Author: Mrs A
Location: From Halliday Bay to Airlie Beach, Queensland
The wind and showers continued as we packed up and moved just 90 minutes drive up the coast to Airlie Beach. We set up camp in a caravan park, and immediately set about getting the sheets washed and dried in the park laundry. We did a couple of loads of clothes too in our little 2kg machine in the caravan. What would we do without it?
Next it was time for our six monthly review with our financial advisor via phone, to check we could still afford to swan around the country enjoying ourselves while our house does all the earning! Happily for us, the answer was yes!
Finally the showers abated and the sun came out, so we jumped on the bikes for an explore. We last came to Airlie Beach on our honeymoon in August 2002 – hiring ‘In the Mood’, a 24 foot sailing boat with some friends for an explore of the Whitsunday Islands. Across the road from where we are staying now is a new shared pathway along the coast, taking us all the way in to Airlie via the Abell Point Marina, where we launched all those years ago.
What a beautiful pathway. The light was incredible late in the day, the sun now setting around 5.35pm, so casting fabulous shadows and a golden aura over everything.
We struggled to find anything we recognised from 16 years ago, it seems there has been quite a bit of investment in hotels and infrastructure here, and it all looks quite unfamiliar, but in a good way.
We returned via the local shopping centre for a few groceries for dinner, and settled in for a cosy evening as the wind and rain returned. Hopefully it will clear tomorrow to allow us more of an exploration.
Mr A and I jumped on our bikes for an explore, our favoured method of getting to know where we’re staying. We rode around the handful of quiet streets that make up Halliday Bay and continued around to the next settlement of Ball Bay, equally quiet and sleepy. The two areas are surrounded by Cape Hillsborough National Park, meaning there is plenty of wildlife, particularly of the feathered and furry kind.
It certainly delivered on the views, first of all looking over the nearby Wedge Island, and then looking down across the undeveloped coastline north of Mackay.
A key feature of the hike were the butterflies – apparently over 150 different species make this little national park their home, and they were out in their hundreds – incredibly hard to photograph, but I snapped a few (with a little patience!).
We had worked up a good appetite on this walk, so called into The Old Station Tea House on our way back. We were surprised to see how many cars were parked in the field outside.
We ordered a couple of home made pizzas baked in their outside oven – simply delicious. We decided to take away a slice of cake each (dairy-free cake for me!) to eat back at camp so we could check on Tassie.
We spent the latter part of the afternoon doing a little planning for our upcoming few weeks, with plenty of interesting locations coming up for us. We were invited for pre dinner drinks with our next door neighbours who hail from Newcastle (NSW, not UK), and have previously enjoyed travelling up to Cape York. They shared a few tips and favourite locations with us, helping with our planning process.
It was just a short 9km ride, concluding with a wade across the knee deep and quickly flowing Cattle Creek behind the showground, returning us to Finch Hatton for breakfast.
After she’d had her exercise and adventure, it was our turn again, jumping into the car for a short 20 minute drive up into Finch Hatton Gorge itself.
It was an uphill hike, and so we were quite warm by the time we arrived (though Mr A’s feet were cool after having slipped into the creek rather than balance over the stepping stones!). We decided to jump in for a swim – whew! It was icy cold – you certainly knew you were alive!
We hiked back down and finished off with a diversion to Araluen Falls, recognising them from a hike on our honeymoon. Still warming up after our initial swim we decided not to jump into these.
We drove back via a local organic cafe for a late lunch – delicious food, if very slow service…we were ready to eat our own arms off by the time it arrived – just over 5km under our belts, but 25 floors of climbing!
We drove back the scenic route, returning to camp for a relaxing afternoon, fresh tagliatelle with bolognaise and a couple of glasses of Shiraz. A fine end to a great day. 
We headed back and Miss Tassie was ready to come out for an explore – she took us on a stroll around the cattle sheds, tractors and hay bales, all apparently full of irresistible smells.
We decided to go to the pub for dinner. Not bad…always some interesting characters about in these country pubs, and plenty of local knowledge to tap into. It feels like a very friendly little community.
We had a couple of delicious dishes – a Chilli Chicken and a Lamb Balti, accompanied by little pappadoms and some cumin and pea basmati rice. The wine we selected was an Italian Sangiovese from Tuscany. A great night. We decided to stay in Mackay tomorrow night too, feeling the need for a day off travelling.
We decided a slower pace all round was required for today, and set off to do a 7km walk down in the gorge. We started with a trail called the Nature Walk, an easy stroll along Carnarvon Creek, occasionally crossing via stepping stones, and tagged on another walk to the Rock Pool, a large natural swimming hole further along.
The Pied Currawongs were plentiful, and sat in their dozens up in the canopy gorging on tree fruit and whooping and whistling their delight. If you have never heard this sound, I would check out the little snippet of video I recorded while we were walking along, purely to capture it (Click here: 
Little red backed fairy wrens were often seen hopping around the trees, their feathers glowing in the sunlight. It was a stunning afternoon’s walk, with barely another soul seen.
