Day 14 - Rockhampton to Bundaberg

I'm not sure which was more of a shock - the CPAP machine turning itself off at 7.45 am or someone opening the door of our motel room at about the same time. (The two did turn out to be linked.) Luckily, I had the chain on the door so the airconditioning person couldn't actually come in. He hadn't knocked before using the master key because the list he had from management said we had already left ... at 7.45 am, don't think so. Part of that was because I was thinking we had a very short drive today down to Bundaberg - so we could have a bit of a lie-in. Not so. We actually had a drive of over 3 hours rather than the just-over-an-hour drive I was expecting. Note to self: the itinerary spreadsheet with the travel times/distance cannot be read backwards!

The drive down was good although I am going to have to have something to say about caravanners. Is it just me or does anyone else have an issue with some caravanners? We had a couple today who had a few cars trailing them for kilometres - looking for a safe place to pass - and then when we reached an overtaking lane the caravan found an extra 10-20km of speed and it was impossible to pass it without seriously exceeding the posted speed limit. Then there are other caravanners who obviously know the local roads - or perhaps they don't - and who pulled over into stopping bays to let the vehicles caught behind them pass. Yes, yes, I know the first type of caravanners need to get where they're going too but I think the second lot do too!

You have to love a coffee and donut van appearing just at the time when you could do with a coffee. Ownsys Retro Cafe van is based at the Boyne River Rest Area, Benaraby - and we lashed out on a 5-pack of donuts which kept us going until lunch - and we kept some for dessert this evening.

We saw more "Vote No" signs today and wondered if folk here would have changed any 11O KM signs to NO like folk around the NSW Central Coast have been reported as doing. Is it a criminal offence to edit road signs?

We were planning on going straight through to Burnett Heads today - just outside of Bundaberg where we are staying tonight. The visit was on Wayne's recommendation. He spoke highly of the venue generally, and specifically of the bakery which makes magnificent pies and vanilla slices. The bakery closed at 2 this afternoon so we missed them by half an hour, but it's not so far out of Bundaberg that we won't be back tomorrow before heading off to Hervey Bay.

And speaking of finding a room in Hervey Bay - how hard is it to book a ground floor hotel/motel room over a booking app? And how difficult can it be to find a direct number for accommodation facilities? We were trying to find a number for a place in Hervey Bay this afternoon and found an 1800 number to call. Fine. The call centre person I spoke with was quite pleasant and would gladly have booked me into a motel/hotel in Mexico. Hmmmm.

Most picturesque amenities facilities for the trip so far goes to ... Burnett Heads - near the ocean. A room with a view - if you leave the door open - which neither of us did.

On the way back from Burnett Heads, we were lucky enough to have to stop at a rail crossing - and we watched as a cane train with 54 full carriages clattered past. Coal yesterday, cane today - it's all happening in middle Queensland.

 We spoke to our mate, M (of the biscuit delivery of Day One), this morning who had just returned from a couple of days in Bundabery with her mother. She was able to give us some food recommendations - her speciality, and based on that, there we were at the Spotted Dog with what seemed like the rest of Bundaberg. It felt dynamic and lively and full of happy people eating great food. It was a little bit of a wait for the meal - but so worth it - I loved my Wagyu rump and Sooz enjoyed her prawns - and the passionfruit tart for dessert. Thanks for telling us about it M! (We're looking forward to breakfast at one of the cafes on her list in the morning.)

On the way back to the motel after dinner we were listening to the radio (I'm not sure how it fell off The Seekers compiliation we'd been listening to) and they were talking about how you cannot rely on satellite navigation systems when you are out camping. I would say you can't rely on them when you're out of urban, built-up areas, especially as while they were talking about not relying on them, you could hardly hear them because I was cursing the navigation app which seemed to want to take us anywhere but back to our motel.