Mossman Gorge and South Again

July 17 – Mossman

We were up early and ready to hit the road. We drove north to the Mossman Gorge expecting to go for a nice walk through the rain forest. We smelled some sulphur on our drive up and worried that it was the battery. Maybe the check battery light had actually come on for a reason. We arrived at the visitors center and found out a bridge was damaged so only a small section of the path was open. We also had to pay $5 for a shuttle bus up to the start of the path. We figured we were here anyways so we might as well go. The board walk route was fairly short, maybe a kilometer loop but the rainforest was very pretty. There were a bunch of people around though too. You could go swimming in the river but it wasn't all that nice out so we opted to not. Back down at the van we called the RACV and found out where the nearest accredited shop was. We made it back to the little town of Mossman and had our battery checked at an auto-parts store. The guy deemed it toast due to overcharging and recommended we see an autoelectrician to find the cause of the problem. Fortunately the mechanic was just around the corner and were able to squeeze us in in about an hour. We left Dotti at the mechanics and went for a little walk around the town. We stopped into a bakery for a meat pie and sausage rolls for lunch then headed back to the mechanic. We read in the reception for a bit and found out a there was a wire shorting out that blew a fuse and pooched our battery. $300 later the problem was solved and we had a new battery. We drove south back past Cairns, got some groceries and gas along the way, then stopped for the night about 200km north of Townsville.

Mossman river

July 18 – Townsville to MacKay

We chatted with a Polish woman for a little bit at our rest stop before breakfast. She was quite the talker but very nice. We hit the road and headed down to Townsville. We skipped Josephine Falls again because it was raining. We had also talked about going to Magnetic Island but the weather wasn't reliable and we had a lot of ground to cover so we decided against it. Once in Townsville we stopped for lunch at Hungry Jacks and got updated. Beau called his dad to wish him a happy birthday. After our hour rest we got back on the road and drove all the way down to Mackay. We ended up staying at a rest stop/gas station for the night. I wasn't entirely sure if we were allowed to stay overnight but there was no sign saying we couldn't. We made instant noddles for dinner. There were also showers at the stop so we took advantage of those too.

Driving photo

July 19 – Mackay to Gladstone

We were up early and headed out of the reststop with making breakfast. We had thought to stop into a Hungry Jacks for brekky and wifi but weren't able to get to one. We drove south of Mackay then stopped into another rest stop for some belated oatmeal and coffee. We then drove the boring drive down to Rockhampton. It's about 300km of nothing. Once in Rockhampton we found another Hungry Jacks and had lunch while doing more updating. After an hour in Hungry's we headed down to a rest stop just west of Gladstone on the Calliope River. It was a nice little spot a bit off the highway. We arrived in late afternoon so we spent some time sitting outside before the sunset. Beau played some guitar and I read. We made pasta again for dinner and then read a bit in the evening. It was pretty frigid out tonight and I could see my breath on the walk to the bathroom.

Agnes Waters/1770

June 27 – Agnes Waters/1770

We woke up fairly early this morning but the sky was against us again. We made some breakfast wraps but they weren't quite the same without cheese and bbq sauce, both of which we are out of. We drove up the road to the Town of 1770 which is even tinier than Agnes Waters. There was supposed to be a great lookout. We walked out to the lookout and while I can see it being awesome on a nice day it just didn't quite have the same effect in dreary weather. We then headed back to the library so I could update my blog. The internet was painfully slow though and took forever to upload a whole four photos. This morning we had seen some pamphlets at the hostel regarding some Whitsunday's Cruises so we decided to have a look at a few online. After the library closed for lunch we headed back to the hostel to make some lunch of our own. We then walked into “town” or rather to the few shops that make up the main hub. We picked up a few groceries and also finally bought stamps for our New Zealand postcards. We had forgotten about them and since we rediscovered them we thought we should send them out. We also popped into a travel agency and got a little more info on other Whitsunday's Cruises. Back at the hostel we discussed what we should do about that part of our trip since we knew it was something we really wanted to do but we were nervous about the weather. It's supposed to get nice tomorrow and remain that way for the foreseeable future but we want to go in a little over a week and weather predictions just aren't too accurate. We hummed and hawed and then debated which boat we should take. We opted for a nicer one that actually goes out to the GBR, Whitsunday Islands aren't actually a part of it, and also is 3 day 3 night. We talked to the guy that ran the hostel and we just had to put down a $50 cash deposit each to secure our spots on the boat for next Friday. We figure if the weather is brutal $50 each isn't much of a loss to not go. I read and Beau played guitar for a bit before we made some dinner. The kitchen and dinning area was pretty crowded but we shared a table with two Aussie dudes. We chatted with them for a bit and they might be visiting a buddy in NY State early next year to do some boarding. Beau gave them our contact info in case they decided to come up to Canada at all, assuming we'll be in Montreal too. We finished off the evening with my nose in a book and Beau on his i-Pod. It was pretty brisk out but the sky had cleared.

