Author: Mr A
Location: Mackay and inland up to the Mackay Highlands, Finch Hatton & Eungella (pronounced young-gallah) National Park
Thursday
There’s always some maintenance, repairs or reorganising to do on the truck or the Zone, and today we ticked a few more off. Things like putting a Velcro strip acros the front of cupboard to prevent the contents tipping out after some bumpy roads. A very good idea courtesy of Mrs A.
It seems the residents of Mackay are not big on fresh veggies or Arthouse movies. Let me explain. We did try to go veggie shopping, but in the whole of Mackay there’s only one shop, which was very ordinary. I exclude Coles and Woolies from the definition of “fresh vegetables”. What a contrast to Bundaberg with its local market gardening scene. Perhaps the soil is different around Mackay? Sugar cane certainly loves it!
We are both big fans of Tim Winton, and were very excited to go and see the movie based on his bestelling book Breath. We were amazed to see only one other couple in the cinema. This is Australia’s greatest living author by any measure, but garnered no interest in Mackay.
Friday
Packed and off, we only had a short trip today into the hinterland, heading for a place we have visited before, Eungella National Park. We honeymooned in the Whitsundays 16 years ago and took an impromptu trip down from Airlie Beach to this area since it is the place you are most likely in Australia to see platypus in the wild. And we did.
We had chosen a showground as our base again, in the small settlement of Finch Hatton. Pulling in we were immediately taken with the place. The green paddocks framed by the lushly forested hills.
We left Tas for a much needed afternoon nap after her power sleep on the drive up, and headed up the range in the Cruiser. What a drive! Ben and Bev Mitchell – all credit to you for pulling your Zone up here! The views at the top were magnificent.
So we popped into the Information Centre and got the low down of where the platypus might be spotted. She pointed to the bridge about 50 metres away! We immediately saw a little fellah cruising around.
Turtles were also about, and one of our favourite birds the kingfisher.
What a spot!
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.
Lunch enjoyed, we picked up a few other supplies in town before heading back to Kenilworth, hitching up and saying goodbye to our fellow Zoners.
Bauple is the ancestral home of the macadamia nut, discovered thousands of years ago by local aboriginals. There is a little museum here, a petrol station and free wifi for the residents between 9am and 12pm. There are even clean toilets for campers open beside the museum, complete with green tree frog!
It’s extremely peaceful and Miss Tassie enjoyed a d.o.g free stroll around the area during the afternoon. We camped for free in the RV rest area with a lovely view across the park towards the hills in the distance, not another soul seen.
We were soon sampling a plate of Tibetan dumplings, I had an Argentinian empanada which was simply delicious, also some dairy free donuts packed to go. We then spotted the Japanese pancake stall, we had not seen these since Sydney. Wow…a taste sensation.
Suitably sated we picked up a small bowl from a pottery stall we could use a mortar, plenty of peanuts and chillies to grind up for our Pad Thai creation for instance.
We all then started to prepare the camp for tonight’s visitors from Zone RV. They had kindly offered to give up their Saturday afternoon and evening and have a bit of a chat with us about our experiences with their products and service.
It was great to hear Dave Biggar, one of the directors, talk about some of the initiatives they are taking to mature their build processes and strive to offer even an more consistent quality experience to their new customers. He was joined by key members of the Zone team in customer support, systems improvement and marketing. There were 14 customers there, and all of us really appreciated the effort the team made to come and meet us and openly discuss where they were at as a business and seek input from us on their initiatives.
One of the customers, Phil Clem, had a surprise for everyone as darkness drew in. He had brought along an enormous hollow tree trunk to burn on the campfire, and had taken the trouble to carve out ‘Zone RV’ into the side with a chainsaw, so when the fire really got going the letters shone out. What a star.
It seemed a fun and educative night was had by all, and we were very grateful for the effort they made to come out and visit. Their journey to being a leader in the industry has not been an easy one. They have pushed the boundaries on design with materials and finish. That doesn’t come easily, and clearly there have been some significant hurdles along the way. But these guys have pushed through and are now at the stage where they just need to bed down this innovation with robust processes allowing on time, on spec builds at the lowest cost to them and their customers. We think they will do it, and are proud to have been a small part of their journey.
Greg had only paddled a Canadian canoe in the past, so the sit on top kayak was a new experience for him, but he did really well. We took our time, enjoying the scenery and birds, mostly letting the current guide us down the gravel races (we prefer to call them rapids!)
Rainbow bee eaters, cormorants, black kites, red backed wrens…the list of birdlife was endless and made the paddle even more interesting.
The Mary River and its surrounding valley was saved from being flooded for a reservoir by the discovery of an extremely rare fish. The Australian Lungfish is only naturally present in this river and one other in Australia. Lungfish fossils were found in New South Wales which date back 100 million years, virtually unchanged, making this creature a living fossil and really important ecologically.
We had a great hour or so paddling downstream 4.5km, finishing up at our camp for showers. Greg then dropped us back at our car and Mr A and I drove to the Kenilworth Hotel (pub). As we walked in we discovered the Sunshine Coast Ukulele Festival was on in town with the pub hosting some of the performances. It’s funny how you can spot a ukulele player – rainbow coloured tie died outfits and funny crocheted hats! Some performances were better than others, but we avoided the stage and found a table inside.
After a great feed, Mr A and I farewelled Andrew and headed back to camp to catch up with the next batch of Zoners who had arrived.