Bowen: Australia

An early start, after the trains all night, saw us heading towards Bowen – home of the mango, and tomatoes, and corn and so on. They grow a lot of stuff here, but not cane so fortunately there is no black snow! Olive was sleeping, so we took a drive to Flagstaff Hill lookout to see a panoramic view along the coast and of the Whitsunday Islands to the south. We then took a walk around town to view the many murals depicting old times around here. There are a few old buildings, and in fact Bowen was used as a set for the Baz Lurman movie “Australia”, and made to look like Darwin in the 1940s. We are staying at a really idyllic location, camped at the beach at Horseshoe Bay with ocean views from the van. There is a small quiet bay to the left and one to the right. We went snorkeling just off the beach this afternoon after arriving at lunch time. The water is a bit cloudy, but there is still a little bit of coral and fish to see.