Bowen 16 to 19. 6. 05

When we left Wunjunga in the morning, Heather was keen to go back to the great beach spots we had visited. We visited Giru and checked out a good free camp spot, but we decided not to stay. It was an active sugar cane mill with workers busy, trains chugging about, fields being harvested, trucks moving cut cane and steam pouring out of the chimneys. The town had an old feel and one empty shop had a sign to the effect of “any offers considered”. Heather read all the info about the next area and got a good feel about Bowen, as it was said to be one of only a few places you can snorkel from straight off the beach. We stayed at Horseshoe Bay for 4 nights at the caravan park overlooking Greys Bay and a minutes walk to Horseshoe Bay, which is a delightful little beach. Went for many swims- water was warm and there was a coral reef to snorkel on. It was wonderful and we saw lots of fish and pretty coral. Heather saw a few stingrays dash out of the sand when we first went out and this made her a bit wary about putting our feet down so we swam like beached whales right to the edge of the beach to get in and out. They were about 1 metre long, including their tail. Considering the length of time it takes to get to the outer reef and the seasickness, the local reef was great- just straight off the beach. It is a fantastic little corner of Bowen that will probably be resort development in a few years, as we think it was perfect. Then back for a sauna! Peter took off early on his bike to check out some garage sales on Saturday am. We also had a few bike rides around Bowen. Heather has got over her anxiety as long as Peter rides carefully - which he does. It has been very convenient to have the freedom of the bike in the towns. It is not as touristy as other towns such as Port Douglas which is more what we enjoy. It is a lot drier than we imagined and all the streets are WIDE and spread out. It was even a little bit like Charters Towers, full of old country town houses. On Sunday, we had lunch at the sailing club and more fish –salmon mackerel – really good. Then up to the lookout – you could see out to the Whitsunday islands. It was also low tide and we were surprised how much mud flat there was in the harbour – luckily our campsite has a more or less normal beach. We went to a small market by the beach and bought a bag of frozen mango with eight big cheeks for $3 and ate a few there and then and the rest when we got back to Jimmy. It was such a surprise that it was that good.