Yeppoon

Not a great day today.  Rick decided to wash the caravan so thought I'd make sushi for the first time for car snacks for the kids.  They get so hungry travelling and I'm forever handing over fruit, biscuits, whatever I can get my hands on. I quickly realised that sushi was a bad idea when the kids had a sample and walked sticky rice all through the caravan. And so began the cleaning, and by the time we left it was 10.30 AM. Farewell lovely Lake Awoonga, we've enjoyed the tranquility of this fishing haven. On to Rockhampton, which seemed to take forever. Lots of road works and traffic. There were caravans everywhere and I'm sure that's not just because of the school holidays.  The kids were restless in the car and Zachie kept bucking like a bull wanting to get out of his seat.  So we were happy to see the big bull on the outskirts of town.  Beef country with a definite cowboy feel.  We stopped briefly on the side of the road for a pit stop and were hit by the heat (and the sign above).  Was it a hot day or sign of things to come.  On went the air conditioner, in July which felt very odd.  Given we were already late, we decided to bypass the town centre en route to Yeppoon which I thought was just down the road.  It turned out to be 50km and so began the disappointment.  Hunger set in followed quickly by the whinging. The DVD's were exhausted so there was no distraction.  The sushi beckoned and the kids wanted lunch. I was so keen to see more of Rockie and felt flat that we were driving away.  We had a booking at a park just south of Yeppoon but Sandy Dunn, Leigh Comerfords husband had offered us his family's beach house just up the road at Emu Park.  They had planned to join us for the weekend, but it was just too far for poor Lee-bee in a weekend from Sydney.  Sandy was mortified when we said we were staying at the Cool Waters Holiday park and insisted we stay.  So we went for a look to check things out, as the caravan park didn't look that great from the "scenic highway".  We got lost of course, and there was more complaining from the back. We put out an SOS but Leigh was in a meeting.  We took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end with no way of turning around, so Rick had to back the caravan 500m down the road with me directing.  So we fired up the computer and found it on google maps. Finally we arrived and it was magic.  Think Katey Thomas's parents beach house out on a point (Rocky Point) all on its own.  The land is special and the view is unbelievable, but there's not a lot of yard and there's a steep cliff all around the perimeter.  Great for adults, not so for little kids. The neighbour spotted us and drove over with the keys, so we went in and it was dreamy. I could have stayed forever.  This is the house you drool over in those "best beach houses of the world" books. The kids pleaded with us to stay, but sense prevailed and we opted for the caravan park as we knew it would prove too hard to keep them contained and there'd be much yelling and TV watching to keep us sane.  Not worth it, so on to the Cool Waters Caravan Park, which was a great disappointment of course.  Packed like sardines, ferrals everywhere, I was not happy.  They had to put us on an "overflow" site, which is basically on the grass wherever we could fit.  So we're right near the playground and dodgy looking cabins.  Not happy Jan.  A crappy day and all I could do was dream of that beautiful view and comfy sofa somewhere in the distance.