Wednesday, 17 June 2009
If I needed any further evidence that we could (and probably should) get out and about more, it was provided on this morning’s walk, when I learned that the Bowen dining out scene was in the middle of yet another spate of culinary musical chairs.But I’m getting ahead of myself.While I’m quite happy to spend the days seated in the office, reading or tapping away at the keyboard while an iTunes playlist plays, when Madam wanders in suggesting an excursion to Airlie Beach for a spot of retail therapy I’m not going to raise any objections. After all, somewhere between half- and three-quarters of an hour in a shopping centre is a small price to pay when you can enjoy a view like this one over lunch.
It’s been a while since we ventured into Airlie, partly due to the much-touted Global Financial Crisis and its impact on Hughesy’s retirement funds, but mainly due to Madam’s failure to locate anything of interest in the junk mail from Centro Whitsunday.And we mightn’t have headed out this time if Madam’s growing interest in photography hadn’t prompted a suggestion that she needed a walk through some rain forest to explore some of the intricacies of the new camera.
Research into the walking tracks around Airlie Beach revealed the existence of the Whitsunday Great Walk, a two-day trek that was slightly beyond what we were looking at, though two much shorter walks that start from the same departure point.
The publicity material regarding the 2 km Kingfisher Circuit suggested we were looking at something between three-quarters of an hour and ninety minutes, which sounded more or less right . The alternative was the 7 km Wompoo Walk, which requires between three and four hours and would have taken lunch out of the equation.
We didn’t get away quite as early as planned, and things were further complicated when we missed the turn onto Brandy Creek Road the first time around.
We’d headed down using the usual route, turning off the highway north of Proserpine, passing through Strathdickie, turning right at the junction with Shute Harbour Road. The Brandy Creek Road turnoff is right after Brandy Creek (figures) but a lack of clear sign-posting took us past it the first time and a mixture of oncoming traffic and unfamiliarity with the particular stretch of road meant that we ended up making out U-turn at the Conway Beach turnoff. If you’re heading from Airlie Beach or Bowen, watch for Brandy Creek and turn left at the Rollerdoor King sign.