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Published: October 30th 2008
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Pioneer Valley
It was a pleasure cooking sausages looking at this view! Upon leaving Airlie Beach we got chatting to Pam and Lyn, a friendly New Zealand couple staying on a nearby pitch. We had met them on Saturday when we had returned from a trip into town only to find them in our designated spot. We resolved the problem amicably which resulted in us getting to know them a little better and being offered a place to stay near Auckland! It just goes to show what you can achieve if you take the right approach.
Eungella aka 'Land of Clouds'
We eventually left camp just before 9am aware that the journey to our next destination, Eungella might take a couple of hours. Eungella National Park or 'land of clouds' as it is known by the Aborigines is 393m above sea level and lies 50km inland from Mackay. It is home to the shy platypus. Mike had read up on the place and was keen to go there and when I found out about the platypus, I was too.
We arrived around 12.30pm and checked into Eungella Holiday Park, situated on the edge of a cliff overlooking the impressive pioneer valley. Mike especially liked the free BBQs that looked
On our rainforest walk
The effects of a strangler fig. out onto the view of the valley.
We had lunch in the company of an opportunistic brush turkey and when Mike finished his last mouthful, the turkey ruffled his feathers up in disgust! We then set off to do one of the numerous bush walks in the national park. In total we covered 3 local rainforest walks close to the park, Pine Grove (3km), Cedar Grove (6km) and Sky Window (300m- this one was tough!). All 3 walks took us 2 hours to complete, by which point our blood sugar was rock bottom so we had to have a homemade caramel ice cream back at the site. It was delicious.
Platypus Spotting
At 4.30pm we drove to Broken River, 5km away. We waited patiently at the viewing platform with a few other hopeful tourists - trying to spot semi-circular ripples in the water which indicated the presence of a platypus. After nearly 40 minutes we walked to the actual bridge further up the river and waited there. An hour went by of seeing nothing except some turtles so we gave up.
Back at camp, Mike enjoyed using the BBQ whilst admiring the view. It was
Turtles at the platypus viewing area
At least these little fellas compensated for the lack of the main event. quite cold in the evening so we lit a campfire. Initially we were able to see many stars in the sky, but then the clouds rolled in off the ocean and up the valley. The thick clouds covered the campsite during the night and we got to see for ourselves why Eungella is known as 'land of clouds'.
We woke up around 5.30pm keen to see the sunrise over Pioneer Valley, but the clouds were too thick. Then around 7am we set off again to try to spot a platypus, the best times being evening and early morning when they feed. Once again we waited patiently in silence, scouring the river with our eyes looking for any signs of movement. Sadly it was not meant to be and after nearly 11/4 hours we gave up having only seen more turtles and a few ducks.
Rockhampton
We headed south to Rockhampton, about 350km away. It took us 5 hours to get there with stops. I did the majority of driving and got on fairly well until the petrol light came on about 55km from Rockhampton. I panicked and feared the worst whilst Mike remained cool, calm and
collected. After 10km we found a pump, but it was empty - I was sure we were doomed! Then another 20km further down the road we finally found fuel - it was such a relief. We then vowed never to let the needle drop below 1/4 of a tank as it just fell away very quickly.
In Rockhampton, aka the 'steak capital of Australia', we had a cuppa then walked into the city centre, stopping at a few shops. The following day we walked back into town to visit an art gallery displaying work by Sydney Nolan, a famous Australian artist. Afterwards we walked along the river, selecting places to eat at later. The afternoon we spent doing a bit more shopping and resting back at camp.
In the evening we got dolled up and went to the Criterion Hotel to have a juicy rump. It was nice having a night off from cooking and we both enjoyed our meals washed down with a few glasses of red wine.
Bundaberg
We left Rockhampton on Friday and headed 250km south to Bundaberg. It was a long drive and we were glad to get to the campsite,
having had difficulty in finding it.
We walked to the botanic gardens which took a lot longer than we anticipated - about a 10km round trip. The bird life kept us entertained, a 'red billed bird' kept hissing as we approached the river and would not stop until we had moved a considerable distance away. We thought that he/she must be guarding eggs. We had arrived too late to enter the museums present in the gardens, but enjoyed our stroll particularly in the Japanese Garden.
Bundaberg Rum
Our main reason for visiting Bundaberg was to go to the Bundaberg Rum Factory, the rum being exclusive to Australia. We bought a silver pass which entitled us to one free drink from the bar at the end of our tour.
There were around 50 people on our tour, mainly Australians. When we said that we were from England we got some stick, but nothing that can be repeated here. The tour was very informative and described the entire process of making rum from molasses, the by-product of sugar production. We got shown around the factory starting with peering into the 6m deep vats of molasses to smelling
We couldn't resist a photo here
Just one of the 'BIG' icons in Australia. the final product maturing in huge American oak casks. Then onto the best bit - our drink. I had a rum blended liqueur and Mike tried a triple-distilled rum, both exclusive to the distillery. We both liked the liqueur, but at $45 a bottle we left it on the shelf!
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