Luckily we will be able to top that when our wonderful hosts visit next year, with a trip up the i360, and a view of the English Channel!
Anyway, back to the trip south: through Rocky (Rockhampton of course!), and through numerous roadworks, and with visits to the Miriam Vale Hotel to meet one of Cameron’s mates (he wasn’t in - must have known we were coming), and Gin Gin Pie Shop (multiple Australian award winners, from a town called…yes, Gin Gin but blink and you would miss it so they must be good at pies! - actually they were really good), we finally got to Hervey Bay. Its the departure point for Fraser Island, so clearly worth a stop.
We are staying with Debra and Teena, - friends of Cameron and Juanita so we are expecting a tee-total night - not! As it turned out they directed us to a fabulous restaurant up the road, where the barramundi was superb, the view over the bay as magnificent and the wine was … just asking to be drunk!