From Bundaberg we decided to head to Rockhampton, but stopped in a few places on the road to Rocky.

First stop was Gin Gin, a small town with a lovely wide main street and lots of cafes and bakeries. We stayed at the showgrounds where we could get power and water for $25. Since we had been free camping for many days now I was holding out for a proper long hot shower, and we had clothes to wash and dry. It was a lovely relaxing stay with wide open grassy areas and fellow travellers to enjoy the company of.

The town advertised crab sandwiches, but on further enquiry, apparently they were all out of crabs. However we found a bakery that did scallop pies. After our stint in Tasmania a few years ago we considered ourselves partial experts in scallop pies, so had to give them a go. Not quite Tassie standard, but not bad.

We moved on to the next town called Miriam Vale. Here we actually found 'the big crab' and that shop did have crab sandwiches. Very nice.

The free parking in Miriam Vale was a bit cramped, but right in the middle of town. Not much of a town, apart from the big crab and the big fig tree (heritage listed apparently.) We considered moving on but decided not to, and thank God for that. The morning had been hot and muggy, and by early afternoon the clouds suddenly rolled in and we had a freak and brief thunderstorm. Once it was over, the weather was much nicer.

Yesterday we pushed on to Gladstone, a large town on the coast with many waterfronts, marinas and ports. Coal is shipped out from here.

Around the waterways there are gardens, picnic areas, playgrounds, even a waterpark for the kids. There are a couple of nice restaurants looking over the water, includng a local micro-brewery. Had to try a paddle of their wares.

This morning we went on a cruise on a ferry that services all the local islands - Quoin (which has a turtle sanctuary), Facing Island and Curtis Island - the largest of the three. This has a small township and also much room for camping.

Many of the vehicles getting on the ferry were large 4 wheel drives pulling very substantial camper trailers. And the way the ferryman stacked them all into place was something to behold. All vehicles had to be reversed into place under his instruction, and were lined up perfectly within a few inches of each other. Tetrus, eat your heart out. The islands were nice and the cruise was very pleasant, but watching him at his work was the highlight of the day.

Now back to the highway, and the final leg of the road to Rocky.

Georgey's bit

Gin Gin was a pleasant surprise. We expected a small town with nothing much to see but the Bakery came with their variation of Black forest cake and it was delightful.

Miriam Vale is that street that runs between the highway and the railway line. It has the Big Crab but everything else is small especially their parking spaces. At the Big Crab Pies are made with Crab, Croc and Kanga. Also they have Burgers with Roo, Barra and Crocs. Their bain marie is biodiversity on display. We were spoiled for choice.

On the way to Gladstone there is Lake Awoonga. A little trip to a lake sounded good. As I started the drive it was deja-vu, twisty and horrible, but soldiered on to find the place where I caught my first catfish instead of the Barramundi, never again.

Gladstone is a big town with a port, a marina and a brewery, a ferry that runs 3 days a week, Woolworth and Aldi. You get the feel of a big city yet the town centre seemed empty, possibly because of the school holidays. On a closer look it has everything but just one of each. Consequently, we were not spoiled for choice as there is not any.

Gladstone viewed from the water is more impressive, gurt by sea and many islands. Enjoyed a calm sea cruise and met some students on a trip by Earth Watch who nicely offered to take our picture and were introduced to the old camera button trigger, "Wow, who would have thoght of that?" seemed to be the impression I got. I also suggested organisations of the caliper of "Listening to concrete setting" and "Observing Paint drying" while keeping a watchful eye on "Grass growing", to compare to " observing the mangroves". which was their project