9th July 2026:We awoke to sunshine! Left. Mt Larcom and drove to Auckland Hill, Gladstone walking up 120 steps to a viewing point over 2 coal shipping terminals: Wiggins Island and RG Tanna terminals, and over to Curtis  Is where there are 3 LNG terminals- Santos, Australian Pacific LNG, Queensland Curtis LNG, and over the grain silos, the petrol and the diesel storage tanks, and the alumina terminal- Queensland Alumina 85% owned by RioTinto.

We then proceed down the Bruce Highway- single laned with lots of roadworks happening with intermittent overtaking lanes. The speed limit was 100 km/hr but only safe to drive a caravan at about 80 to 85 km/ hr so Nic was constantly having to let trucks in particular pass us.. We stopped for a coffee at Gin Gin then proceeded over the Burchell River and travelled the next 60 km into Hervey Bay, hugely developed since our visit in 1995, and to the Hervey Bay Caravan Park, where we chose the far more private unpowered site over the cramped slab we were originally offered! We set up camp as the rain started so we decided to eat in town, ending up at the Olive Turkish Taverna. We had a lamb stew and a vegetable stew washed down with a July Eight Margaret River Shiraz.

Fuel storage with Alumina terminal in background 
View to Curtis Is LNG terminals
View to Coal Terminals 
Wild Iris on Auckland Hill 
Bridge over the Burchell River outside Gin Gin 




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