Sandflies and midges are one and the same according to Wikipedia. They don't wee on you they bite, and it's only the females that do. They like people with O Type blood. Some, not all people are allergic to them.....and one of those people is ME! Bugger! First evening at Carmila Beach they struck and by early next morning both Brian and I were dabbing boiling water on to the bites - an old bushies trick - the only thing I've ever found that actually stops the itch. After that I covered up from head to toe later in the days.
Despite the midges we spent three nights at Carmila Beach. It is a stunning spot and when the tide goes out, which it does for miles, the walk along the sand bar is beautiful. James and I could spend hours paddling on the water's edge and soaking up the sun. By evening it was lovely to sit by the fire and look out over the water which was a gorgeous aqua blue. The place is alive with bush turkeys, so much so that even James didn't bother reacting to them after a while.
At the northern end of the beach there is a inlet and a boat ramp. We tried our luck at fishing off it and had lots of bites (midges and fish). Brian caught a little brim and I caught a cute baby rock cod. We had a go from the beach in front of the van at high tide one afternoon in the hope of snagging some flathead for dinner, but with no luck.
A few kilometers down the road from Carmila on the Bruce Highway is the very popular Flaggy Rock Cafe. It's a quaint, shabby little place set on acreage with a pretty lily pond behind it and a huge parking area. It's kinda in the middle of nowhere but they make great pies and it's always busy. When we were staying at Carmila Beach in 2013 we went there every morning for coffee and it was often full of passing travelers in vans and motorhomes. Tuesday we popped in for lunch and heaps of people lobbed in.
CARMILA BEACH scores a 4.5. I love the hugeness of the sand bar when the tide goes out, the fact that you can park almost on the beach and you can have a fire. It costs about $10 per night, there are toilets and a dump point and there's phone reception. It has a boat ramp, you can fish and there's a pub just up the road. It is very sandy in spots so it's easy to get bogged and there are sandflies.
Wednesday we hit the Bruce Highway once again and headed further north to Proserpine where we took a left turn and drove twenty odd kilometers to a place called Camp Kanga. Just a minute up the road from Lake Proserpine, it had really good reviews on WikiCamps. A couple of other campers there, Peter and Karen, were filling in as caretakers while the real ones were called away unexpectedly. They were unbelievably warm and welcoming and let us pick our site from those available. We set up backing onto the bush with a beautiful creek running through it, and adjacent to the communal fire pit area. That evening at 5pm everyone convened at the pit, it was introductions and drinks all round and conversation which centred on who caught what on the dam that day. They were all old fart fisher men and women of our age who'd come north for the winter in their vans. We felt totally at home.
Lake Proserpine is considered a good fishing spot and enthusiasts bring their boats from all over the place to catch the freshwater barramundi. With no boat the only spot we could fish from was the boat ramp. We bought a couple of lures from the Proserpine bait shop that came recommended by the proprietor who is also the local fishing tour guide. He said to give the ramp a go at dusk, which we did. While we didn't get a hit we did enjoy the beer, bubbles and stunning sunset.
Friday we did a day trip into Airlie Beach, less than an hour away. Being the gateway to the Whitsunday Islands it's very touristy. After a drive around we had lunch at the marina. OMG...the boats and yachts there were amazing.
Our plan was to go to Lazy Acre Plantation, a farm stay fifty kilometers south of Townsville, on Saturday. While heading there we had a call from friends Ross and Marie and found they were just an hour or so on the road behind us with their van.....also northbound. After a bit of to and froing we met at a caravan park in Ayr, and, as luck would have it, the Burdekin Water Festival was on that night. A short stroll into town and we were smack in the middle of thousands of people, a big float parade and massive festivities. How cool was that!
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