June 28 – Agnes Waters

We finally woke up to blue sky and sunshine! Although by the time we had breakfasted and showered it had clouded over quite a bit. We headed back to the library as Beau wanted to check his e-mail and I needed to fix some typos in my last blog entry. While there I had a peak at flights from Kelowna to Ottawa. We found an almost direct, it stops in Toronto, flight from Kelowna to Ottawa with AirCanada for $209. We figured it probably won't be much cheaper than that and not with that good of connections. It's only 6hrs of travel which is nice because we'll have a little monster with us. So we booked another flight. We've really broken the bank over the last few days. But our flights to get us back to Ontario are way better than they would have been if we had done a flight from Sydney to Toronto. So we are getting Sydney-Honolulu-Kelowna-Ottawa for about $1300pp I think I'm okay with that. I called AC to book Monty on the flight but since we are in Australia I dialled the Australian toll free number. I think the guy was a bit flabbergasted at my request. He didn't really know what to do but got all the information and said he'd get back to me... okay. After being a couple big spendas we went for a walk along the “Discovery Trail.” The map showed it to be a short walk but there seemed to be numerous paths we could take and not many signs. We made it to the lookout and then found our way down to Workman's Beach. We then made our way back to the van in a convoluted manner. We drove down to the main beach and soaked up some sun for a wee bit. We then made some lunch in the park before heading out of town. We drove towards Gladstone and pulled into a rest stop about 20min out of town. There were quite a few caravans and campervans at the rest stop but were back in a grassy area. We decided to it would be better back there further from the road. On pulling into that area we noticed a sign saying no camping or caravans, we sort of shrugged and figured it was fine since there were a bunch of people there. We had just gotten settled and were at a picnic table when a lady came by to and mentioned another lady had said there was a ranger around taking licence plates and if we were still here in the morning he would be handing out fines. What?! Another woman came around say she was passing on a message from the powers that be (I can't remember what she actually said) that we weren't allowed to stay in that area. We had to be on the other side of the posts and could only stay for a max of 20hrs. She was going to every site telling people this. We decided not to risk it and moved into what I guess is the designated rest area. Not sure why they haven't fenced off the other part or anything. I think they've been having issues with people staying for extended periods of times in the rest areas. They are all to a max of 20hrs but people have been abusing it. One guy said he'd been for a week and another lady for 3 months! On a separate note dude from AirCanada got back to me and “put in a request” for the the cat but is waiting for confirmation. He said there were no other animals booked on the flight so it should be fine. He also said I would pay for the cat at check-in. I've never done it that way but I think because I called the Australian people they don't exactly deal with it, hopefully I get e-mailed confirmation shortly and it'll all be taken care of.

June 29 – A Tropical Disappointment

We awoke early and full of excitement for our tropical excursion. We quickly packed up the van and headed into Gladstone. We stopped at an ATM and then got brekky and wifi at Hungry Jacks. We made our way down to the marina, parked the van, secured all our valuables and triple checked everything. As we headed to the Heron Island desk we overheard one of the girls apologizing to another guest and our hearts started to sink. We found out that the desalination plant on the island had broken down about 12 hrs earlier and they weren't going to be able to get a part out to fix it until later the following day. Because of this they weren't taking any guests out to the island and probably bring the people currently out there back early. They suggested we reschedule our trip to Wednesday.... that didn't really jive with our plans so we got a full refund and crushed hopes. When we asked about what there was to do in town the tourist information lady told us not much. Not only were our paradise island dreams shattered but we were stuck in a beachless industrial town on one of the first hot, blue sky, sunny days we'd had in a week! We drove up to a look out but it pretty much just gave us a good view of the coal plant. We bought some groceries and gas and high tailed it out of town. We drove to Rockhampton and crossed the Tropic of Capricorn in the process. The tourist info girls weren't too much help and the beach was about 40mins out of our way. We had some lunch in a busy park then carried on to a free campsite. We ended up driving about 300km today since we couldn't find anything better to do!