Day 62 - Sarina Sugar Shed

We left Airlie Beach headed for "wherever we get to" today.  We were going to stop at Mackay but it is only 150km south so we thought we would try and get a bit further than that today.  We decide that Hervey Bay could be a good spot to stay for a few days so we make a b - line for it.  It is 800km away so we know that we won't get there in one day.  No chance with these roads. 

I have read some information about the Sarina Mini Sugar Mill, which is about 40km south of Mackay and we happen to drive by just as a tour was about to start so we decide to call in and have a look.  We have been looking at the sugar cane with interest up here, wondering how it all works as they have some crops ready to harvest and some just growing, we often pass the cane trains and see the little headers in action so we really felt that a visit to a sugar mill would answer a lot of our questions.  This "mini mill" has been built purely to show people what happens in the larger mills as, due to health and safety, tours are not often run in the big mills.

This tour was excellent, a local lady who was very knowledgeable walked us around some old machinery and gave us a rundown on how a sugar can season progresses.  We then went into the mini mill which had miniature replicas of all the equipment which she walked us through.  We all got to sample the sugar cane to chew on, juice that is produced and the by product of molasses.  After this we were able to sample a lot of the products they make as the Sarina Sugar shed, such as fairy floss, rum, liqueurs, sauces/marinades and ginger beer.  The kids were very happy to sample the fairyfloss as they were able to choose  from 12 different flavours.

We continued on from here and plan to stop at a rest area just north of Rockhampton.  The rest areas are very hit and miss I am afraid.  You can't tell, by looking at the camp book, what they are going to be like.  We got a great one at Toomulla beach, but today we plan to stop at one just outside Rockhampton, however, when we arrive at 4pm, it is very full of vans already, it is right on the side of the road, the bins are over flowing with rubbish, flies and a disgusting smell, so we decide to move on and try for an unpowered site in town as the next fee camp is another 100km away.  We find one straight away and they don't even charge for the children, so we are pretty happy about this.