Comfort Inn Marco Polo Motel Mackay

We diverted on the way to Arlie to head to a small coastal national park - Cape Hillsborough. Great spot with good camping on the dunes. <br><br>We shared a campsite with Robert - who was living off the sea there and had been there for a while. Robert gave us some great tips - and with his mud maps we found caves and blow holes ...

... and be charged like a wounded bull. <br><br>Batteries up to 100% capacity, our adventure into the unknown took a couple of twists. We headed for Carmilla Beach and was warned that the last 300 m was sandy. They weren&#8217;t joking and the bus weighing 10 tonne struggled with the sand traps and the parking arrangements would have left us bogged for weeks. So we gingerly continued out on the sandy roads heading for Mackay. Now it was beginning to get late in the day ...

... as was my steak. The prawns though were huge and in the shell looking like min-lobsters :O) <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br ><br>Being on the east coast and the room facing east we got to see the sun rise up from the sea through the palms. Is there a better way to welcome a new morning :O) We then went out ...

... a kitvhen, to sleep in a bed and get to know Dobbs better. Molly celebrated her 5th birthday here. We took her to lunch in the city and then had a party with Dobbs' grandson Sam and a few kids from nxt door. Molly had a great day and her and Sam became great buddies. We stayed for 4 nights, said our goodbyes and hit the road. I just loved it there!! Thanks Dobbs x

... the kids. We've discovered that the kids can keep themselves occupied here for at least 15 minutes. More than enough time, when it needs to be. Although, the children do wonder why we now refer affectionately to these trampoline-like things as the "jumping pillows of love"; · Despite the kids failing the "Nintendo experiment", there are some positive signs that they are learning something of value on this trip. A few days ago Sarah suggested that they ...

... that since I was doing the one doing the driving, what would take most people 10 hours and 49 minutes took me a shade over 8 hours), I finally pitched up in Mackay though, and it is, to my relief, quite a nice little town. I'm in a mixed dorm tonight, which is alright, and somewhat ironically I've met a really nice Aussie lad called Steve, but I'd already agreed to move to a girls' dorm tomorrow (I am in a state of constant vigilance for Peut ...

... to a secluded beach on the other side of the island which you can only reach by boat - and leave you for 2 hours with a picnic hamper full of food. We were too hot to eat much anyway, but had a swim and sunbathe and chilled out even more than the day before. Luckily he did come back 2 hours later so we didn't have to swim back or get stranded. We had to have an earlyish night because we had to get up at 6am the next morning to get the ferry (no helicopters for us ...

... a large rock pool fed by a small waterfall and taking up comfortable positions on the bank resumed our search. We didn`t, in truth, have to search very hard as a now familiar splash announced the presence of a platypus almost immediately. Following the trail of bubbles we were thrilled to see him heading in our direction and just couldn`t believe our luck when he bobbed to the surface just a metre (if that) from the bank. We were so surprised and excited that we almost ...

... supports me. So, I left in search of that. Once I quit that job, Josh and I decided to leave the area altogether. Although it is a beautiful area, it is also a party area, and we chose to take ourselves out of that environment. We both have our vices, and we know how easy it can be to get wrapped up in those scenes, and it's just not worth it. We had heard about some work opportunities in Mackay, so we boarded a bus and headed south 2 hours ...

Monday, 10th September, 2007 (written by Suzanne) Mackay and Seaforth There is not much to Mackay not a city that I would bother to visit again, just a big town with all the facilities but not much else besides midges. Packed and ready to try a new destination, one that we have been looking forward since we saw it on 'Getaway' or 'The Great Outdoors' months ago - Cape Hillsborough which is situated about 40 ...