The Trip Home

Our trip back to Brisbane was done in a day. I had originally planned a two day journey, but was asked to facepaint for a birthday party on the Sunday, so knew that I would need to make the trip in one day. As it turns out, I would rather get it done in a day at any rate - 'cause the closer I get to home, the more I just want to get there, and sleep in my comfy waterbed.

We had planned to be up at 5am, but after a really terrible night of tossing and turning, I woke up at 4am. It was either struggle to get back to sleep for an hour or just get up and on the road. I chose the latter. I dug mum out of bed (she was actually half dozing anyway), we packed up the car in about 15minutes and were on our way by 4.30am.

I actually enjoyed driving at that hour. It was a bit chilly outside, but with a bit of heat on in the car and very few other drivers on the road, I was enjoying myself. It was still dark out, so we got to see sunrise as we were driving. It turned out to be quite the foggy morning from most of the way between Rockhampton and Mackay. It turned out to be a blessing in that the sun rising in the windscreen was muted by fog. As you can see in my photos, it was very thick in places, and in Rocky, it was actually quite smokey as well.

We made it into Rockhampton by 8.15am for breakfast at the Coffee Club, which just so happens to be on the highway. And by 8.45am we were back on the road. The next stretch took its toll and I was starting to feel tired. We stopped just outside of GinGin at a rest site so that I could try to have a nap. 10 minutes later, I woke up with a start and was all good to keep going. It's really amazing what a 10minute kip will do for you.

Our next stop was Childers at around 1pm where we filled up with petrol and sat down to a late lunch. Soon we were back on the road and on the last stretch to Brisbane. We had thought that we might make a stop in Gympie for a drink but when there's only 1.5hours of travel left to home, you just want to keep on going. In the end, we rolled into our garage at 5.15pm. All in all, a really good day of travel. Mind you, I am exhausted. My back is stiff from sitting for 13 hours and my knees and butt certainly didn't like being cramped up in the car all day. But you cannot imagine the relief at getting home not only before dark but in time for a hot shower and to snuggle in my own bed. I got the best nights sleep.

Almost over

Last day in Mackay before the big trip home to Brisbane. We decided to have a bit of a quite one. While my Pop headed off to a Doctor's appointment, mum and I headed into town for a spot of shopping. We toured around shops at Mount Pleasant Shopping Centre. It really hasn't changed much at all in the years since I left. The shops may be different, and there is a bit more undercover parking, but there haven't been any major upgrades. I even remember the swimwear shop on the end from the time we were heading up to the Barrier Reef one holiday and I needed a swimsuit. The shop is still there. We finished off our shopping by heading into town back to Caneland Shopping Centre to pick up a couple of things that we spotted earlier in the week. By 11.20am we were done and headed over to my Aunt and Uncle's place for lunch.

On the way home, I filled up the car with petrol and cleaned the windscreen so that we are all ready to head off bright and early in the morning. I am going to be driving straight through to Brisbane in the day, so we want to make an early start. The car is mostly packed and I am about to call it a night to get some sleep before the drive. Be back in Brisbane soon.

Driving tour

A bit of an uneventful day, I spent the morning driving around Mackay, taking in the sights and seeing what has changed over the years. 

The Mackay Base Hospital is now massive. The jetty out the front was the old hospital bridge. The hospital, where I was born has completely removed the old buildings and fitted it out with brand new and modern designs. 

 We next stopped by my old schools. I was only six and in grade 2 when we left Mackay, so I never made it into the primary school propper, but the other places I went were still there in some form. My old kindy, the Paddington Bear Kindy has disappeared to become a day care centre. My preschool is now "Prep" and the West Mackay Infants School (Grades 1 and 2) is now the Junior Campus. I guess they were trying to make it sound better. But many of the buildings that were around when I went through are still there.

Just a few shots driving around Mackay - you will notice that there a good number of round-a-bouts. Mackay is the city of round-a-bouts. There is one at just about every intersection and then in-between as well to slow down the traffic.

We stopped by my old street and house in West Mackay. The train line running down the end of the street is no longer there, but you can certainly still see the rail corridor.

And while the Mackay showgrounds have had a major upgrade and refurb, the old main entrance is still the same...

 We then took a trip out to the harbour. It is massively different from when I was a kid. The playground is now in a different spot and they only moved a few of the big playground equipment over. Certainly not the old climbing frames or roller slides. The lighthouse though, is still there (of which I am the proud owner of a few rivets). And while it is possible to drive out on the breakwater, it was a very windy day and I didn't really want salt water splashing up on my car.

Next, we headed up to the top of town at North Mackay where there is a lookout. It's a really great view of Mackay, you can see right out to the harbour, into town and out towards the sugar mills.

To round out our trip, we headed on a bit of a tour around the local beaches out near Bucasia.

 I had managed to face plant it into the directional dial up at the lookout, so headed home for the afternoon to ice my wounds (got some very colourful bruises) before napping and heading out to dinner with the family at the local bowels club.

Cleaning out the Cupboard

We didn't really do much for our next day in Mackay. It turned out to be more of a family day. My Pop had me up in the morning go through the old china and crockery in the cupboards to take anything that I wanted. My Uncle doesn't want the stuff, so we may as well take it with us if we do. My mum and I selected a few things that we would like to take home with us, which means we now need to try and find some space in the cupboards at home to store it all *sigh*.

As for me, I picked out the Blue Willow dinner set which I will be able to use for my Regency Re-enactment. I think the set is missing one dinner plate and there are two different styles of tea cups, but otherwise, it's in good condition and going to be very useful. I also found a Shelley China tea set to take home. It has 6 cups, saucers and plates, a cake plate, a milk jug and a sugar bowl. I've packed it up with a heap of newspaper, so hopefully it can all make the trip home without any breakages.

The remainder of the day we spent visiting family - my cousin who I haven't seen for a very long time and then my Uncle and Aunt. It was lovely to catch up again with everyone.

Onto Mackay

The final leg of my driving trip was the last little bit from Rockhampton to Mackay. After a terrible night of sleep, sharing a room with a snoring mother and then dealing with a rumbly tummy (I suspect there was corn in something I ate unwittingly at Sizzler the night before), we packed up our PJs and got in the car. It was quite a brisk morning, but we quickly hopped over to filling up with petrol and breakfast at the local Coffee Club. And then it was back on the road.

It's quite a journey, wobbling through road works and getting stuck behind military convoys travelling at 80k in the 110k zone *groan*. But we arrived in Bucasia at 12 to stay with my Uncle and Pop. It's been nine years since I was last in Mackay (for my Pop's 80th Birthday) and things have certainly changed.

It's very bizarre to see the changes. I was born in Mackay and came up every just about every year to visit family after we moved away in 1992 until around 2002 when I finished school and travel was not so easy. I had come to know the area a bit but had never actually driven in Mackay, so it was quite the change. It was lovely to see through, as you come into the area the flowering sugar cane, blowing purple silver in the breeze.