Travelling to Bundaburg

Wednesday Oct 29^th – Travelling to Bundaburg

Morning is here and another hot day in Townsville…..today we are heading towards Bundaberg.  We are up and packed and on the road after our breakfast.  On the way out of town we take a trip to the top of the Townsville hill, Castle Hill.  It is a 2.9 km drive to the top and the sides have very little protection from the drop…..I was a bit nervous.  At the top we climb the final distance on foot in 31 deg C with no shade. The view was wonderful.

The drive south is very flat and very dry and in some sections and the temperature stays at 31 deg C.  There are miles of cane fields. 

At Mackay we cross amazing bridge that creates interesting shadows in the sunlight due to the criss-cross pattern of the structural steel.  Just on the other side of the bridge is another cane mill.  Apparently cane sugar is a 1.5 billion dollar export business for Australia.

Near Bowen we stop for lunch at the “I” and take pictures of the large mango fruit outside. 

Accommodation is hard to find so we head to the bach in Sarina.  Here we stayed a night in a very dodgy trailer.  Outside there were cute ducks that followed you all over call howling ducks. They howl instead of quack.

After we have unloaded our car, we head to the beach for a nice relaxing walk. The beach is 600 feet wide and beautiful soft sand and we poke in the little tidal pools looking for starfish or other creatures.  We find a few anemones and take some pictures of them. 

We had just watched an episode of ‘The Vet’, where they pulled a 15 foot python out of the ceiling of a boat house.  I hardly slept and neither did Alan as we both had images of a massive python living somewhere in this trailer. 

Tomorrow we head further south towards Bundaberg

Thursday Oct 30^th – Capricorn Caves

The Cathedral

Lattes at the local pub

It is morning and we are up very early.  Our trailer camping has been an experience.  Not too bad but we were both restless through the night as we wondered what snakes or spiders were going to crawl out of the woodwork.  This trailer was vintage 1970 so it had seen better days.

After some fresh watermelon for breakfast we packed the car, returned the key and head out.  We stopped for cash at the bank machine then carry on.

Down the road we pass miles of rolling hills and
 finally what appears to be the end of the cane 

Rock Wallabe

fields.  We stop for gas at Marlborough then stop in the local pub called “The Caves” named after the Capricorn Caves found in the area.  We have a nice chat with the server then decide to have two cappuccinos and a bit of lunch ($40.00).  I had a delicious grilled sandwich with chips and Alan have the lunch special of homemade lasagna, salad and chips.

Inside the Capricorn Caves

The owners of the restaurant recommend visiting the Capricorn Caves.  He mentions that the owner of the Bermuda Crystal Caves recently visited to give a talk and he was impressed with what he saw. 

 We head to the caves and wait for our tour. Since no one else came we had a private tour. 

The tour is amazing.  We spend almost 1.5 hours walking in the caves where we see these cute little rock wallaby’s.  There so many butterflies at the entrance of the cave. They were flying all over and resting on 30 foot air roots, one after the other looking like leaves. Thousands gather tree trunks collecting water from inside the cave.

Alan and Katherine in the Caves

The cave is magnificence with many chambers. Deep inside there is a large area two stories high, big enough for a wedding, they call it the sanctuary and actually hold weddings and opera concerts there.  Our guide recalls her marriage in the sanctuary 8 years earlier….and now she works there. 

During one part of the tour, we turn out all the lights and sit silently in the sanctuary with the beautiful acoustics listening to a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s – Hallaluha.  It will be a very memorable part of our tour.

On the road again we finally get to Gladstone were we find a motel for the night.  Still heading to Bundaberg.