Bowen

Saturday 28 April, Notch Point


We woke up to a rainy day in Rockhampton. After breakfast we packed up camp, and head back to town, to check out the nice old Queenslander houses in Agnes street. Kate took a lot of photos for her collection of historic houses. Fortunately the rain has stopped and while it stayed cloudy all day, the weather was quite enjoyable.
We headed North along the Bruce Hwy towards Mackay. There was very little traffic on the road, and no more road works, so it was easy and fast. We stopped at Marlborough to fill up the tank, as we would not have had enough fuel until Mackay and I wasn't sure if there would be any more petrol stations. It turned out that there were at least 3 more... 
The landscape around us was quite varied, mostly covered with bush, later, as we got closer to Mackay, sugar-cane fields came around again. By lunchtime we got to our free campsite for today, thanks to the "Camps-6" guide: it's called Notch Point Road, a camp spot 11 km East from Ilbilbie, about 30 km South of Mackay. It's a fine spot alongside the Marion Creek, only a bit muddy now after so much rain. We spent a quiet afternoon sitting at the side of the river, watching a local fisherman checking his crab traps. He got 5 huge mud crabs by 5 pm, a good catch.

Notch Point
Kempinghelyünk Notch point-on

We are getting acclimatised to the local conditions: both of us are full of mosquito and even more sand-fly bites, all our bodies are itching and burning... That's part of the fun!...:(((
We had very poor mobile reception at this point, it only worked if I lifted the computer up to about head-height, which was not a very comfortable position to type, so we could not use it much. After dinner we played a game of Scrabble instead.


Sunday 29 April, Cape Hillsborough National Park


We woke up to blue skies and the sun was just coming out from behind the hillside, a beautiful morning. A few other campers joined us during the evening and night, but we did not disturb each other much. After breakfast we headed North again, but stopped at the nearby Sarina Beach. Beautiful blue water, sunshine, but when we walked down to the beach, the surf life savers' info table said the water is 18 degrees and there are stingers around - so no swim today... We went to the next beach, Campwin Beach, enjoying also very nice views of the sea from a little headland while we ate our usual morning fruit portion. 
Then we went in to Mackay and stopped in the city centre. We found the Tourist Information centre, where we picked up a generous supply of maps and info guides, including a booklet of "Heritage walk in Mackay", that we followed and were very impressed by this good looking and well maintained city. 

Mackay town centre
Mackay városközpont

After the walk we went to the Mackay Marina, also recommended by the info booklet as a nice place to visit. They were right - especially in such a beautiful, sunny Sunday lunchtime, full of people, live music... We saw the Young Endeavour sailing ship anchored in the port. Then we went to the beachfront where we stopped for lunch and a bit of rest.
After lunch we left Mackay, but only for a short drive, up to Cape Hillsborough National Park, to another beachfront caravan park where we stopped for the night. It is a very nice place, quiet, lush vegetation, brush turkeys walking around and cute little wallabies also abound in the area. Unfortunately the beach is again appealing but not very welcoming with all the warnings about the dangers of swimming. So we took a dip in the swimming pool of the caravan park instead, which was also quite nice. The only downside - or maybe not?... - of the park is that again, there is no mobile reception here, so we will have to look for some other entertainment tonight...


Monday 30 April, Bowen


Another clear and sunny morning. We went down to the beach to watch the sunrise. The beach looked much nicer at high tide. A wallaby was also enjoying the morning sunshine on the beach, encircled by a group of excited young overseas tourists. 

