The ocean woke me around 4.15 this morning. It was so loud that I'd been dreaming someone was rustling aluminium foil by my ear! To top being woken up, someone's radio alarm started going off around 4.30, and I couldn't get back to sleep! Caravan parks are strange places.
We packed up the tent and had some breakfast (tomatoes on toast for me - grilled on the hot plate), and we were off! We stopped off at the Bob Jane to pick up our tyre (which had Elliot's name written on it in big chalk letters) and hit the highway. The stretches of road were immense and beautiful; giving us a little taster of what's to come on our trip to Katherine! The soil stated to get redder and redder along the journey, and despite the numerous road works, we had a pleasant drive.
I had read in the Lonely Planet that in 2000, 15 backpackers perished in a deliberate fire in the Childers Palace Hostel. They had all been working as fruit pickers in the area, and all a similar age to Elliot and myself. We drove right past the building (restored in the original manner) which have me the chills.
Seeing as we would pass through Bundaberg regardless, we thought we'd stop at the famous distillery. Neither of us fancied the rum, but we love the soft drinks - especially the ginger beer and sarsaparilla. We follows the signs to the brewery, but found it was only for the rum. After a quick look around, we hopped back in the car to escape the dreadful smell. We took a quick trip a little further and made it to the big barrel where the soft drinks are produced. We didn't have time for the tour, but bought six bottles of various flavours to try. After a quick petrol stop, we were back on the highway, and made good time to the sleepy towns of Agnes Water and 1770. We took a quick spin in the car, marvelling at the crystal clear water, and pulled up at the campsite. We bagged the last available pitch, $33 a night, and booked in for two. The tents went up in a flash, and we had a late lunch. We thought we should explore by car as the day was quickly slipping by, and drove to the beach at Agnes Water. Very pretty, but at this point I'm so afraid of crocs that I don't want to be near the water! However there were some braving the cool-ish temperatures and plunging into the water. We found an IGA with extortionate prices and picked up a few supplies so that we can have pasta tonight.
Our campsite is right on the beach and very pretty. We headed onto the sand to watch the sunset (along with most of the other tenants) and saw a great many pelicans. Once the sun is down, it gets dark almost immediately and we headed back to the tent. Elly is planning with the map, and sorting out our next stop. I overhead the man on the next pitch grumbling about the site. "It's a bit misleading, saying the grounds are right on the beach. They fail to mention the stonefish, box jellies and sharks". Right. So no swimming here then! I'd better get my head torch out and battle for some space in the very small kitchen!