NORTH QLD ADVENTURE - DAY 33 - OUT & ABOUT IN AIRLIE BEACH…

Our last full day of holidays left before we start the journey home… Not sure if it is the hot sun or our age, but after a full day like we had yesterday, we seem to find it hard to get going the following morning…  Maybe it is the fact also that we have been on the move for the last five weeks and we are just plain tiring out but this morning we just weren’t motivated to get up and get going…

 

There is so much we could do around here but that would mean another big day and we just weren’t up for it….

Fay and Chris arrived again this morning… They have now booked in for 3 nights so once again we overlap.  It has been nice catching up with them all the way down the coast.  We dropped by to say hi to them before we headed out.

We were going for a drive into Proserpine…  Normally when you travel north this little town gets bypassed and there were a couple of places I had heard about that I though would be nice to check out.

The first was a very colourful store called “Colour Me Bright”.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find it when we looked in the main CBD.  We were to later find out that it was in a side street somewhere so that one is on our to do list next time we visit.

The other place we wanted to check out was the Peter Faust Dam and Lake Proserpine. 

 

It is located just 24kms inland from Proserpine and is an ideal spot for watersports and freshwater fishing.  It’s claim to fame is that it is home to more one metre plus barramundi than any other impoundment in Australia. 

Lots of people camp here when travelling north and the reviews from the caravanning facebook pages that I follow all promote this camping spot as not to be missed, so that was one of the reasons I wanted to check it out.  It has free camping for up to 72 hours for self-contained vehicles.  Campers that are not self-contained can use the toilets and amenities block north of the camping area.  The camping area is pretty well grassed all with views of the Lake, and there were quite a few cattle down near the water including a big brown bull.  We were later to find out that he is a figure resident of the camping area.

I am sure that Steve would love it here, as it is a great spot, not only for fishing but also you can bring a crabpot as it is a good spot to catch redclaw and freshwater crayfish which also inhabit the lake.  There are floating pontoons out into the lake but they were up on dry land as the dam levels are down at the moment.

There is also a concrete boat ramp which can take craft up to eight metres which is situated next to the day barbecue areas.  We did notice that a couple of the campers camping in the free camping areas also had their boats there.  

We then drove back along the lake to check out the Dam wall.  Unlike Copperlode Dam in Cairns, we were unable to drive out along the wall of the dam or walk out to the pumping station as they were closed off to the public and locked. 

Presently the dam is sitting at around 61% capacity.  Construction of the dam started in 1986 and it was completed in 1990 taking four years to build.  The dam was finished four months ahead of schedule just in time for a massive downpour which promptly filled it.

It was named after Peter Faust, a former mayor and the patriarch of a family that has farmed in the district since 1895.  He was the driving force behind getting the dam built and is also credited with convincing the late Sir Reginald Ansett, who owned Hayman Island to invest in the development of the Proserpine airport.

By the time we had finished checking out the dam it was going on for 3pm, so rather than go check out other beaches in the area we decided to head back to the caravan park, as I particularly wanted to be back in time for the bird feeding that happens at the park each afternoon at 4pm.  We have previously been to Dingo Bay and Hydeaway Bay before, so we will add them to a visit for next time we are up this way, along with Conway Beach and Cedar Creek Falls.  Presently the falls aren’t running anyway.

We arrived back at our van at 3.45pm, just in time for a visit to the toilet before wandering down to the bird feeding area at the park.

 

By the time we arrived, the food was all out and there were heaps of rainbow lorikeets already there feeding on the special mix of food that they prepare.    You are able to put food in your hand and the birds will feed from your hand.  Of course, I was up for this and had several on my arm for feeding time.  Fortunately, Steve came down with me so was able to get some photos of the birds visiting my arm and head.  I also got heaps of photos of the birds.  It was fascinating to see their different colours and the variation of colour from bird to bird. 

 Once we had finished feeding the birds we headed to the pool for a swim.  The pool here is gorgeous, so clean and the water so clear.  We hopped into it around 4.30pm and were in until just after 6pm.  We did meet a lovely couple Steve and Gabe and chatted to them for quite some time.  They live on the Sunshine Coast, and Steve is a pastor with the Seventh Day Adventist church down there.

One we hopped out of the pool, we quickly headed back to the van to grab our gear so we could have a nice hot shower as we were starting to feel a little cool. 

It was then back to the van where Steve cooked a couple of steaks for us for dinner.  Fay and Chris dropped in for a little while to catch up, and we shared our adventures for the day.  They have booked to do a half day trip to Daydream Island for the following day which actually sounds really nice.

 After dinner we started the packing process.  We are off again in the morning heading closer towards home.