Froggles Travels: Sarina, Mackay – 17.04.2016

We left Springsure Showgrounds early morning of the 17th, having not had much sleep due to some local residents nearby parting till 4am in the morning. We were somewhat not too impressed as we had a very long drive ahead of us, travelling from Springsure via Emerald up to Clermont then travelling through Moranbah, Nebo and stopping overnight at Epsom at the Retreat Hotel.

Our trip took us roughly 6 hours, and had to deal with a lot of road trains on this stretch of road as this area is a coal mining area.


Well deserved drink


Entrance to the Retreat Hotel


When we saw this wood pile, we thought of Gerry how he would love to make a bonfire


The local weather bureau

On Monday 18.04.2016 we left the Retreat Hotel, and made our way towards Sarina – known as The Serenity Coast – located on the Coastal Plain and the Connors Range, south of Mackay. This region is an unspoilt area and has retained much of its natural charm associated with sugar cane farming. Sarina is surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges and stunning beaches.

The caravan park that we decided to stay for 6 nights was called Sarina Palms Caravan Village, we were made so welcome, assisted into our caravan site and was proudly informed of the happy hour every night from 5 pm. This caravan park as you can see was extremely well maintained with manicured lawns and gardens all hosting animal figurines. Needless to say Brandy could not get used to the big Rhinoceros next to our site, and continually growled at it. See the photos below


The big Rhino next to our site

Camp kitchen and the happy hour venue


Layout of camp kitchen


The animals around the park

'Ole King Kong was everyone's favourite

Happy hour was every one’s favourite of course and we made good friends and had a good hour or so chatting every night before every one went back to their van for dinner. Here is Shirley and Brandy relaxing on the “Bull” sofa at happy hour.

We also went to Mackay and saw some of the surrounding beaches. Mackay is a very clean and tidy city which has been hard hit by the recent downturn in the mining sector. We had the opportunity to drive to the new quay which was recently built and see some of the lovely beaches.

Whisky and I on the new quay

Above is a panoramic view of Slade Point north of Mackay and the photo below is of a black parrot that we saw on the road as we were leaving Slade Point. There were roughly 6 black parrots and as they took flight, they had red under their wings and tails. They are extremely beautiful birds.

We also drove past a butcher shop and of course had to turn back for some biltong and droewors.

One happy customer (The wors was not too bad I might add)

The following day we spent at the beach close to Sarina. I tried my luck at fishing and did not even get a bite.

Here is a photo of Shirley and the kids and you will see on the beach what looks like a work of art formed by thousands of crabs that collect the sand at low tide and extract the tiny microorganisms to feed on and spit it out as round little balls of sand.

Some of the art work left behind by these crabs look like they were made by man.

We also had the chance whilst staying at Sarina to visit the Finch Hatton Gorge for the day and as a result we decided to go and spend some time at Finch Hatton Gorge and also visit Eungella and its natural beauty. We booked in to the show ground which is behind the Finch Hatton hotel and set up camp for a few days.

Our camp set up which was basic and yet comfortable and at the back of the wall behind the caravan is a stream which can be seen below

A stream running at the back of the camp

The day after we arrived at Finch Hatton we took a drive to Eungella which is absolutely gob smacking beautiful. One of the circuits which we did is called the sky window and reminded us a lot of God’s window in South Africa.

There are an abundance of streams and rivers teaming with turtles and the occasional platypus, however we did not have the fortune of seeing one.

We also visited the Eungella dam and had lunch at a little café on the way back to camp. The little cottage restaurant was run by a German hippie lady who emigrated to Australia close on 20 years ago. She looked like a child of the fifties who has not realised that the flower power era was over (Obviously a bad case of too much turbo cabbage).

Eungella Dam

At the little café where the whacked out hippie lady resides and runs her café

The stunning view from the café.

The following day we went to the gorge and we were totally surprised to find so much beauty in one location. The photos do not do this place any justice, it is a 360 degree panorama of natural forest, streams, waterfalls and rapids. A definite must do for all caravaners/tourists