6 July 2011 - Proserpine Tourist Park, Queensland

Shute Harbour

Sunshine always helps a place shine, and so it has been today as we have explored the countryside around Proserpine. This morning we drove north east to the coastal resort of the Whitsundays, firstly heading to the end of the road at Shute Harbour, from where all tours leave for the many islands offshore. The lookout above the busy jetty area  is a delightful outlook toward the glistening water in the very sheltered bays created by the islands and shore. Apart from parking in metered parking areas and setting out on walks into the Conway National Park, there was little to do, so we headed back through the built up seaside settlements, and parked on the esplanade at Airlie Beach. We walked along the seafront promenade which skirts the relatively natural beach where large signs warn of the dangers of swimming in the water, particularly during the six months or so spanning the summer, when stingers or jellyfish lurk waiting to spoil the joys of bathing. To counter this negative aspect of seaside activities, there is a large and very beautiful lagoon, filled regularly with safe filtered water, warmed by the sun and surrounded with tropical palms. Today children swam in this lagoon and dozens of sunseekers lay around the perimeter in total disregard for UV driven skin cancer.

Airlie Beach's manmade lagoon

When we returned to the cruiser to fetch the eski, we were addressed by a chap who was pulling his generator from his caravan ready to disturb the scene. “Didn’t I see you on top of the mountain the other day?” he asked.

I responded that he probably had, depending on which mountain. It turned out that he had seen us when we were up at the look out at Eungella, admiring the panorama back to Mackay. We started chatting and it turned out that he had been a cotton farmer, near Boomi, in fact on the farm opposite Karamba. How was that for co-incidence! He and his wife are on their way around the continent, anti-clockwise. We could well run into them again because for now, we are on the same route.

After lunch we walked up and down the streets of this buzzing tourist town, amazed at the throng of tourists, the majority between the age of twenty and thirty. No doubt the low cost restaurants are making a killing during the day and the bars at night. Wicked and Spaceship campers were a dime a dozen, their passengers plugged into to free power at the amenities and their washing hanging across hastily strung up lines in the car parks.

We loved the feel of the place and both agreed that for those who liked holidays by the beach, lying about, eating and drinking in cafes and the like, adding to their wardrobes with bright summer clothes, in the sun and warmth, this was the place to come. But for us a couple of hours in such a place, is enough.

Travelling back toward Proserpine, we paused at a camping store in Cannonvale and mozzied around there for ages, buying nothing but appreciating the wares on offer. We spoke to the assistant about the caravans we had seen on the road yesterday, thinking that she just might know what The Event was we had missed. There has been no such Happening, only the normal movement of the caravan travellers for this time of the year. She remarked that she had heard that there were apparently 10,000 Victorians on the road in caravans this year in Queensland. She was not actually sure whether that was the number of vans or people, but even considering it was people rather than caravans, that is an awful lot of custom for the tourist service providers. And of course that does not include the likes of us!

Cedar Creek Falls

We took a side trip to the Cedar Creek Falls, off the Proserpine - Shute Harbour Road, and found that we were not the only ones to find them delightful. There were quite a few young people, possibly holidaying high school kids, swimming in the pool beneath the falls. We climbed the rocky face to the top of the falls, to see the lovely quiet unsuspecting pools of water, and then descended without event.

 On the way back out to the main road, we spotted several perfect subjects for my photographic experiments; the first a camel enjoying grass hand fed by some German children, the second, a relatively new born Brahmin Cross calf and finally, cattle quietly grazing with their egret companions perched on their heads. I am fascinated by the fact that when you see cattle out in the paddocks, there are nearly always white egrets standing sentinel, or perhaps marking their choice of beast like soccer players do. Unfortunately the egrets all rose in unison as I approached the fence, and so I returned to the cruiser without success.

Newborn Brahmin calf with family

Driving closer toward Proserpine, we noted smoke rising from several locations, apart from the sugar mill chimney. We had read about cane burning still taking place in this area; apparently the particular varieties of cane grown here are best dealt with this way before harvest. Most cane is harvested green nowadays which is much better for the environment. We drove and drove westwards, as if chasing rainbows. The further we drove, the further away the fires. It reminded me of a day when I detoured from a trip to the Bay of Plenty perhaps fifteen years ago, to chase a tornado on the Hauraki Plains. Crazy behaviour ! This does prove we are as insane as any one else. We found ourselves close to Lake Proserpine and the Peter Faust Dam, and so pressed on to view this large water reservoir, water for the Whitsunday region and for flood control.

I took the wheel from there and brought us home, back through the sugar cane fields, through town to this lovely caravan park for our last night.