With a couple of weeks to go before we can get into the Dingo Beach house we have been filling the gap in the Queensland Coast that we have not yet visited. From Midge Point we travelled down through Mackay as far as Clairview Beach, which turned out to be a very pleasant old-style caravan park, full of rainbow lorikeets. They are noisy but beautiful. At this point on the coast the tide goes out a long way and we found it out when we went down onto the beach -- much too far to walk out for a swim. This was probably a good thing as we learned later one is not advised to swim there due to the risk of crocodiles coming into the sea from the nearby creeks.

The Bruce Highway south through Rockhampton is a very boring road. The country is flat and uninteresting and we realise now what a drive it was for Derek and family to come up to Dingo Beach. Rockhampton has some interesting old colonial buildings but otherwise is a fairly seedy-looking place, so we passed through and took the coastal tourist route to Yeppoon. By now into school holidays, caravan parks were pretty full but we did find a space just to find that our gas bottles were both empty. This suggested a leak as they are never both empty at the same time and sure enough there was a smell that there should not have been. No gas available until next morning so the microwave came in handy.

Derek had told us many times we must visit the Town of 1770 and its neighbour Agnes Water. Again we were lucky to get a space as they are real family holiday resorts but we understood pretty quickly why he was so adamant that we see these places. 1770 in particular is a real little gem of a place, so-called because Captain Cook landed there in 1770 in the course of his explorations. Knowing that Derek and family were only a few hours away in Noosa, we put our second and third nights in Agnes Water on hold and took a couple of days to get down there to join them. There is a new member of the family, Jelly, a Great Dane/Labrador cross, that we had to meet and it was Dylan's birthday on the 21st also. Two good reasons to go out of our way to join them for a very short time. We had found and fixed the root of the gas problem (a missing o-ring on the connector) so that was a relief.

Jessie and Jelly

Derek and Jelly playing wicket keepers in a game of beach cricket. Dylan also ready for a catch.

The assembled younger generation at Happy Hour at the Winnebago.

Three nights to fill before coming back to Agnes Water and we decided to try Hervey Bay, the ideal place in September for whale-watching (humpbacks) and for doing a day tour to Fraser Island. The half-day whale trip was stunning. We saw mums teaching their calves how to breach and dive, then were entertained for ages by a young female which was quite simply showing off. It was fascinating. Fraser island the next day was also fun if quite different. Fraser Island is all sand. Only serious 4WDs are allowed to go there and we quickly saw why. The "roads" are just tracks in deep sand until one reaches the beach where at least the sand is firm. 75-Mile Beach is amazing and at times like a motorway although the speed limit is only 80. We saw the wreck of a once-grand ship, grounded on the beach during a storm in 1935 when it was being towed to Japan as scrap. It has survived the salt and sand as well as being used as target practice for one of the special forces during the war. Of 250 bombs dropped only two hit their target and the stern of the ship is mostly missing! Lake McKenzie provided the opportunity for a cool swim after a walk in a patch of rainforest. All in all a great day trip.

Our tour bus

Lake McKenzie

Now back in Agnes Water we are appreciating the beach while we still can. From here on, probably until we get to Broome in W.A. the beaches are to look at only. We are approaching the stinger season, to add to the crocs. We aim to be in Dingo Beach in four days' time.