Airlie Beach was hammered by Cyclone Debbie about 10 days earlier. A lot of clean up had already been done and power had been restored to the town but the people living out of town were still without power. As we drove into Airlie Beach, the verges had many piles of branches awaiting collection.
We came to a beach in town and noticed a few yachts washed up on shore. Such a waste of beautiful boats. We drove to the boat harbour and then onto another beach where we made some lunch. After lunch we walked up the beach to check out the stranded yachts there and for the kids to check out the fish in one of the drains.
We wandered back along the beach, which was quite rocky where the water flowed out of the drains but otherwise quite muddy. It was a nice looking beach with plenty to explore for the boys!
We headed out of Airlie Beach and drove for an hour or so to the Burdekin Cane Farm - our camp for the night.
We were fortunate to be the only ones camping there for the night. We found a spot under the Avocado trees. The farmer came over and yakked our ears off for quite some time. He took the kids for a ride on his ATV to feed the ducks, even Rowan wanted to go along!
The farmer explained about his pumping rights from the Burdekin River for his cane farm. When we asked about crocodiles in the river he explained that they usually only get Freshwater crocs.
It was a very picturesque setting and so quiet! We really enjoyed our afternoon until the flying ants started coming in! We escaped into the van but somehow the ants managed to get in through the flyscreens or other vents! Ugghh!
The following morning we were torn whether to stay another night or not. The place was awesome and the kids were loving the ATV rides, followed by fishing in the river. After breakfast the farmer took the kids to feed the ducks again, then came back with a sugar cane stalk and explained to us which part of the cane is burnt, then cut - which part goes to the mills and then which part of the stalk is replanted. We tasted the cane sugar - apparently it was only at 8% sweetness. During the milling process part of the stalk is used to fuel the mill fires. Had to laugh when the farmer told us that sugar is bad for us and he'd eaten too much (rubbing his belly!).
Chad and Brenton tried fishing in the river. They had been encouraged by the farmer to dig for worms around the Avocado trees, by wetting the ground first so it turns into mud! After catching some worms they went fishing and did have success! Chad caught a catfish, followed by Brenton catching a catfish! They really don't look appealing to eat so we encouraged the boys to throw them back. Chad caught another one which was a Yellow-belly catfish which we also threw back - although later the farmer told us that they're quite good to eat.
After an enjoyable morning (which included lots of washing in our bucket machine!) we decided to pack up and head out, thinking we could always go back on our way out of Cairns.
We stopped at Ayr Nature Display, a 'homemade' collection of flora and fauna. It was an amazing collection of shells, butterflies, eggs as well as artwork made using butterflies and moths. It had been open for 50 years! We could've spent a lot longer looking through the displays but the kids weren't as keen...
In the town of Ayr was Woolworths so while Mars waited in the car with the kids I ducked in a did a quick re-stock of groceries. Quickest grocery shopping ever! Once it was all put away in the van we drove around Townsville and found a camp late in the day at Blue Water Park.
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