Hervey Bay

29th August

Decided that the kids needed to be not stuck in the car for two says in a row, so we committed to a second night at Gladstone. Had a very relaxed day yesterday in Gladstone. Went for a drive in the morning to the Port where all the coal is shipped out and of course to another Ninja Warrior training camp (playground). They have a beautiful foreshore area with lots of grass area and a marina, but nothing else really to get excited about. The beaches are all rather muddy and mangrove filled, so we went back for lunch and a swim at the pool in the park. 

Took off just after 8:30 for Hervey Bay via Bundaberg. I had mapped out a route via some alternate highways other than the Bruce Hwy hoping for a bit of National Park scenery and and a few hundred less semis sitting 2m behind me trying to overtake at the earliest possible opportunity.  And it worked. Hardly saw another car, let alone a semi as we found our way to Bundaberg. 

We wnt to the local Botanical Gardens in the hope of finding a spot to park for lunch, but this one wasn't suited for towing a van so I checked out a few alternatives. We have been using an App on the iPad called WikiCamps to find out about places and ratings. Love this App. Cost less than $5 I think and has been invaluable. Almost as invaluable as the Telstra WiFi dongle. 

I saw a place called Bargara Beach about 16km away so off we went. Fantastic place (as seen in the pictures below). There was even a little area similar to a boat launching breakwater where the local fish come in and feed from people.... Kids loved this. 

Suddenly realised that after lunch and the walk along the beach that we still had nearly 2 hours travel and it was almost 3pm, so my desires to check out the Bundy plant were dashed. 

We got to Hervey Bay late afternoon and checked into a park about a km off the beach. Dylan's reactions to anything that bites has taught us to stay away from rivers, mangroves and sand fly spots. This means we don't get sensational ocean views in the mornings, but we do get a full nights sleep! And it has been surprising at the difference in wind when on the foreshore as opposed to being inland.

300km travel - this seems to be the norm and a comfortable distance with some good breaks to see this massive country. 

--------------------------------------------