It’s a long way to the top, Day 84 – Marybra

Day 84 Thursday Aug 28^th 2014 Gayndah to Maryborough

We wake to a warm morning and the traffic that starts at about 6:00am. The mayor of North Burnett, Don Waugh drops by for a chat and to make sure that we’re happy with the park. Now that is service. He tells us that the park was under water only last year and sure enough we see a 44 gallon drum and a chair stuck high up in the trees.

At Ban Ban Springs, Woody and I are so busy eyeballing the rest area camp site that we miss our turnoff, whoops. Back on track we cross a small ridge and find ourselves surrounded by small hills and volcanic red soil. It’s an easy drive from Biggenden across the heavily forested, but not steep, Great Divide to Maryborough. We don’t need the GPS to tell us that we’re near the coast as we’re back in sugar cane country.

As we drive into Maryborough (pronounced Marybra) Shirley is excited as she has spotted the Aldi store. The boys get to wondering where the Dan Murphy (liquor) store is when a voice comes over the air “there’s a Dan Murphy’s in Richmond Street.” Yes, these UHF radios sure are handy.

It’s market day and the city is busy and the market colourful. Bratwurst and sauerkraut make a change from camping food too. Double or Nuthin & Shirley Temple head south to Rainbow Beach on their way to see the family in Brisbane and we settle into Wallace’s Caravan Park beside the Mary River. It is grassy with nice gardens and as quiet as you can get in a city. But the first thing that we notice is the smell of the grass. It has been a while.