Posted on January 17, 2022 about August 20, 2022
One thing we generally do when cruising an area is rent (or in the case of New Zealand, buy) a car so we can do some land travel. This season, however, we’d be traveling at a faster pace than usual, our route taking us through the hundreds of islands that lie off the Queensland coast.
With so much see on the water, we’d have to be choosy in selecting which land-based sights to visit, carefully considering how much time and effort would be involved. Gladstone made our initial decision easy by having expensive (too expensive for us) car rental prices and long drives to the two closest national parks. With that, we gave up on the idea of visiting any surrounding areas.
However, our new friends Jackie and Anthony on Nomad (also traveling through the area) shook us out of our land-apathy state by inviting us to go on an outing with them to a winery. When that turned out to be closed for a private function, no problem, as there were other things we could do. But first they asked us if there was anything we’d like to do. I mentioned there’s a Dan Murphy’s in town, and could we make a stop there? They didn’t realize this was here and were as up for a visit there as we were!
I will say here that bottle shops in Australia are generally small, typical liquor stores. Dan Murphy’s is the exception, a big store with a huge selection of wine and spirits at reasonable prices. It is THE place to go if one needs to stock up on wine, beer, or any other kind of spirits. And a fantastic place to browse and find new things to try. I don’t think anyone comes out of Dan Murphy’s with a single bottle of anything; it’s a place where you come out with a cart full and load up your trunk. It’s like the Costco of liquor stores!
Unfortunately not every city has a Dan Murphy’s; so it’s always nice to find one and to stock up, which we all had fun doing before going off on our outing.
After Dan Murphy’s, we headed to our friends’ Plan B: Tannum Sands Beach, about 30-minutes south of Gladstone. Tannum Sands Beach is one those beaches with a giant swath of golden sand and calm, sparkling water, really lovely.
After talking a walk on the beach, we made a day of it by stopping for lunch and drinks. We were going to the eat at the Tannum Sands Surf Livesaving Club bistro, but it was closed for a private function. No problem, instead we went to the deck restaurant of the Tannum Sands Hotel for a tasty seafood lunch accompanied by nice, cold beer.
Below, some photos of our Tannum Sands outing (click on any photo to enlarge).
I have to say I really admired our friends’ “no-problem” attitude, something I strive to (but don’t always) achieve. Being able to adapt and adjust easily without wasting time brooding is one of the most valuable qualities a cruiser can have, but there are times when it’s easier said than done.
(As I write this post we’re actually in Darwin, Australia, having spent the holiday season here, and it’s been a particularly trying time as we constantly find places are closed for weeks yet don’t say so on Google or their Facebook pages. It has taken me longer than I care to admit to learn to double and triple check on what’s open and what’s not, and even then I end up bracing myself for finding a closed sign on the door of a place we intended to patronize.)
For now, back to Gladstone:
After lunch, we headed back to the marina but with one more stop: the William Golding Memorial Lookout on top of the hill with the bougainvillea. This was something I’d hoped we’d see before we left Gladstone, but we’d heard the trail leading up there was temporarily closed. Well, now we had friends with a car so we could drive up! We found an impressive view of the Gladstone Harbour above the vivid pink flowers.
In all it had been a really nice day, and while they sailed south not long after we arrived, we did enjoy the company of our new friends.
One other example of something we try to mind while cruising is avoiding missing out on opportunities due to fatigue or lack of motivation. Anthony and Jackie had a great outing lined up: they were driving to a town about 2 hours south of Gladstone called 1770, where they’d board a boat for an all-day trip to Lady Musgrave Island. They wouldn’t be returning to Gladstone until late in the evening.
They generously offered to allow us to join them in their car, provided we were able to secure our own tickets for the boat trip. The problem for us was they had to leave extremely early in the morning. Rich and I were tempted but were both still feeling low on energy after our passage and adjusting to our new circumstances; so we took a pass on the offer.
Later, we heard from our friends about their excursion. 1770 sounded like a lovely place, and Lady Musgrave with its reef lagoon sounded beautiful. I have to say, we missed out on a great opportunity. Well, such is life, but I will keep this in mind next time we’re tempted to turn down an offer because it seems too strenuous or has less-than-ideal timing. I’m not saying we’ll never pass up another kind offer; I’m saying I’ll think twice before doing so.
Final note: Apologies to our friends if I spelled anyone’s name wrong. I have scoured our boat and can’t find any info! Still working on it. While I’m at it, I also apologize for bogarting the tiger prawns you served on Nomad. I tried so hard to be restrained about eating them (or even incessantly staring at them), but I couldn’t help myself. I have a real weakness for those prawns. –Cyndi
