The ins and outs of how all this affected Laguna Quays is discussed in the relevant section of The Parochial North (here) but as we head past Lethe Brook, and Gunyarra (site of a World War Two Field Experimental Station, details here) across the low-lying Goorganga Plains Wetlands we’re passing one of the other nails in the Laguna coffin, which comes in the form of the existing Whitsunday Coast Airport.
The $250 million complex was originally built by Japanese based company Japanese banking consortium Aqua Del Ray, based in Kobe. Aqua Del Ray went under in the wake of the Kobe earthquake, and Village Roadshow picked it up for a mere $23 million, passing it on to a joint venture between Melbourne property developer David Marriner and the the Cbus superannuation fund, who reportedly paid $25 million for the complex Marriner subsequently labelled the "the dud of all duds" (Here).
Marriner and Cbus subsequently fell out, and in the settlement Marriner ended up with Laguna, which he wanted to revitalise by building an international airport. He was going to ensure the viability of his new airport by buying the existing Whitsunday Coast airport from the Whitsunday Council, swamp the nearby strip on Hamilton Island through sheer weight of competition and make the marina at Laguna the hub for ferries operating out to the Whitsunday islands.
You can imagine how that idea went down in Airlie Beach, where the Abel Point Marina was looking to do the same thing...
That proposal would probably have suited the crowd who were looking to exploit the oil shale reserves that lie under the Goorganga wetlands, but ecological concerns put the kibosh on that concept, and given the money the Whitsunday Regional Council has poured into the airport at Whitsunday Coast in anticipation of an ongoing little earner you’d have to reckon Laguna is totally dead in the water.
From Goorganga you’ll head on past Breadalbane and Glen Isla before the highway loops around the eastern extremity of Proserpine, passing the motel that served as the mental model for the establishment that features in Dirty Work at the Crossroads and the Visitor Information Centre before heading across the Proserpine River onto Hamilton Plains.
With the highway skirting around the actual town of Proserpine there’s not much reason to stop, since travellers are more likely to be heading off to Cannonvale and Airlie Beach, turning off onto Shute Harbour Road almost immediately after the bridge.
On the other hand, if you’re northward bound a diversion into Proserpine’s worth making if you’ve got the time, an inclination to stretch the legs. Alternatively, across the bridge, you could pull up at the Whitsunday Gold Coffee Plantation, home to the Whitsunday Farmers Market from 6am to midday on the first and third Sundays of each month.
The highway continues through Myrtlevale, past the sawmill, crossing a ridge and running down to the other turnoff to Airlie Beach, Dingo Beach, Hydeaway Bay and the Gloucester Passage.
The drive to Airlie runs through Strathdickie, and if you’ve got the time and the inclination to negotiate the unsealed road between Hydeaway Bay and the Gloucester Passage, Monte’s Reef Resort and the Eco Resort, both of which offer decent lunch options looking out over the water. Booking a table at Monte’s can usually get you something looking straight over the water, but the views from the rival establishment aren’t too shabby either.