Onwards to Airlie Beach.

I have been having some electrical problems with the 12 volt cigarette lighter in the Landcruiser, consequently the Engel freezer and other 12V accessories have been intermitently cutting out. Emerald being a fair sized town allowed me the opportunity to buy a double 12V socket, which I wired directly to the auxillary battery via an inline fuse. This appears to have resolved the previous problems. On the road again, northbound. We have decided to now head north-east towards the coast,joining up with the Bruce Hwy at Mackay. On the way we stopped mid-afternoon at a great rest area beside the Isaac River. Shortly after we were joined by two other couples in caravans for the overnight stop. As the State Of Origin Rugbby league match is on tonight between NSW and QLD, we set up our satelite dish to ensure god TV reception. As it turned out we were the only ones to get a picture, so we invited the other couples (both Queenslanders) to join us to watch the game in our van. As luck!
would have it, NSW won, so we did not have to suffer the ridicule of our guests. Les and Kim, one of the other couples had supper with us and in return for our hospitality, Les who is an auto-electrician, gave me a hand next morning to completely rewire the 12V accesory outlet in the Landcruiser with the recommended connectors, which he had with him. After morning tea we all departed on our seperate ways. This sort of friendship and mutual help is what makes roadside rest area overnight camping so enjoyable. A lunch stop at Bowen, then on to Airlie Beach for our next overnight - this time in the Gateway Caravan Park and the promise of dinner at the best seafood cafe in Australia. Wrong, the cafe has closed since our last visit in 2004, possibly because they were too cheap. We consoled ourselves with fish and chips from a take-away, eaten at their kerbside tables. Still very nice though.
Airlie Beach has changed completely, high rise everywhere and prices elevated to match this development. This is most unfortunate as we feel the casual back-packer atmosphere has gone. The caravan park has quite small sites now, having sacrificed quite a number in favour of cabins.

Kevin and Gail.