Mackay

Thursday the 23^rd June we left Airlie Beach. Before leaving one of the park workers said that Eungella National Park was worth having a look at as well as Cape Hillsborough, both of which are closest to Mackay as a place to base ourselves. We originally planned to drop in to Mackay for a quick look and move on. So we left Airlie with an open mind.

About two thirds of the way down the Bruce Highway to Mackay a tyre blew on the van. When we realized it had blown we were in a really bad spot with drop offs on both sides of the foad. Thank goodness for dual axles. We drove on 500 metres to a driveway of a property and got off the road. I changed the tyre and there was no question now about where we were going. Mackay is a big town so perfect for getting the tyre replaced. A quick look at Wikicamps and booked in to Blacks Beach Van Park.

It turned out that this van park was the best one we could have stayed at from what we could see. The first photo is looking back into the park and the next is from the same spot, looking the other way. Then photos up and down the beach at low tide.

I got the tyre replaced at Mengs Tyres nearby to Blacks Beach (recommended by the van park owners). For $175 I got a Dunlop All Terrain tyre. It was a second which has only done 14km. What happens is the local mines buy their vehicles and replace their tyres straight away with special mud tyres. So the tyre places have access to seconds at a great price. I am working on replacing all the tyres on the van with all terrain tyres.

After we had arrived, set up and had lunch we took the wrecked tyre to the repair place to find it was closed, which was really strange on a Thursday. I made a phone call to find that everything was shut as it was a public holiday in Mackay for the Mackay show. Apparently this happens all over QLD. Random public holidays in random towns for their shows.

So we took a drive to Mackay Harbour and Marina. It is a pretty big deal there.

Friday we headed out to Eungella National Park. There is a town on the way called Marian where Dame Nellie Melba lived for a couple of years. The house she lived in has been preserved and is the Information Centre but is very much celebrated and displayed as the house she lived in. Melba was a very big deal back in her day. Her face is on the $100 bill and she was the biggest thing in music at the time and she put Australia on the map for many people around the world.

A young guy and his wife serving coffees from their little coffee van at Melba House recommended checking out Eungella Chalet (which is the pub) and have a look at the history but don’t bother with about the food there. Go and visit Broken River and see if you can see some platypus but don’t bother going to the dam. So we did all that. The Chalet is at the top of the escarpment, as is the little town. The view is terrific.

Took a walk through the rainforest. Very nice, so cool and quiet.

At Broken River we did see some platypus come to the surface several times. It was really cool to see them. You can never get a photo of any value as they are so small and by the time you focus your camera they are gone.

We then went down the escarpment back to the town of Finch Hatton. We had lunch at the Criterion Hotel which was another good tip from the young bloke at the coffee van near Melba House. It started raining by the time we got to Finch Hatton Gorge so we gave the gorge walk a miss.

Then back to the highway and we dropped in to the Leap Hotel. At the rock overlooking the hotel an aboriginal woman leaped to her death holding her baby. The baby survived. The woman was running away from aboriginal police. There are stories posted on the wall of the pub explaining and commemorating the story.

Saturday, after picking up the tyre and a bit of maintenance around the van we took a drive to Cape Hillsborough. It was nice but not a place I would bother staying at. The drive there and back was the best of it. We did enjoy the mangrove boardwalk.