After seeing someone jump into the waters at the Rock Pool, we decided against going for a dip…we’d heard enough profanities for one day!
Instead, we returned to camp for a relax and read before an early dinner. We had more walking ahead.
Down at the creek it was seconds before we spotted a Platypus swimming along, hunting for larvae under the water. Just magical, and I gave up trying to capture an image! Across in the gorge, it was a Greater Glider’s eye-shine which captured our attention, sitting on the side of an old gum tree letting his diet of eucalyptus leaves digest.
Miss Tassie jumped out of the car enthusiastic for an explore, but was quickly scared back into the caravan by a pair of yapping dogs in the van behind us. She chose not to come out again.
The owner of aforementioned dogs came over to apologise and explain that his fur children lived with cats and were not threatening Tassie, just saying hello. They were holidaying at this spot for 10 days. One night was more than enough for us – while at face value the riverside camp looked pretty enough, the road trains thundering just metres away along the highway from 4am onwards were not ideal.
We selected a spot with no nearby neighbours and plenty of views, and got settled in. Miss Tassie had a good look around and gave it her tick of approval before retiring to bed.
At 4.30pm there was a talk by a local expert about the gorge’s history and the wildlife we can expect to see. There are extensive examples of Aboriginal spray painting artwork here, much of which has been dated back 20,000 years. We are looking forward to seeing that. It was a great talk, and we’re feeling extra enthusiastic about our hike in the morning.
The tide goes out a long way, leaving mirror-like reflections across the sand, and a surreal feeling you are walking amongst the clouds. We walked barefoot, splashing through the warm waters at the edge. For the most part, there was not another person on the beach.
There were many little blue swimmer crabs, most of which ran in their dozens for cover when they spotted us coming, burying themselves in the soft sand. And birds, huge flocks of cormorants, terns and gulls, resting on the sandbanks. In the distance we could see four whistling kites, two of which were constantly fighting and swooping – probably juveniles, jostling for top spot.
We reached the mouth of Theodolite Creek, wishing we had our Packrafts to allow us to cross, but instead enjoyed the peaceful ambience a while, before ambling back to camp, into a headwind this time, a little harder going.
Mr A got talking to a local resident, an elderly man who had purchased his dream retirement home on an estate here. Our exploration of Woodgate had revealed there are no shops – just the pub where we are staying and a cafe and takeaway near the caravan park.
We paddled upstream, feeling like we were on a treadmill, constantly battling the outgoing tide. Once we had reached a particularly shallow area full of stingrays speeding along just under the water’s surface, we decided to just roll with it, and put our feet up and let the current take us back. There’s not much more relaxing than that – an extremely meditative experience of just watching shapes in the clouds, drifting with the stream.
We chose an interesting wine from the Eden Valley, absolutely delicious, and recommended by our sommelier who clearly knew her stuff. The Alejandro Saperavi was initially fruity on the palate but had a lovely dry finish, complimenting our menu choices perfectly.
Our food commmenced with bite sized steamed buns containing fried chicken, sriracha mayonnaise and pickles, followed by a shared dish of fresh locally caught snapper with beetroot, apple, raddish, smoked almonds and pork scratching. Finally we shared a small portion of sticky beef short ribs with coconut and ginger caramel. All this came with two sides – triple cooked fat cut chips with a rosemary aoli and pan fried broccoli topped with chilli, garlic and anchovy oil. All dairy-free! Delicious, every bite.
An off-road cycleway follows the coast for several kilometres, commencing at Urandangi Pier to the south and leading to Point Vernon in the north. We’re staying in a suburb called Torquay (now where have I heard that name before?!) so we started there and headed north. It’s the first time in a long while (since South Australia) that we have seen flat water along the coast, the islands and reefs offshore calming the waves. The beaches are pristine and empty – it’s like a little paradise, a long way from the Hervey Bay I remember. I first visited this town 19 years ago as a backpacker – it has changed substantially since then, becoming more of a destination in its own right than just a hopping off point for Fraser Island.
The pathway winds its way along the coast through picturesque scenery, through parklands and bush, along cliff tops and past mangroves. We had a small diversion to a bike shop on our way so Mr A could check out a strange clicking sound on his bike. The bearings had worn down and needed replacing. He later found someone to do the job on the spot for $55, for a 45 minute job. Certainly not Sydney prices!
The expensive part of the day came later in the afternoon – our faulty plug and under-spec wiring in the car was replaced, we had to purchase three new batteries for the caravan (replacing the ones which had been damaged and no longer held a full charge), and a 160 watt portable solar panel…more than $2k in total spent – gulp! At least we are back on track again for getting off the grid without sleepless nights worrying whether our fridge will still be running in the morning.
