Cania Gorge to Bowen

Cania Gorge to Bowen:
Still On the Way to Anywhere but still at Cania Gorge. We went for a walk to Dripping Rock and the Overhang which was less strenuous. We ambled along a narrow track surrounded by beautiful dense rainforest.. The track then took us up alongside a steep wall of rock on one side and overlooked the gorge on the other side. We came to Dripping Rock where the water is continually dripping from the rock and of course there are lots of ferns and greenery. This was very refreshing after the dryness at the campsite. As we advanced further we came to some sandstone caves displaying some amazing colours and finally we came to the Overhang where this huge rock is leaning right over to create another cave.
In the arvo we took our computers to Cania Dam picnic area where we were able to connect to the internet. Here we were in the middle of nowhere still using technology!!
That night we had a bush poet who lives in the area and so he gave us some history on the area through his poetry and was very good. Of course yours truly recited some of her poetry as well.
 
On the way again we headed to Biloela. Once again this countryside would be very pretty if it weren't so dry. This is quite a nice country town and is same distance to Rockhampton or Gladstone. We headed on to Rockie through Mt Morgan which seemed like a very interesting old mining town with lots of history but we needed to press on to get some phone coverage. We were amazed at the milder night in Rockhampton.
 
In the morning we set off on the boring long drive between Rockhampton and Mackay. I had to buy a new chair before we left so had a later start and we had forgotten what a long drive it is and realized that we should have broken the journey with a n overnight stop on the way.
We did stop at Clearview for lunch which is a little town on the water and it’s a welcome site to see the tropical blue water after all the drab of the old gum trees. If you ever travel on this road, stop here but you have to turn off the highway. The local ladies have a little craft stall here and you can get tea and coffee as well. I bought so some home grown tomatoes which were delicious.
 
The road north of Mackay is so pretty with green hills,palm trees and canefields.
We discovered a lovely free camp about 40 kms north of Mackay called St Helens Beach. There are toilets and a cold shower and lots of lovely trees. It is right on the beach and there are lots of islands around. Of course the water is really blue. The tides are huge here and the locals all own a tractor to tow their boat out to launch it. When the tide was out we walked right out and stayed out there to watch the tide come in and I lost my watch. For those travellers this is a well recommended stopover. Turn off highway at Calen (north of Mackay) and it 15 kms through some pretty cane county.
 
From here we had a short trip to Bowen which is a beautiful place.