Bowen

Monday, 25 June 2012


We have realised why the weather is wet and dismal – it is showtime! Mackay Show was on last Saturday and the Bowen Show is tomorrow. It is just typical show weather, wherever one is in Australia.

We packed up in the rain and left Mackay without any real backward glances. The road north was very busy, lots of caravans and trucks heading in both directions. Leslie was starting to suffer from RSI, what with all the waving to oncoming caravans. A couple of trucks drivers (one in particular) made his feelings known about what he thought of caravans holding up truck drivers – the lack of passing lanes and rest areas didn’t help, either. Of course, we encountered more of the usual roadworks which we have decided are there just to keep the car and caravan a nice shade of mud!

With it only being a relatively short drive of less than 200 kms, we arrived at Bowen well before lunch. We are staying at the Big 4 Coral Coast Holiday Resort which has absolute beach frontage and only caters to tourists. It isn’t over large but is set out well with lots of palm trees and small gardens between sites. These are all drive through but a bit on the narrow side – we had to ask someone to move their car so we could swing into the site. Everything is nice and clean, as well as being well maintained. Such a relief after Mackay.

Today I finally admitted defeat and decided I really did need medical attention for my ongoing cold which has now developed into sinusitis. After telephoning all the doctors’ surgeries, we ended up at the Bowen Hospital and only had to wait just over 30 minutes before being seen by a doctor. We spent this time watching infomercials on the television and were quite willing to pay the $170 for a baby bullet (blender) just to have a change of product!!! A visit to the local shopping centre(I’m sure Nicolle Kidman and Hugh Jackman must have shopped here for their groceries) to have the prescription filled before returning to the caravan park for a quick look at the beach. There wasn’t a lot of beach on show and it didn’t really look a swimming type of beach – well, not today, anyway.