En route to Rockhampton

On 01.06. we started without breakfast from the BP rest area in Bloomsbury. The night was quite calm as it was a large parking lot where we found a dark spot. Unfortunately, it smelled terribly all night long.

So we went directly to a day-use area at Seaforth Beach. The beach was kilometers long and super quiet. We decided to take a short walk on the beach, which ended up being quite long. Since we didn't have any other plans for the day, we enjoyed a long lunch followed by yoga and reading for Krissi, and Kenny looked for music on his site for the new Airbeat One Mix.

Here we met super nice Australians again - an older couple with their daughter. The couple had landed here with their sailboat to visit their daughter. With their own 13m long sailboat, they went from Brisbane to Cairns.

Later in the afternoon, when we arrived at our camp for the night - Halliday Bay Golf Club & RV Park in - another highlight awaited us. Numerous wallabies were leaping around on the campground and the golf course. When we checked in with the owners, we also learned that there was a small crocodile to be seen in the lake on the property. After we had set up our camp, we went past the many wallabies to the lake. Then it was a matter of waiting and keeping an eye out - after three quarters of a lap around the lake, Kenny spotted the crocodile lurking in the water, but as we approached, it immediately submerged. That was probably our first crocodile in the wild without a guided tour. :)

Then we took a walk on the beach, as the campsite was right by the sea, and we had dinner with a view of the sea.

The next morning, after breakfast, we went to the beach and the lake again, but unfortunately, we were not lucky and the crocodile did not appear again, and the wallabies seemed to still be sleeping. We actually wanted to leave right away, but somehow we stayed at the beach until noon. Swimming and doing some sports at the beach, where hardly anything was going on, was just too beautiful.

In the afternoon we drove towards Cape Hillsborough. Here we quickly walked along the Mangrove / Diversity Board Walk. Unfortunately, without water, so it wasn't really impressive after all that Australia had to offer. We then went to Cape Hillsborough Beach, where we were supposed to see kangaroos right on the beach. We did see kangaroos, but they were on the field in front of the beach. Not a problem, as we were able to get pretty close to the wallabies in peace. Here we also saw a slightly larger kangaroo with a smaller one, which we simply assume were mother and child. ;)

By car, Krissi went on an unpaved road to the Yuibera (Yumi) Trail. There, you can apparently see Aboriginal fishnets, but we didn't see them... So it was another little hike through the bush with great views of the ocean.

Then we made our way to our camp for the night, as the next day we wanted to go in search of the shy platypus. On the way there, however, Kenny discovered the sign for Platypus Beach, which caught our attention. So we stopped spontaneously. When we got closer to the river, we already saw a platypus splashing in the water. When we surprised it up close, it panicked and dove back into the depths. We sat on the bank on a concrete pillar for a while and watched two platypus slowly regain their courage and come to the surface more often. Eventually, it started getting chilly, and we retreated back to the car.

That night we slept at the free camping spot Gargett Rodeo Ground. Since we didn't have anything ready for dinner anymore, and the pizza in the town pub was so highly recommended in the Wiki Camps app, we went in search of it. We found a completely empty pub and had a chat with the landlady while enjoying cola and two pizzas. We learned that the pub is usually so empty...

On Sunday, 03.06. we visited Broken River. As mentioned before, there should be numerous platypus to see there. We ended up spending the whole day there since we arrived at 11 am, and the platypus are usually visible in the early morning or late afternoon. We made ourselves comfortable on a meadow in the sun and spent several relaxing hours. The wait paid off, and we were able to spot some platypus in the river around 4 pm. On the way there and back, we stopped at a beautiful lookout that offered a great view of the valley.

