Traveled from Mackay to Bowen the home of the movie Australia and got bedded down for the Easter break; we arrived on the 28th March and stayed until the 9th April. Bowen is a relatively small town but not lacking on services (Woolies, IGA, Pubs etc). After trying to buy a computer in Mackay which has every shop known to man the best decision I made was to deal with Bowen Business Machines (fantastic service, great help and very efficient).
Well, the caravan park we stayed at was a Discovery (Big 4) picked mainly based on the location but given the parks we looked at whilst in Bowen we should have stayed at either the Tropical Beach Caravan Park or Wangaratta @ The Beach Caravan Park; both these parks were significantly cheaper, in as good a location but the sites were larger than the Big 4 we were in.
The Big 4 sites were very tight with just enough length for our van and the car was parked at the back at 90 degrees to the van (parallel to the road); not so bad until the park hired out 2 red peddle carts to kids that seemed to think that by looking backwards at your mate in hot pursuit somehow was okay and the bloody thing would stay on the road (not so), expect damage if you stay here in peak.
This park is for sale, seems Discovery has purchased to many so looking to off load a few; this one is $5.3 million. The park has had several managers over the few months and things are not well according to another source. The amenities were spotless and stayed that way until the start of the Easter break when they were not cleaned from Good Friday until late Easter Monday; the same source told me the management were told not to bring in cleaning staff on the Easter Weekend (cost).
If you do venture here and consider this park do your research on the owners/management first, otherwise stay at one of the other parks. This was in the $240 a week slot and no where near worth it. The above is our opinion only and may have been different for others that stayed in the past and may get better in the future.
Our site above; it should be classed as “Water Front” not “Beach Front” as the park describes it, the sand is almost three shades blacker than a crow.
Great butcher in Bowen as you head into town on the left; I think it is called Riches but not sure but if you are here the meat is really good (steaks, mince chops etc) and all the snags are made on site. The prices for snags is not cheap but well worth trying a few of the flavours.
Bowen has some 20+ murals that are painted on the side/front of some of the businesses; all done by local artists. Looking closely at the above mural you can make out the outlines of thebesser block wall.
Above is the Grandview Hotel in Bowen that was dressed up to be several shop fronts of the movie and the name of the pub was changed to the Territory Hotel for the movie.
We met up with a couple on a 10 week holiday from Sydney (David & Janet); they a considering taking the plunge in to full time traveling. We all got on really well and especially Lin & Janet (craft nuts). Both Dave & I were glad the only place you could get craft stuff was a a Sam's Warehouse in Bowen; heaven forbid if Bowen had a dedicated scrapbook/craft supply shop, Dave and I agreed it at least kept them out of our hair, anything for a peaceful life (Amen).
Townsville will be up at the same time as this post.
As always stay well, travel safely and hope to see you soon.
Love & regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig
