Written by Kim
We caught the 8:10 ferry to leave beautiful Hamilton Island and get on the road for our longest drive of about 10 hours. We’ve been fortunate to travel many places and I think Hamilton Island has moved into my #1 favorite spot displacing the Isle of Capri which was formerly my #1. HI is just gorgeous and so relaxing I highly recommend you put it on your bucket list if you get down under. We left kind of early so had some toasties for brekky (breakfast) on the ferry. We were on the road by 9:30.
The ride was rural for the most part. Lots of sugar cane fields and cows with a small town here or there. It was usually a 2 lane road – one in each direction but sometimes had a passing lane. There was lots of road construction in places upgrading to more of a freeway and in other spots just adding a lane. While it was a long drive there were few cars despite the fact that it is the main road going north/south along the eastern coast. They have lots of funny signs reminding to take a break if tired and even providing trivia to fight fatigue because it is a bit monotonous. They had a cool koala crossing sign but I missed a picture will see if I can get on another drive. Unfortunately we didn’t see a live kangaroo while driving but saw several dead ones on the side of the road. They are like deer in NJ and often are hit by drivers.
We didn’t plan too well for food during our drive and hit a stretch of about 300 km where there was nothing. When we finally reached Rockhampton around 2 pm we were starving and delighted to find Hungry Jacks (Burger King) to grab some lunch. We arrived at our apartment a bit after 9 pm. Reception was closed but they left our key and some very complicated instructions about entering the parking garage and accessing our apartment. We figured it out even though we were both a bit tired from the drive. The apartment is huge with a hot tub on the balcony. We had plans to use it but crashed while I was addressing my priority – some more laundry therapy! We will relax in the hot tub when we return from our tour of Fraser Island later. We are all set with happy hour cocktails to try out in the hot tub.
It’s 6 am on Monday as I write. We are off to a boat tour soon of Fraser Island. G’day mates until tomorrow.
