Here We Go Again - Chapter 30 - Airlie Beach to Rolling Stone

The time at Airlie Beach is done and its time to move on. Forbsy has taken the one step forward and volunteered to bug out early, head to Proserpine and hit Prossy Pies for their signature vanilla slice. 

He gets on the road by 8.30 as I am still working on finalising some of the videos from yesterday as well as beginning some of the projects that a new website for my ramblings will allow. I close off the computer work and start the bug out procedure. Working the outside while Robyn deals with the inside as usual. Because of my lateness in starting, she starts on the outside as well. 

Not needing to rush, I methodically deal with each part of the bug out. Ready to go, I hook up the van, paying particular attention to the Red Anderson Plug, its the one that is the link between the van and the braking system that is giving us all the noise in the Cruiser. Detailed attention to the fixing of the plug “sometimes” results in no noise.

Just about to pull the van from the site to the road, I hear “periscope up” and immediately I know what the issue is. I dealt with the TV but not the antenna. Almost caught in a “one job” moment, I dash in and lower it. All good, we head out. We manage to get ourselves in behind a bus which apparently is going the same way we are. 

At times it is way ahead of us, at others we are right behind him. Through cane fields, around turns where the bush takes over, all the way back to the Bruce Highway.

On the highway the cane fields yield to the mango and tomatoes of Bowen and our morning tea. Forbsy has parked, and is waiting for us across the road from the “Big Mango”. We are parked in a park right by the ocean. A short walk to the beach reveals a lower tide stretch out into the distance and the wind is blowing what could have been a glassy expanse of water is actually a turbulent expanse of white water in the distance. We stay close to the park, we are in crocodile water well and truly now.

Back to the park, its time to devour the slices. Not being a fan I go in Forbsy’s ear to get me a cream bun instead. I was expecting something like I was to eat as a child. Soft bun laced with cream, impossible to eat without getting the cream all over your face. What I got was a small crusty version, way less aspirational, but tasty enough.

Robyn attacks her slice with vigour. I snap a shot of her, mouth full of vanilla slice. I send it to the family and my son Julian immediately retorts with “nice one”. Robyn giggles at this.

With something like the uninspiring Big Mango across the road, the creative juices start to flow. We try and set up a shot of Forbsy grasping and looking like he is taking a bite out of it. We could not make it happen effectively but we got a laugh out of trying.

Time to get back on the road. Today roadworks is the headline. It seemed like you just got up to speed and you were slowing again, at times stopping. Then getting going again, only to slow again. As much as possible we try and let trucks and cars past. In overtaking lanes we slow to give the trucks a better chance to get around.

The overtaking lanes on this highway are short and getting around slower vehicles can be fraught with concern as the short distance makes for some interesting outcomes. At one stage, after being now 5 vans in a row, we all slow to let three “big rigs” pass. Two are making it easily but the third is coming at speed, horn blaring to alert the front two to not dawdle so he would make the full pass.

Everyone makes it and without undue fuss, probably because professional drivers know what they are doing and we in the van convoy had slowed significantly. At the end of the day they are working and we are on holidays.

Our destination today is just north of Townsville. The van park of Rolling Stone has impoundments containing barramundi which each van site backs on to. Once we are set up we are fishing, but the weather has turned cold and the fish are off the bite. I get a small attack at one stage but because the lure has had the barbs flattened, any chance I had of securing the fish were lost.

We fish until dark, get the steak and salad out, cooked at the Silver Leader barbeque where we also consume it. It has been a long day on the road and we are tired. Tomorrow we have to visit Townsville because we have banking details to deal with. Bank of Queensland does not have branches in Cairns – go figure, and Townsville is our last opportunity.

There are lots of options in Townsville. I have offered everyone the chance to come with us. It appears all will come, but what we will get up to only remains to be seen