The gateway to the Keppel Islands and the start of the Great Barrier Reef, Yeppoon is a bit of a central gathering point for Island-hoppers, holidayers, those preferring to live on the coast but who work in nearby Rocky, or as a coastal part-time home for those working inland in the mines. We caught up with Luke's mate Macca, whom he went to Primary School with but is now doing just that - living in Yeppoon and working half the week three hours away in a coal mine. He couldn't say enough good things about the place, especially the reasonable living costs and the year-long holiday vibe and we had to agree, that after booking in for just two nights, and staying almost five, our pace slowed down and it felt like we were on holidays too... oh wait... we are!
We decided to stay at Kinka Beach this time, mainly because we'd heard many-a traveller with kids talking of the amazing Coolwaters Caravan Park, right on the beach and river inlet. And wow, we've seen some amazing parks on our trip so far, but this place was up there with the best! The water park rivalled that of Wet 'N' Wild on the Goldcoast, there were playgrounds and jumping pillows and bush walks on site, plus a little bonus that Arley was particularly taken with, a BMX bike track for him to practise his tricks!
We spent a few days exploring Yeppoon and the beaches that surround the area and ventured into the hinterland to swim in the fresh water pools of Stoney Creek, but got a little lost along the way and ended up at the not as pretty creek down the road... whoops! The kids loved playing in the foreshore water park and Luke and I quickly found a few great coffee spots - Lure on the main drag, which sells beautiful homewares and juices too, being our favourite.
The beaches have huge tides and the kids were amazed that they had to walk for ages to get to the water's edge. They loved playing in the warm shallow water and thought it was a heap of fun making mud balls and covering each other in the brown, thick sand. A kid's paradise!
I was lucky enough to be spoilt for Mother's Day on our last morning at Kinka Beach, and awoke to a bed filled with balloons and party blowers (perfect for a caravan park... NOT!) and some sweet hand-made cards and craft that the kids had hidden all over the caravan. A Mother's Day I'll always remember!
On the way to our next stop over, Mackay, we had lunch at a quaint little park in the small town of Marlborough. This tiny town just off the Bruce Highway was once a busy service centre for the surrounding farming towns, but is now home to just 50 residents. The museum was well worth a visit, and for a gold coin donation, you could spend ages reading about the past and how the area is famous for producing the world's finest aqua semi-precious stone, chrysophase.
We finally arrived at Mackay, and spent two nights here, mostly trying to avoid the horrible sand flies at our caravan park and keep cool from the heat! The free town pool, The Blue Lagoon is a popular spot to have a dip and on a Monday we had the place to ourselves, minus a few toddlers and their mums and a bunch of sun-baking backpackers. And after being on the road for five weeks now, the kids were chuffed when we visited the Mackay Art Gallery for a browse and a milkshake in the cool cafe, but even more excited to find the local library next door! We are weekly library visitors back in Newcastle, so spending some down time, out of the sun, to read and colour-in and just chill out was a lovely change and reminder of home.
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