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Published: June 11th 2007
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Bismarck Palm
Brooke and one of the Bismarck Palms and some of the gardens at her grandparents house. After a leisurely morning we stopped off for tea and coffee at Coffee Club in Mackay with the Kirrilee and her girls. Then we drove to Salonika, about 30k south, to visit Justin’s parents for the day. He was helping his father to go pick up and then attach a new canopy to his fishing boat. Whilst the guys worked, Kirrilee, his mother and I played with the girls and had a nice lunch of roast chicken, beet root, salads, eggs, avocados, fresh cukes and tomatoes. Later when they came in from working on the boat and had their lunch, we all settled in and had a nice a chocolate dessert.
The area was nice, homes centered around
Salonika beach area and the
Hay Point Coal Terminal, the largest coal export facility in the Southern Hemisphere. Bismarck palms, coconut trees, exotic plants, vegetable gardens and
Lorikeets in abundance decorated their yard.
After lunch we decided to run an errand to the town convenience store for a much needed Diet Coke for my afternoon caffeine fix and sis picked up a
Picnic Bar as well as a
Cherry Ripe and an
L & P (Lemon and Paeroa, New Zealand’s most famous soft drink.) for us to taste and share. The L & P was a different taste, I
Coconut Tree
Brooke taking aim with an old coconut to try to knock down a fresh one. wasn’t sure if I really liked it or not, it wasn’t bad, it was just different. Each of us having half of the bars, which were YUM, (I’m addicted) we motored back to the parents place, ditching the evidence of our decadent splurging on the way back. Shhh don’t tell ;-)
Later, we then tripped off to the Hay Point Visitors Center, to view the whole site from high above. After taking several photos looking down on it all we then drove down and took shots looking up and off in the distance of both flat top and round top, two islands off the coastline, and the awesome panoramic views of the whole production. I also moved to the front car park area to take photos off into the valley behind and below the Visitor Center. You could see the coal train off in the distance, running back and forth between loads. This was much like in Duluth, where the iron ore cars come in over the West end and as you sit and watch the Huskies play at Wade Stadium, the cars overhead coming in from the Iron Range carrying their pellets to be offloaded to the ships
Free Nuts!
One photo says it all ;)
Gotta love the creative spelling! lol waiting below before sailing off to distant ports from the
DM & IR Ore Docks.
Looking out onto the ocean in front of me, I felt a kindred to the area as the salties sat parked offshore, waiting for their turn to be loaded, a watery parking lot for
ships if you will, just like on lLake Superior in Duluth, where they sit parked outside the
Aerial Lift Bridge, waiting for inspection and approval by the Coast Guard and the
Port Authority to enter port and on or offload. The only differences being, it was an ocean instead of a lake, and Queensland, Australia instead of Duluth, Minnesota, USA, and the sea shells. This was a typical Duluth, Minnesota summer time evening at the beach, ships parked off in the distance, temperature equivalent to mid 70’s, water balmy (as if surface water had blown in making Gitchi Gumi seem like an veritable spa), a late afternoon sky, surrounded by good friends playing on and along the beach.
Down the block and round the corner from their home is the path leading to Salonika beach, a lovely stretch of sandy beach just steps from their door. Shells of many colours and kinds littered the
Hay Point Terminal
A view of the Hay Point Terminal Facility beach. The tide was out so we could walk for ages before hitting the gentle lapping surf, warm even - well I thought so anyway (these Queenslanders seem to think it was cold...and here I always thought Aussies were so tough! Cold of any kind, even a mere few degrees less than they are used to can send them wrapping scarves(more on this in later entries - it is wintah after all) around themselves and whinging to get warm…lol, really the water temperature was beautiful. ;-)
After walking out n getting my feet wet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in 30 years (YES 30!!! Count them! (I had gone on a trip to California when I was 15 nearly 16 with a high school girlfriend and we swam in the Pacific Ocean that trip.) I then joined the girls in looking for sea shells, good specimens of varying colours and shapes and sizes to save as souvenirs. They were all quick to fill my pockets with their “perfect shells” for me to save and take home.
Soon it was time to head back home and get ready to relax and have tea(supper). As the skies
Reminds me of home.
Salties parked and waiting off shore. darkened and the sun set, changing the colours to the oranges and pinks of night, we drove back to Mackay. Once home we settled the girls and then went to pick up some Pizza (BBQ Chicken, Pepperoni, Chicken Veggie and BBQ Meat Lovers Supreme along with cans of
Bundy and Cola…an Aussie staple dinner ;-) well it would be a yank one (this yanks especially if it was Pizza and Beer or Bourbon).
We watched a little footy, later some news and a little comedy before retiring to our beds.
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