Jumping contest at Cape Hillsborough beach
Ki tud nagyobbat ugrani? Cape Hillsborough beach

We left the park after breakfast and continued Northbound in bright sunny weather. We stopped at Proserpine to do a bit of shopping and to fill up the tank. By lunchtime we reached Bowen, where we found another "absolute beachfront" caravan park. The location is very nice indeed, but the beach in front of the park is a bit rocky, not very inviting. But there is a pool in the park as an alternative. After lunch and a plunge in the pool, we drove into town to look around. It is a very nice but very quiet place, not much life in it. Bowen is the "sugar capital" of Australia, but its more recent claim for fame is that Baz Luhrman's movie "Australia" was shot here in 2007. The harbour front of the town was rebuilt as Darwin in the 1940s, and the whole town participated in the shooting as workers and extras. Nothing remained of that by now, apart from a few big info boards recording the big event with photos from the shooting. But the town is very impressive itself, especially the park along the shore and harbour. There is also a memorial of the "Catalinas" the flying boats from World War 2, which were stationed here during the war. 

The Catalinas' memorial in Bowen
A Catalina "repülő csónakok" emléktáblája Bown-ben

Behind this park is the town centre, which seemed almost completely deserted by 5pm today. The streets are extremely wide, 2 lanes plus parking on both sides, plus angled parking in the middle, but hardly any people and all the shops and businesses closed. People here must have a vary "laid-back" life as the tourist brochures mention...
And finally we have good mobile reception again, so a lot of work to be done tonight!...

Evening chores in the camp
Esti munka a campingben

Tuesday 1 May, Bowen


We decided to stay here for another day. Did not do much, just relaxing, reading at the edge and looking out to the water. Late morning we went out by car to visit a few other beaches which are better for swimming. Two of them are marked on the map as "award-winning", so we could not miss them. 

Horseshoe Bay, an "award winning" beach in Bowen
Az egyik "díjnyertes" tengerpart-szakasz Bowen-ben

They were very nice indeed, and in one of them I risked my life for a plunge in the water. It was very shallow but warm and quiet, and survived without any stings. 
We had another little tour of the town as well, to check out the many mural paintings depicting early life in town, made by some local artists. 

A mural in Bowen
Egy freskó Bowen-ben

Back in the camp, we cooled down in the pool, then after lunch and siesta (for me), we continued as in the morning: reading, resting, and making plans for the coming days. Tomorrow we will leave Bowen with good memories of this nice little town.



Our itinerary is now recorded on a Google Map, check the following link:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8

Az utóbbi napokban minden nap utaztunk, de csak elég keveset, közben nézelődtünk Rockhampton-ban, Mackay-ban, és Bowen-ben. Most már jól benne járunk a trópusokban, és ennek megfelelően jó meleg van, napközben 30 felett, szép napos idő, de este is 25 fok körül van.
Többnyire hivatalos kempingekben álltunk meg eddig, de néha alszunk szabad táborhelyeken is, főleg az érdekesség kedvéért, mert a lakókocsink olyan jól felszerelt (van nagy viztartályunk meg napelemünk, csak a mobil-kapcsolatra vagyunk rászorulva). Az a terv, hogy később, az ország belsejében, többnyire ilyen szabad kempinghelyeken fogunk táborozni - majd meglátjuk, hogy alakul. Egyelőre itt a keleti partvidéken, kulturált, ember-lakta vidéken, és főleg a tengerpart mentén, ritkán van jó szabad táborhely, mint pl a Notch Point.
Ma is közvetlenül a tengerparton vagyunk Bowen városka mellett egy kempingben, nagyon szép helyen, Két napig itt maradtunk egy kis pihenésre. Sajnos a tenger csak nézni nagyon szép, de fürdeni nem nagyon alkalmas, mert még éppen a nyári szezon végén vagyunk, amikor még előfordulhatnak olyan mérges meduzák és egyéb puhatestűek, amikkel nem célszerű találkozni. Ezért inkább csak a kemping úszómedencéjében fürdőzünk, az is nagyon kellemes. De azért ma én belemerészkedtem a tengerbe is egy rövid csobbanásra az egyik "díjnyertes" partszakaszon.
Az útvonalunkat a következő Google térképen lehet látni:
http://g.co/maps/wcwv8