From Calliope we head north making our stop for the night at St Lawrence, the rain has arrived but we enjoy the luxury of our camper trailer, after using a swag for over 12 years getting out of bed in the rain is no longer a challenge. We are close to the St Lawrence wetlands and it’s alive with waterbirds and patrolling birds of prey. Magpie geese, ducks of all kinds, Pratincoles, Galahs, Terns and kangaroos. We will need to visit again when the weather is kinder to humans wishing to spy on waterbirds.

After St Lawrence the rain sets in, and we drive through some heavy showers. We stop for a break and visit Clareview, a small community on the coast. The waters in this part of the world are a dugong sanctuary. The locals are really enjoying the rain as they rely on tank water for their drinking supply.

Our camp for tonight is Cape Palmerston, situated behind the foredunes and coastal littoral forest, it too is a great bird watching site. The beach here is broad and wide at low tide, and is situated between two low rocky headlands. It continues to rain but on the morning of the 5th it stops and the birds are very active given they lost a day just trying to keep dry in this unseasonal rain event. We see White-bellied Sea-eagles, Radjah ducks, Orange-footed Scrub Fowl and hear Bush Curlews.

We drive into Mackay to refuel and have lunch at the Botanic Gardens Cafe, a wonderful cafe situated within a nicely vegetated wetland surrounded by a sea of urbanisation and cane fields. Our stop tonight is Molongle Creek, we tried Bowen but it was totally booked out. Once a sleepy town on a pretty coastline (we visited in the 1980’s) it’s now wall to wall houses, industry and tourist accommodation of all types brimming with people. It’s kind of lost its unique appeal.