BOWEN

BOWEN
We were very lucky to get into Bowen for four days. It is a very popular spot. Our site had a beautiful shady tree over it which was great as it was hot and dusty in the park. We arrived on Sat and went to visit Scott (Brian’s son) Heather and little Nikki who is a cute 2 &1/2 year old. That evening we had yummy fish and chips by the Queen’s beach. It was a beautiful mild evening and a lovely setting.
The next day we went to the beachside markets and had a lazy morning sitting on the foreshore with all the clan. Nikki enjoyed throwing shells into the sea and showing off his ball skills. Afterwards Brian and I went for a drive up to Flagstone Hill where there is a beautiful lookout. You can see all the islands, the blue sea and the harbour. That evening we went back to the Lampe’s for a roast dinner –YUM.
We had a leak in the water pipe on the van and as we couldn’t get the part in Bowen we had to go to Airlie Beach so we all went down for the day. Unfortunately it was overcast so it wasn’t as sparkling as usually is. We had our lunch on the beach. There are so many boats moored off shore. It is very pretty but very much commercialized. It started raining on the way home but not for long.
Another beautiful sunny day dawned and I was keen to go snorkelling. Bowen is one of the few places where you can snorkel off the beach and see coral. We all went to a delightful beach called Horseshoe Bay. It is a small beach surrounded by round boulder type rocks and it looks out over the islands. It is a very popular spot as there is a caravan park and a resort there. The snorkelling was fascinating and I saw lots of coral and some tropical fish. The water was beautiful although the locals thought it too cold to swim. I really enjoyed it as I love swimming. There is a lookout you can walk to which gives you a 360 degree view. The water here is such a brilliant blue.
Brian and I had a pie for lunch at the pie shop where Hugh Jackman bought pies when filming the movie “Australia”. A lot of the movie was filmed in Bowen and there is a lot of memorabilia in this shop. Merle, the owner, showed Baz Loman around and explained all about the history of the place without knowing he was a film director and was instrumental in Bowne being chosen for the location. There was a bus tour in the shop at the time and I listened in on the talk about the filming.
After shopping we went back to the Lampe’s and as Heather had a bad back, I did ‘surrogate’ grandparent duties and helped with the washing. My gosh, you forget how much washing you have when you have little kids and that’s without washing nappies!!
We had a great time in this town as it’s such a lovely place and I would like to have a long stay here.