Townsville to Mackay

Distance travelled today 429kms
Distance travelled so far 5,662kms

Queensland should be renamed "State of Coastal Roadworks"!! For the entire day we seemed to be travelling from 110km, to 80km to 60km then 40km back to 100km and within 2km back to 60km then 40km. This seriously impacted our travelling time today!

We started our day with breakfast at Juliettes Gelatario Juliettes – Artisan Gelato 

because some days you need to start off with desert! You only live once!! It was as good as it has been!! Then back to the car and off we went! 

We are now travelling on the Pacific Coast Way Drive Queensland's Pacific Coast Way (visitcapricorn.com.au). 

First stop was Ayr where we took a quick break for morning tea - note if travelling through from Townsville you need to righ turn down Little Drysdale Street at the roundabout on the Bruce Highway - it is a very 'cluttered' street and we initially missed the turnoff as it is not well signposted and there are no giant golden arches visible. They do a great toastie here (actually toasted and cut in half) also lovely service. 

It was then off to Airlie Beach - the one thing you will see a lot of on this route is Sugar Cane Fields! We saw them in all stages of growth today during the drive! We were unaware there was so many fields! The processing facilities were also busy on the way as you could see the chimney smoking!!

The road to Airlie Beach was rural to begin with but all of a sudden you hit a main shopping precinct then continuing to head to the beach it becomes very touristy and busy! We parked the car and went for a walk on the beach, even though it had rained on the way and was still overcast it was nice to see. I was surprised how small the beach actually was! There were plenty of shells on the beach but it did not have a wow factor for us.

Onward then to Mackay, we arrived early evening at The Shakespeare Motel Contact Us - Shakespeare Motel Mackay. We have a lovely family unit, very comfortable, with a balcony and full kitchenette, so we headed to Coles (one of many here) to grab some food to cook!