On the road

Back from our adventurous road trip through Queensland - 3,100 km northbound along the coast and into the outback on the Capricorn Highway. That's more or less the same distance as from London to Athens. In Europe, only gypsies would travel such distances by car.

Day 1: Hervey Bay

Probably the best place to do whale watching Australia. On their migration south to Antarctica humpback whales rest in the tranquil waters of Hervey Bay, where they - and particularly their calves - are safe from predators. So, there was no other choice than to board one of the many tour boats and head out into the bay. And it was definitely worth the money! We spotted loads of mother whales with their calves, and a lot of jumping and flipper waving happened around the boat. The pictures I took are rather shitty, but it was very difficult to predict where they would jump out of the water next, and I soon got tired of pointing the camera at the sea waiting for the perfect shot.


Day 2: Bundaberg & Rockhampton

First stop after driving through seemingly endless fields of sugar cane: the Bundaberg Rum Distillery. We got a tour through the production process (basically, trainloads of sugar + other ingredients I cannot remember = rum) and two free samples of the final product. However, as I was the assigned driver, only one sample for me.

The crew (from left to right): Anthony, me, Jack, Christian, Elodie, Aurelie and Beatrice

We then spent the night in Rockhampton, also known as the beef capital of Australia. There are more than two million cattle within a 250 km radius of city, and you can probably guess what we had for dinner. STEAK! And a bloody good one.


Day 3: Great Keppel Island

Still digesting the large amount of grilled animal, we took the ferry to Great Keppel Island, a small isle not far off the coast. Hardly developed, Great Keppel Island offers several quiet beaches that can only be reached after an arduous walk through the bush. As the island is located on the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef, there are corals and colourful fishes, which we explored with the snorkelling gear that came for FREE with our camping site. Evening was classy: Cheap wine from a bag on the beach after a self-cooked pasta meal.


Day 4: Comet

Next day involved a lot of driving. After a short stop at the Aboriginal Cultural Centre (the Lonely Planet© will receive a serious e-mail for praising this place!) we made our way into the outback. What is called the Capricorn Highway is just a narrow one-lane road: No bends, hardly any traffic, monstrous road trains, and loads and loads of road kill. Honestly, there is a dead kangaroo/wallaby/rodent/snake every 50 metres.

When the night closed in, we decided to set up our tents in Comet, a small hamlet of 50 inhabitants in the middle of nowhere. Places of interest: the Comet River pub, a petrol station, and a public phone. We slept at a caravan park, which almost exclusively accommodates miners who work in the local coal mines (which was the reason why the girls got an extra key for the ladies’ shower room).


Days 5 and 6: Carnarvon National Park

After driving for miles on unsealed, incredibly dusty roads (explicitly forbidden by the car rental agency; there was even a big red sticker on the windshield!) we arrived at Carnarvon National Park, which we expected to be an “amazing oasis with river oaks, flooded gums, cabbage palms, moss gardens, deep pools and platypuses in the creek”. And in fact, this time the Lonely Planet© had not exaggerated the beauty of the place. Well, we did not spot any platypuses, but we saw kangaroos, emus, wallabies, and an echidna (basically, a hedgehog with a trunk). Actually, the kangaroos grazed in-between the tents on our camping site, and they soon became a rather boring sight.


Day 7: Emerald

After two days in Carnarvon Gorge we headed back north to Emerald, which lies in the middle of rich gem fields. So, we tried our luck and bought six buckets of dirt (yes, we bought dirt), hoping to find that one sapphire that would allow us to quit university and buy the Playboy Mansion. However, finding sapphires is a very tiring job (fill the bucket with dirt, sieve the dirt, wash the pebbles, search the remains for sapphires), and we soon gave up. The few sapphire chips I found were worth less than shit.


Day 8: Blackdown Tableland National Park

After this disillusioning experience we set out for the coast again. On the way we stopped at Blackdown Tableland National Park, which is a spectacular 600 m sandstone plateau that rises out of the flat outback plains. Following yet another forbidden, bumpy ride on unsealed roads, we enjoyed the fantastic view and forced ourselves to a short hike through the bush, knowing that this would make us appreciate the beach even more.


Day 9: Agnes Water & Town of 1770

Back at the coast! To be precise, we spent the night where Captain James Cook first landed in – yes, you guessed right – 1770. Next day we headed straight to the marvellous beach. Being Queensland’s northernmost surf beach, we hired two surf boards to give it a try. And yes, I stood up two times! Once even for amazing 2 (two!) seconds!! Unfortunately, there are no pictures of that great moment in sports history, only pictures of me making a complete fool of myself in front of semi-professional 10-year-olds.


Day 10: Rainbow Beach

The final leg of our road trip led us to Rainbow Beach, which derives its name from a spectacular set of multicoloured cliffs. Moreover, there is a 120 m high sand dune, which “has been known to make the most cynical sightseer gasp”. And in fact, the Lonely Planet© was right again. Being a very cynical sightseer myself, I got utterly excited.

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