Sugar In The Mornin', Sugar In The Evenin', Sugar at Suppertime...

Any guesses where we are?!?!

If you guessed Canelands, aka Mackay region, on the Central Coast of Queensland, you would be correct!

However, I have to tell you all about how we actually got here, as that was an adventure in itself!

So, last time I wrote, we were still staying with Phil's brother, Shane near Ipswich, west of Brisbane. We had a great time seeing him and the kids had a blast catching up with our cheeky beagle, Charlie. Charlie's stay with Shane had come to an end and we had to take Charlie to the kennel he will spend the next few months at.

The kennel owner, Lynette, struggled to hold back her own tears as Axel hugged her and tearfully asked her to take good care of his Charlie boy. Sob! Luckily, Charlie was greeted by a yappy bunch of wagging tails, so we dare say, he will have just as much a blast as we will!

So the following day, we FINALLY got the van packed and ready, with big ambitions of making it from Ipswich to Bundaberg. Unfortunately we didn't take a few things into account. First being, we are towing Her Majesty, who at nearly 2 tonne loaded, takes a bit of a kick to get going. Not that The Duke (the name of our Navara) struggled, but in 1974, Aerodynamics of caravans were still in their infancy! This adds about an hour extra to what the Garmin Navigator tells us in itself. Secondly, we have 2 small children, so although we can go long stretches of sitting, try getting a 4 year old and a 7 year old to sit comfortably without going stir crazy for more than 2 hours. Plus my poor bladder after two kids! Add an extra 45 minutes per stop to allow running around time. And we stop at least twice a day. Plus lunch. So without even accruing travel time, we are looking at 3-4 hours a day of, well, not much travelling! Then, there was the fact we got a late start - not leaving Ipswich until almost 10.30!

So on our first day, we decided to take the leisurely Burnett Highway over the popular Bruce. This proved to be a great idea! We stopped at the Wivenhoe Dam, infamous for being a factor in the recent Queensland floods. There at the dam, not only do you get to see the magnificent amount of water and natural beauty, but there is a fantastic, HUGE picnic spot at Cormorant Bay, full of BBQs, undercover seating, plenty of toilets and two playgrounds, as well as a cafe and kiosk if not packing your own food. We stopped for an hour to let the kids turn out some energy before moving on the next big stretch.

By nightfall, we had made it to Goomeri, North of Nanango - and nowhere near Bundaberg! Tired and hungry, we found in our Camps 6 books a chea stop, and pulled into the Goomeri Showgrounds where overnight powered sites were $15. Bargain! We had hot showers, toilets, power, undercover seated area, and best of all, we had it all to ourselves! Well, sort of... about 9pm a lovely couple, Neville and Janice, arrived in a self-contained Maui camper. They had a great job - driving the camper from Melbourne to Cairns, and being paid $300 to do it! What a great idea!

The next day, we took off earlier and headed toward Rockhampton. Having lived in North Queensland for a while, we knew we were getting closer to "home" when we saw the big Bull! Someone has taken his testicles since we saw him last, which gave us a laugh!

We arrived at Rocky about 4pm, and paid the extra to stay at the Big 4 Discovery Park. This was more a convenience, as we were tired and not willing to seek out a cheap alternative, and considering we'd saved a few dollars the night before in Goomeri, we were willing to pay the extra... besides, it was a special occasion - Mine and Phil's wedding anniversary! So why not! We took the kids out for dinner at Hogs Breath (again, special occasion, not a regular occurance!) and once back at the park, proceeded to diminish our liquor supply!

The next morning, Friday, with a hangover and a fair distance to go, we settled in for one of the hardest stretches of road. Between Rockhampton and Townsville on the Bruce Highway, there is not much at all! Not even many places to safely pull over on the side of the road in a car, let alone with a caravan. Our two-way came in handy to let trucks pass us and vice versa. We stopped at Marlborough for morning tea and Carmila for lunch, with plans to get to Finch Hatton, west of Mackay, by 3pm to set up camp.

Turning off at Sarina, we were 60 or so kilometres from our destination. How exciting! The sugar cane loomed and the kids became excited! We had come in anticipation of a job for Phil for the next few weeks to supplement our Travel funds... the bonus being cheap accomodation organised on our behalf at the Finch Hatton showgrounds!

From Sarina, the road started to become narrower, the sugarcane higher. Phone coverage wavered. Then theroad became dirt and rock! Her Majesty bounced and rocked, the Duke's suspension supported us... Chickens ran free accross the road... the Deliverance Duelling Banjos started playing in my head. Where the Eff are we?!?!?!

Well, who knows. the Garmin had taken us on one of it's famous "Short Cuts" - eventually, the road became tar again and we pulled into a town called Mirani. Turning out toward Finch Hatton, I felt better that I'd seen some civilisation within 10 minutes of where we would be staying.

Up infront of us, we saw another old, vintage van. Towed by a horse truck! We thought, "wow, how cool", seeing as we don't often see vans like ours still - trust me, that is another blog in itself! I was excited, thinking how great to see another old van! Then we pulled into Finch Hatton, where we saw another old van... but something started to worry me... we headed for the showground, where my fears were confirmed. The Show was in town. The old vans... were owned by Carnies. Fabulous. Now we look like common Carnies. Not to be outdone, the normally empty showground of Finch Hatton was full to the brim with Carnies and their Tilt-A-Whirls, Dagwood Dog carts and Ring-Toss games.

Phil went up to the Showground to find out where we were staying - our place had been organised by the employer we were contacting, so we though there was not a problem. We thought wrong. Turned out, our spot had been taken by another family in a mix-up.

The colour drained from me as I realised the sun was going down, we were 60 kms from Mackay and we'd drunk all of our liquor the night before.

Frantically calling every caravan park I could find with limited Iphone service, we managed to squeeze into one in South Mackay, called The Park. Getting one of the last spots, I quickly paid for the next two days to make sure we were safe and sound until we could get to Finch Hatton on Monday when the circus left town.

So I write now, relaxing in the 23 degree sunshine with the kids playing... Phil started his first shift today, but I will detail all that information about his job and how we found the work later!

I'm hoping to get more pics up on an album tonight, but in the mean time, the kids and I are heading out for the day to explore and load up on a few supplies we will need for the next few weeks being so far out of town.

Until later, thanks so much for enjoying our journey with us!

x The Lincolns