Author: Mr A
Location: Bowen, Queensland
Leaving Airlie Beach we once again headed north up the Bruce Highway to our next destination, the small harbour town of Bowen. This was somewhere neither of us had been before and had no preconceptions of whatsoever.
The caravan park we had chosen was down in the harbour area, which we were soon exploring by bike. It had a nice feel to the place, not too touristy and still a working town.
Wandering down the nearest little road we came out on this view. Almost every direction from Bowen there is an island view across crystal clear waters.
We jumped off the tarmac and enjoyed a short ride though the bush, until Catherine felt her tyre go flat! She’d picked up a bunch of thorns, so it was off to the local bike shop, which doubled as a purveyor of power tools! The dedicated bike shop that was here has now closed down, sadly an all too familiar story around Australia.
We had some stuff to collect from the local Post Office, and as usual it had arrived safe and sound. Using this system of sending our various care packages to a Post Office on route has been brilliant. They will hold it for up to a month free of charge, as long as Australia Post is the courier and not a third party.
We had a wander around the tidy town centre, noted a scruffy looking Indian and Chinese, read that the local pub was doing a ‘$20 seafood buffet’ (raised our eyebrows) and picked up a few things from the local IGA (produce that looked and later tasted like it had last seen a field in its dim and distant past) and went back to camp.
Then I read the local tourist guide to Bowen that we had picked up at the information centre. Let me quote verbatim from the page describing Bowen’s Top 10 food experiences.
‘Bowen serves up a feast of quality gourmet produce…offering exquisite international cuisine” (the Chinese and Indian apparently). “With a plethora of local produce’.
These brochures do nothing but seed expectations that are never delivered on when confronted with the reality of eating out and trying to buy fresh produce in rural Australia, with the odd exception that we always find so refreshing, because it is so unusual.
There is so much that is stunning, breathtakingly beautiful, and fascinating about our country, these tourism brochures only serve to mislead and therefore disappoint when they paint a picture that is so misleading about what its going to be like eating out and trying to buy fresh produce. Especially to international tourists who might actually believe what they read before they come face to face with the grim reality of pie after pie.
So, we had some fabulous fish and chips. When the local motor lodge is described as an “enticing restaurant” you know dining in is really the best option.
Bowen’s riches predominantly lie in its spectacular scenery and views, which we enjoyed on a 5km hike along the Cape Edgecumbe Walking Track.
As the morning warmed up and the sun reached through the trees, flowers began to open, with the native hibiscus looking fabulous. The forest was rich with flowers, fruit and seeds, as well as evidence from Tropical Cyclone Debbie which hit the area last year, causing devastation to much of Airlie Beach and its surrounds. Some businesses have still not recovered.
At the peak of Mount Rooper we were rewarded with a fabulous views across the Whitsunday Passage, looking out across all the islands, with Hayman Island, Hamilton Island, Daydream, North and South Molle Islands all clearly seen.
We continued the walk around to Swamp Bay, a tree lined beach covered in coral and shells, looking out to the islands.
We spotted many skinks, a little frog and our first snake of this trip – a young brown snake – probably only 40cm long and not much thicker than a pencil, but still carrying enough venom to cause some serious issues. Thankfully it was not on the offensive and slithered off through the leaves on its way.
Its our last day in Airlie Beach, so after an afternoon of shopping, cleaning and a customary exploration for Miss Tassie, adventure cat extraordinaire, we showered and jumped on our bikes. We rode back to Sorrento’s Bar beside Abell Point Marina for sundowners, enjoying a fabulous sunset over a glass of wine (beer & and a JD for Mr A) before cycling back to make dinner. A fine ending to our visit here.
As you reach town, there is a beautiful lagoon with a combination of deep swimming lanes and shallow areas for children, all free for anyone to use. We continued our cycle along the coastline as far as Boat Haven, imagining the lives of people who owned the spectacular boats moored there.
We enjoyed a Vietnamese salad for lunch, and a beer on the way back was called for, well it is Friday.
We had a bit of a false start with dinner – missing having Uber operating in the area and instead spending 45 minutes trying to get a cab. Then we arrived at the restaurant rated number 3 on TripAdvisor and walked in to be shown a scruffy, sticky table and handed a drinks menu with a choice of two red wines on it – both dreadful. So we provided some feedback and left! A bit of walk and we ended up in a lovely family run Italian. Nothing was too much trouble in catering for Catherine’s dairy allergy, even though the word “Creamy” was used 9 times on the menu. No wonder this country is suffering an obesity crisis! 
A lady considering buying some turmeric watched us buy some so picked our brains about how to use it. She recommended this very odd looking fruit she had brought and said we must try it – in fact she brought us the last one for the princely sum of $3. What a sweetie. Its called a monstera deliciosa and in fact comes from a cheese plant that is often seen as a house plant in the UK. 
Bizarre…tastes very sweet – a combination of banana and pineapple…I think I will be having the lion’s share of this one.
In the afternoon we headed out to Conway National Park for a short walk to Coral Beach overlooking the Molle Islands. Every direction you look is another amazing view, which changes so quickly in this changeable autumnal weather. We even caught ourselves a rainbow. 
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.
So eating done we decided the rain had cleared enough to go out for a hike along the beach and then up to the headland to a stunning lookout over Ball Bay, Halliday Bay and around to the next suburb of Seaforth.
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.
The whip bird was right down on the forest floor as we came round a corner of the path, most unusual to see them that close – though he didn’t hang around for a photo, unlike the Grey Fantail, which put on a lovely show for us, and the fruit bats which do little else than hang around (ha ha)…
The crisp air made the whole walk so refreshing. We ambled though this rich diversity of plants and animals and felt so relaxed and alive. It’s the simplest things that give us pleasure. As long as Mrs A has her camera and I have my binocs and there’s a bit of wildlife around, all is good with the world. When we first got married and came here 16 years ago, we dreamed of doing longer trips and seeing more of Australia. Well here we are – converting those dreams to memories.
Thanks to the people of the Pioneer Valley for making us so welcome and providing such a well kept campground at the Finch Hatton showground. Would thoroughly recommend other travellers come and see for themselves.
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 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.
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.