Sunday 16th July 2017
It is another land based day today, and the
plan is to drive to Bowen and see what impact Cyclone Debbie had, have a look
around town and come home via Hydeaway Bay and Dingo Beach.
We have rented an Avis car for the day, and
set out at 9am, in the direction of
Proserpine, taking the Bowen turnoff. The trip to Bowen is only around
80 km. There is quite a bit of roadwork along the way, but very little traffic.
Whilst in Bowen, we thought we would try to get a replacement
cylinder for our Soda King machine, as the major news agency in Bowen is a
stockist. We pulled into the shopping complex where they are based and
everything is closed at 10.30am on Sunday, including Woolworths and Big W ( in
fact the whole complex is absolutely dead) !!!!
Moving on we drove down in the direction of
Horseshoe Bay, and the Sunday markets were in full swing, so we stopped there
to take in a bit of the local culture. It is really a much larger version of
the Airlie markets with many of the same vendors. They have food and coffee,
which satisfies most of our needs.
Horseshoe Bay
It is a bigger market than Airlie, but there are many familiar store holders
Cody Refuelling
Airplanes made from empty beer cans, very clever
From there we drove around to the boat
harbour to try to get a feel for the cyclone damage, and whilst the vegetation
has been knocked around a bit, we are very surprised how little the buildings
in Bowen have been affected.
The entrance to the marina is pretty
uninviting and I doubt it will be on our destination list. However, the
impression of Bowen we left with is a lot more favourable than past visits,
possibly because we have spent a bit more time here exploring the wider area.
Bowen boat Harbour
The local yacht club not looking particularly busy
The harbour entrance not looking very appealing
Our intention is to have lunch at Dingo
Beach, so we drive back out of town, back towards Airlie, turning off at the
road to Hydeaway Bay and Dingo Beach.
Hydeaway bay was a real surprise, a very
pretty place with some pretty upmarket houses. The reef areas just off the
beach make it a great snorkeling and swimming spot, and apparently the fishing
is great. The Bay ends very close to the entrance between
Gloucester Island and the mainland, and you can drive along a dirt road to
Montes Resort which is on the other side of Gloucester Channel and where the
Shaggers Rendezvous is held.
Hydeaway Bay
Cody has let us know it is lunch time
(despite having devoured a roast chicken roll at the Bowen markets), so we
drive around to Dingo Beach for lunch at the local pub.
The pub really is a bit of a step back in
time and truly North QLD. There is live music, a very casual atmosphere and
huge meals. It is packed with locals, grey nomads and the odd intruder like
ourselves.
Dingo Beach Hotel
Live music
Once again it is a lovely setting and supposed
to be one of the best fishing spots on the coast. The girls do a bit of shell
collecting on the beach to walk off lunch, and we head back to Airlie.
Dingo Beach
Cyclone Debbie left her mark on the foliage here. There is plenty of mulch available everywhere.
Back in town, we drop off the car and pick
up a T shirt we had printed for Cody with his favourite fish on it ( a belated
birthday present).
Dinner tonight was a delicious, very nice spicy noodle
wonton soup that Michelle created.
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