Due to the time of day, we returned to Gargett Rodeo Ground. Just as we were sitting down to dinner, Glenn, the owner, came over and gave us numerous tips for the area and our further travels. Very nice to provide his property for campers free of charge and then voluntarily come over and give recommendations. :)

On Monday, after refueling and grocery shopping, we went to Blacks Beach, a very nice beach where the BBQ area was unfortunately under construction. So we continued to Eimeo Beach - luckily Australia has enough beaches to choose from. Here, Kenny had to clean the super dirty BBQ area, which surprised us, as they are usually relatively clean. After eating, a man came by, and we learned that he was responsible for cleaning the areas and that his colleague, who was supposed to clean them on the weekend, apparently didn't do anything. We also learned that it is more likely that travelers leave the places clean than we had thought, rather than the Aussies. Kenny talked to the man about all sorts of things for what felt like an eternity.

The next stop for us was Slade Point Lookout. Here, if you are there at the right time, you can apparently watch whales very well. The season there is supposedly in July or September, so we had very wrong timing. :D

We spent the night at Mycow Accommodation. Here we found a clean kitchen with the coolest appliances. Unfortunately, it didn't smell so good due to the adjacent river.

05.06. started for us with doing laundry. We spent the morning showering for hours, using the hostel's Wi-Fi, and charging all our devices. In the afternoon, we wanted to explore Mackay. After having delicious pancakes for lunch, we went to Blue Lagoon, the free public pool. It was too cold for swimming for us and most Australians, as there were hardly any people. But the facility was super nice with a water playground, different pools, and an artificial waterfall.

We then went to the Artspace Museum. Here, there were two rooms with free art to see, still lifes, and works from an art competition in the other room. More impressive, however, was the huge mural in the entrance area of the museum.

The next stop was Mackay's City Beach. Here, Kenny refined his backflip skills, and Krissi got to freeze as the camerawoman.

Back at Mycow Accommodation, we cooked rice in the rice cooker - a highlight for Kenny. :D

After a long and relaxed breakfast, we went to Grendon Park at Salonika Beach on Wednesday, 06.06. Here, we worked on our backflip and yoga skills. For lunch, we had delicious homemade rice pudding.

In the afternoon, we took an off-road road to Yarrawonga Park Reserve. Here, you can stay somewhere in the middle of nowhere on a headland surrounded by the ocean and wild cows. Our campsite on the mountain was quite windy, but we were able to calmly observe the sunset in the evening and the sunrise in the morning. We even set an alarm clock for that so that we wouldn't oversleep.

Due to the few food supplies and the strong wind, we continued on Thursday without breakfast. A few kilometers off the Bruce Highway, we headed to the BBQ area in St. Lawrence, but it was a bit disappointing. The supposed pool was closed, and we ended up in the middle of nowhere.

We then went to a campsite right on the highway, which didn't look very inviting, to Marlborough. According to a recommendation, we should not stay there due to the smell. But when we arrived, it was okay, and after a quick visit to the toilet, we drove to a day-use area nearby to spend the rest of the day there. On the way there, we passed another free camp - a meadow :D - which was further away from the highway, though.

At the day-use area, we had dinner, and we were visited by a cute, colorful parrot.

We spent the night at the free camp.

On Friday, 08.06., we wanted to have breakfast again at the day-use area, as they had toilets and tables there. On the way there, however, Kenny discovered a turtle on the road. Since he wasn't sure if it was still alive, we stopped a few meters away to check. It was alive, but its shell was heavily damaged, and it couldn't move its hind legs. We decided to call the 'animal emergency' to find out how best to proceed. Krissi hoped there would be a wildlife rescue station or something similar nearby.

The lady on the phone immediately sent her two contact points in Rockhampton via SMS, which was our destination for the day anyway.

We bought a cardboard box for transportation from the mechanic in the village and drove the 100km to Rockhampton.

At the vet, everyone felt sorry for the little turtle. However, the veterinarian who happened to be at the reception didn't give us much hope because the turtle's shell was too damaged. :( But we tried, and we couldn't bear to let the turtle meet a certain death. :(

After the sad start to the day, we did some shopping and ended up in Rockhampton's Victoria Park. We had breakfast, lunch and Krissi did yoga, while Kenny played DJ.

Tonight we want to go to the free rodeo - internet opinions are divided. Rockhampton is the steak capital of Australia, so Kenny will hopefully enjoy a delicious steak tonight...