Day 16 29/7/2019 Monday, Tannum Sands warm

We wake up covered in midge bites.

It’s time to leave this bushy paradise for a powered slab site on the other side of the park. Our bush neighbours will move one space to their left tomorrow to our unpowered spot. At least they won’t have to carry a table across the park.

Our new site is quiet and our new neighbours are friendly, it doesn’t take long to get setup again.

It’s only 20kms into Gladstone where Google directs us to the BCF (boating, camping and fishing) store for a new pair of Shimano’s. We tour the hilly streets of town, visit the marina and it’s green parklands and get a good view of the surrounding area from Auckland Hill lookout. From up here the shipping channel looks like a nightmare as there are so many islands and sand bars. We can see the coal fired power station that generates power for the two aluminium smelters to the south. The Gladstone smelter and the one at Boyne Island are said to be two of the world’s largest.

Why all this shipping and coal you may ask. Well to the west of here lies the Bowen Basin a 60,000 square kilometre coalfield. The region provides wealth and jobs for Queensland and angst for environmentalists.

We buy crumbed lamb cutlets at Barney Point Butchery returning home for a lazy afternoon and celebration of our anniversary with the Lamb Cutlets and the bottle of French champagne that we were unable to drink for either of our birthdays. We are encircled by the park’s resident peacocks.

Surprisingly we can only get one channel on TV (the unpowered area had good reception) so we suffer through an episode of Survivor (it’s either that or midges).

Summary 0kms, power, water, toilets, showers, Accom $29.70, champagne and peacocks.