Awaking in Airlie Beach on a Saturday meant we got to see the weekly beach market except we didn’t as it got cancelled this week - due to heavy rain they had had during the last few days apparently.
We headed into town for breakfast and found a lovely little cafe where Pam had a breakfast muffin and went native with an iced latte (a humid 26c at 8am is going to take some getting used to). Mark was boring having a filled croissant and a juice. The cafe was also very popular with dog owners as we sure quite a few come in to grab a takeaway.
Then it was off to Budget car rentals to grab our car. This also did not got to plan as the Hyundai Kona we booked did not appear but we were upgraded to a Peugeot 2008. Most people would have thought that was a good result but we purposely chose the Kona as that is what we have at home and we know everything fits in it and how it works and Pam (not a keen driver) is used to it. Therefore we thought having the Kona would mean they only thing we had to handle that was new was Aussie road signs, rules and speeds in KMs plus and automatic car but alas we had to adapt to the Peugeot that slowly drove out of the Woolworths car park (Woolworths is a supermarket like Tescos / Walmart over here) and not the much beloved Woolworths chain that went bust in the UK some years ago.
Our first stop was Mackay. It is meant to be very nice but actually what we found was a standard modern town with a few unique buildings. On further investigation it is the area (borough?) of Mackay that is spectacular with its subtropical rainforest and nature but of course we missed that point and didn’t fancy the detour on our first day. We ate Tapas in a Cuban restaurant in town before Pamela took over the driving.
We made one more stop before Rockhampton. It was at a small town called Marlborough (which had a population of 149) This place was very eerie as it was small with hardly anyone around except an old lady sitting outside a small shop. It also had a bygone age museum area with many buildings and a craft/history shop but this was also deserted and felt like an American movie set in the dry heat.
On the way back to the car we passed the town swimming pool (with a small memorial to 2 fallen Vietnam soldiers from the place) and public toilets toilets which consisted of a friend for Pamela to share with.
On our way again and we checked into the Korte resort in Rockhampton. What a marvellous choice this turned out to be with great facilities and a lovely restaurant serving good food.
The car’s air on worked a treat as it was 32c outside most of the day but we still felt refreshed after a lovely swim in the pool.
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