The perfect pit stop

Recovery day. First, a constructive morning where I did lots of washing and some yoga while Kevin and Jemima alternated between the swimming pool and the bouncy pillow. Then lunch - the special of the day (a very tasty chicken red curry) at a little Thai cafe down the road. Followed by an amble down the Esplanade to a seafront cafe for tea, coffee and ice cream. Hervey Bay is mainly famous for its whale watching, but we were out of season; but it still had a very nice, empty, long sandy beach; and a sort of friendly low-key seaside-y feel, with some great beach tat shops along the seafront road.

Then Kevin went back to the motorhome for a rest, and Jemima and I had a great afternoon wandering together. We did stickers in the cafe, then wrote some postcards; went to the Post Office for stamps; the bottle shop for wine and beer (they're not sold in supermarkets by law in Queensland, which is annoying); then the supermarket for water (Jemima had an involved chat with the man about her sunglasses, which he admired); and browsed summer outfits for her and me in the various clothes/ tat shops. She is a lot of fun to hang out with, and we had a lovely time. 

Then back to the motorhome where Kevin took over again, and they watched Minions (she's finally into films, hurrah!) while I sat outside reading a John Wyndham I'd found in the laundry room. Bliss. And finally, beans on toast, and bed. A much-needed recovery day after all the driving, plus some time out for both Kevin and I; and a lovely little place; but our current mission is jellyfish-free beach time, now we are far enough south to be out of the danger zone, and this doesn't quite fit the bill; so we are off in search of the perfect campsite/ beach resort combo tomorrow. 

 

Over half way at Hervey Bay

No caves today, just five hours of driving, with Jemima entertained by Frozen (again), and games of noughts and crosses; and a very welcome McDonalds lunch, including free face painting! Paid for by McDonalds apparently, and she did a brilliant job. And then we arrived in lovely Hervey Bay.

Jemima and I walked to the local shop for provisions (via the campsite's jumping pillow, always a hit), while Kevin recovered from the drive; then we had salads outside the van watching enormous bats fly overhead, and trying to ignore the mossies. Then inside for a well-deserved ice cream and Frozen magazine from the shop for Jemima, after being so patient during two long days of driving. 

And now we're here, we are over half way on our trip between Cairns and Sydney, distance wise; but less than half way time wise, which means we're doing well. We'll see what Hervey Bay has in store tomorrow.

 

A sign post at our Rockhampton campsite showing exactly where we'd come from and how far to go:

 

Rockhampton to Hervey Bay:

 

And on the large scale map: