We drove a short while down the road, south and west, through paddocks and paddocks of sugarcane with the ever present mountains on our left, past gorgeous Tully to Murray Falls. The campground was pretty with lots of tall trees and blissfully empty of people! Unfortunately, instead of people, it seemed the march flies had moved in, in their thousands. They were abominable!!! We had to lather ourselves with aeroguard and use swishy sticks to keep them from swarming and biting us. Even inside the van they covered the windows and door screen, and I especially felt like we were being invaded. Thankfully, the other safe (safer) place was the water. The river and swimming holes were stunning and loads of fun with rocks to climb, cool fresh water and a natural water slide thanks to incredibly slippery smooth rocks. The boys had a ball, and Ben and I sought refuge from the flies, keeping only our head above water, but still needing to constantly shoo them off our face! We spent the afternoon swimming and hiding out in the van from the flies. Once the sun set they left and we were able to have a lovely campfire.

We left Murray Falls and travelled through some gorgeous towns such as Cardwell and Ingham, stopping in at Townsville for a squiz and some lunch. The waterfront was gorgeous and we enjoyed the pub lunch, although we stayed longer than we should have considering we still had a few hours to get to Bowen. Once in Bowen we thought we weren't going to be able to grab a good site as we were pretty late, however, we luckily snared the best water view site in the park, overlooking the bay. Our neighbours were lovely and friendly so it was great to have a chat and share some travel stories while we watched the sunset.

Next morning we had a very short walk over the hill to gorgeous little Horseshoe Bay for a snorkel. It was amazing!! There was coral reef to die for, all around the edges of the small, safe bay. To be able to walk, or rather, flip flop, right off the beach and have spectacular coral reef right there was awesome, and quite unexpected to be honest. Unfortunately the water wasn't crystal clear but it was thankfully warm and still a beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable snorkel. Once dry we jumped into the car and went exploring Bowen. It's a very spread out place, with all different sections and areas, an all very nice. The area along the foreshore and pier and one of the hotels were used in the film, Australia. We got some huge fresh prawns for lunch and headed home. We had a quiet afternoon, swimming and relaxing.

Next day Ben and I left the boys watching tele in the van and let Jack have a sleep in, while we went to the nearby markets and stocked up on local farm fresh fruit and veg. Once home we went snorkelling around the headland at a different spot as the wind was howling and had blown out Horseshoe Bay. The coral was just as beautiful but unfortunately the wind had stirred up the water and it was pretty silty. We definitely want to come back and snorkel there again. That afternoon the boys had much needed haircuts and we got the groceries, fuel and treats from Maccas.