7 July 2011 - Guthalungra Rest Area, Queensland

Late afternoon on the side of the Bruce Highway in the company of about twenty other caravanners and motorhomes, lined up either side of the roadway that encircles the rest area. The railway runs the other side of the road, and we are right on a cross road where the lesser road heads for a little frequented National Park. While absolutely safe, it could be one of those camps where I circle and underline the symbol in our bible that shows there is road noise.

We left Prosepine this morning and headed north west, because that is the direction one must travel to reach the more northern settlements on the Queensland coast. Bowen was only sixty or so kilometres up the road so we were there in time to do a grocery shop at Woolworths and then dine beside the Mullers Lagoon close by. After lunch we walked along part of the shoreline then drove back through the town down to the seashore at Port Dennison.

Bowen is twice the size of Prosepine, holds the title of North Queensland’s oldest town, first discovered by a Captain Sinclair in 1859, and declared a town two years later.

The first white inhabitant of the place however was James Morrill who had been shipwrecked in 1846, washed ashore and living among the aborigines for seventeen years before he presented himself to fellow whites, crying, “Don’t shoot mates. I’m a British subject.” Obviously those washed ashore do not count as discoverers.

Bowen has been the rural service centre of a thriving cattle industry for years and was also a base for the Catalina Flying Boats during the battle of the Coral Sea in World War II when Port Moresby became too vulnerable to continue being so. 

More recently, in 2007, Bowen became Bowenwood for a few months while Bas Luhrman filmed “Australia” here; the big screen saga starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Locals were used as extras and the town played host to all those who put the film together, along with all those who came to see the film being put together. The Darwin in the film is in fact Bowen, and is not hard to see why Bowen was selected for this role. While I have yet to see Darwin and therefore my opinion is without sound base, commercialism has not spoiled the authenticity of the place, despite the fact that it boasts beaches that are part of the Whitsunday, and the buildings are tired, original and uninspiring. Facades were placed over many of the buildings and of course the block which was first used as the “station” and then converted into “Darwin”, was blown up in the “bombing”. Since then the whole sea frontage at the bottom of the main street has been modernised with BBQ areas, and is very stylish. Alas the buildings up the main street are still as they were before.

But… before you think that Bowen is best left to stagnate alone, it is worth wandering the wide streets, the pedestrian edges currently being carpeted with artificial grass, and taking in the many murals that grace the otherwise dreary buildings. One is commissioned every two years; there are currently twenty four of them, telling the story of the town and the people who have contributed to its history. Many are done by the same artists, all are worth a look, and many could do with some freshening up; the sun plays havoc with the paint pigments.

Despite any negativity one might have gleaned from the above, we did spend quite a few hours in Bowen and would recommend that one calls in from the Bruce Highway for at least as long as we did, before heading on one’s way.

It should also be noted that just north of Bowen the rail road comes in from further west to the international coal terminal at Abbot’s Point. Bowen also boasts a thriving horticultural industry and many backpackers stay in the place to work in the vegetable gardens. Unfortunately for us, we had stocked up on normally priced vegetables at the Woolworths supermarket before spotting the vege market on the main road north of Bowen.

Our drive on from Bowen was uneventful but later than it should have been because on arriving here at this rest area we found ourselves to be the eleventh seeker of a camp spot. This will however have to do.