We were sorry to leave Coolum Beach today but breakfast at Ma Boulange cafe certainly helped us on our way.

Today we are heading north again and this time to Hervey Bay, pronounced ‘Harvey Bay’, or ‘Her vay Bay’ if our English speaking GPS navigation is to be believed. It’s a trip of 202KM on mostly motorways though the word motorway here in Queensland seems to be quite loosely defined.

It’s an unexpectedly interesting drive through rolling tree covered hills and winding roads lined with sugar cane plantations. It is far removed from the dry, open countryside of country New South Wales. But eventually we joined the Bruce Highway at Yandina and the road opened up but we were still surrounded by lush vegetation. It was also quite hilly but nothing that upset the car and caravan.

M1 Needs Funds

Just north of Coles Creek it appears the motorway construction budget ran out of funds and comes to an abrupt stop off to the right of us. Fortunately our route veered slightly to the left becoming the A1 and a reduction to two lanes though still easy driving.

Our GPS announced we were approaching the town of ‘Jimpy’. She does try, bless her. We were actually approaching Gympie, pronounced ‘Gim pee’, which owes its early affluence to the discovery of gold in 1867. At the time Queensland was in a severe economic depression and it is believed the discovery of gold here saved the state from bankruptcy. Unfortunately the money hasn’t saved the town from the severe periodic floods it experiences sitting beside the Mary River.

After a brief stop for lunch we had reached our halfway point. The majority of the trip weaved it’s way along the Mary River valley taking the lowest point to avoid constructing roads through hillsides. Finally we took a turn towards Maryborough, which has an unusual claim to fame and currently quite topical, but more about that later when we return to explore the town.

Urangan

Just a short while later and we were arriving at our next stopping point, Urangan, Hervey Bay. And a very pleasant place the Pier Caravan site is and very close to the enormous Urangan Pier, more of which later.

Being by the sea it’s almost compulsory to have fish and chips and not to break tradition we stopped by at a local shop and enjoyed battered cod and a huge tray of chips. And shortly after, feeling more than a little guilty, we set off along the foreshore to walk-off the excess. And then along to the end of the pier and back while watching the sun set over the sea.

Tomorrow we’ll be exploring the area further and planning a trip over to Fraser Island – the world’s largest sand island.