Day 63 – Thursday 18 August 2016 – Rockhampton - Maryborough

I think yesterday I was too annoyed to talk about Rockhampton and especially the van park.  The site was next to impossible to manoeuvre into with a narrow street and a very steep incline and it's now clear that the clutch on the car is on the way out.  The realisation that we'll have to nurse it home unless we want to pay about $3000 to replace it was really quite depressing.

So with that in mind we phoned ahead to try to book a site in Maryborough that would be level and a drive-through so it was less stress on the car (and me) and hopefully help to get us home in one piece.

We left Rockhampton about 8.30am which seems to have become a bit of a staple in our travels.  There were some amusing moments along the way - not the least of which was the traditional radio station search which seems to have lost a bit of its luster since now when you turn the radio on there are actually multiple stations.  There were also the multiple goods trains going the same way - I believe the count was 4 in 20 minutes which Shane was quite amazed by and hoped they had good shunting staff otherwise things could get ugly.

The traffic has increased so much in comparison to what we have been used to.  Especially the number of trucks, although now the majority are single or B-Doubles in contrast to the Road Trains.  The caravans, although still plentiful, are also winding down a little.  I had overheard a conversation back in Townsville where a fellow camper had stated that the Victorians were starting to head home in time for bowls season.  There are quite a few still heading south but a lot more heading north.  With the September school holiday season coming up I'm guessing that the coastal areas will also be thinning out as well.

We've had so many roadworks along this area too.  The most notable of mention for today was a couple of kms of 40km speed limit, guys at either end controlling the flow of traffic across a bridge with just one lane open and when we finally got to where the work was supposed to be carried out - a group of guys were just sitting on the side of the bridge smoking and talking.  hmmmmm.....

Obviously whoever maintains the road thinks it is as boring as everyone else does too.  Here's a novel idea to keep motorists eyes on the road......

And the sugar cane fields continue to be dotted throughout the area.   Unfortunately I don't think the vision of all those rats will ever leave either of us.  Definitely no moving to a sugar cane area for us!!!

The other thing we've noticed are the rivers - some of which are huge and very picturesque but unfortunately there is rarely anywhere to pull over to take a photo so hastily taken shots from the car window are all you can achieve.

We pulled in to Maryborough and yes it was a drive through site - sort of - but just barely enough room for the car and the van, with the tap for our site and the one next door, which was leaking everywhere, right beside our door.  So much so that I had to back the van right up to the edge of the road so we could get the door open.  

The van park backed onto the Mary River and just as I had feared, the sun started to go down and out came the mosquitoes.  That was me for the night.