Day 33: Fri 28 Jul 23 - Yeppoon to Mackay

Fri 28 Jul 23 - Yeppoon to Mackay (Towed 362km)

Weather: 16 Deg, clear with a very slight breeze in Yeppoon, to 19 Deg and steady rain in Mackay. 

On the road again. After a week of either cloudy or wet weather and strong winds, our final morning in Yeppoon was fabulous - it was sad to be leaving after such an enjoyable stay. Overall the weather in Yeppoon was great and we can't complain. We were packed and eventually drove away at 8.15am. It might have been earlier if old mate from next door didn’t come over and start talking to us to find out about every place we had ever been to with the caravan. He was a nice guy, but I don’t understand why people feel the need to come and start talking when you’re trying to hook up the van and leave a place. 

The road to Rockhampton was busy with morning traffic, then along the Bruce Highway it was quite rough in patches on the way to Marlborough but overall in good condition given all the recent rain. We stopped for mornos at the free camp behind the service station at the Marlborough turnoff, and it was still quite wet in places from recent heavy rain, but also very popular with other caravaners stopping for their morning break. By now it was sunny and 21 Deg and looking like becoming a fabulous day. We continued towards Mackay with very little truck traffic, but an incredible amount of caravans and motor homes heading south. Meanwhile it started to become very cloudy again as we reached Carmilla were we decided to stop for a lunch break beside the cane fields. 

The cane crops looked ready for harvest, but with all the water laying around from recent rain, there is no way of getting harvest machinery into the fields any time soon. By the time we reached Sarina, the sky had closed over with heavy clouds again and it started raining for the last 30 minutes of our trip into Mackay. We arrived at the Andergrove caravan park and set up on a wet boggy site by 2.30. 

After setting up, we sat inside the van enjoying tea and hot scones while it rained outside, then it was time for a short nap. Afterwards, I went for a 40 minute walk in light drizzle around the streets and nearby ski park to stretch the legs. At 6pm we set off to join our friend Lyndi for dinner who is house and dog sitting at her nearby daughter’s house for the weekend. We had a lovely evening catching up over a few glasses of red, before eventually returning to the van at about 1130, feeling very tired, and hoping for improved weather tomorrow. 


Morno's at Marlborough turnoff free camp

Canefields at Carmilla

Lunch stop beside canefields at Carmilla

Lunch stop beside canefields at Carmilla


Arrival at a very wet Andergrove Caravan Park.

A very wet Andergrove Caravan Park. The large semi tralier motor home was parked here two years ago when we last stayed here



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