Rocky Times
I’m treading back in time for this post and relying on my memories and photographs. Can’t believe it’s taken this long to complete the blog on our trip to Mackay back in November.
Rockhampton – known as the Beef Capital of Australia (see https://overnightrockhampton.wordpress.com/things-to-do-see/) was a two night stopover, visiting some of Peter’s relatives.
I must admit that, driving around the city and seeing the famous “bull” statues, of which there are seven, was, to me, rather strange. However, I hadn’t realised the importance of the beef industry in Rockhampton and the city’s pride in their bulls. It seems that certain residents have a sense of humour as well, as this article states: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-04-22/oh-balls-vandals-target-rocky-bulls/406934
Good for a laugh!
There’s a beautiful scenic drive through Mt Archer National Park, which provides magnificent views of the city, although the day we drove through, it was very rainy and foggy, so the view wasn’t quite as good.
The Eimeo Pacific Hotel just 13 kilometres from Mackay was well worth a lunchtime stopover.
It has been operating on the site since 1915 and offers stunning views of the Whitsunday Coast and foreshore. We enjoyed whiling away a couple of hours there and I’m so glad that Peter didn’t tell me about the snake that was behind me when I went for a walk.
From here, we headed north and stopped about 20 kilometres out of Mackay, at the famous Leap Hotel, where we were able to camp the night (see https://directory.fullrangecamping.com.au/item/the-leap-hotel-fc/ for details about camping on the property.
We were able to find a cool, shaded spot to camp amongst the lush vegetation.
The area has rather a sad history, as you will read from the above link, and the statue outside the hotel is a stark reminder of this.
We spent a pleasant afternoon meeting up with friends from Mackay and later, enjoyed a tasty meal at the hotel.
Although the Leap Hotel is on the main Bruce Highway north and there was plenty of traffic, we managed to get a good night’s sleep before heading off the next morning for Mackay.
Peter decided to get a haircut and I wandered off to find a couple of coffees, and on the way, spied some really lovely old buildings, including the one below.
We didn’t stay in Mackay as we had decided to drive up to Airlie Beach. It is a beautiful spot, but in the tourist season, it’s absolutely packed with no accommodation unless you have pre-booked. I had been there before on my trip from Broome to Brisbane (https://www.thegutzygranny.com.au/2020/01/14/townsville-to-gladstone/).
So this time it was a quick drive-through and then we headed south to the coast, hoping to find a spot to free camp for the night. Luckily, we chanced on a road that led us to a beach near Conway Bay, where there just happened to be the perfect spot to settle down for a couple of days, do some washing and relax. We talked to several of the locals, who either passed us when walking their dogs, or were inquisitive about what we were doing, and told us that there were definitely crocodiles in the area. Needless to say, I didn’t venture very far from our campsite!!
The trip back to Brisbane involved some very interesting stop-overs but I will do another post about these.
