Today is probably going to be the longest drive of the Grand Tour with 875km over 10.5 hours. Combined with the 9 hours of driving from Cairns it looks like the estimate of 24 hours of driving from Cairns to Brisbane is accurate.
Our first experience of a backpackers accommodation was a good one especially on the wallet. These youngsters seem to be able to travel cheaply especially if you are prepared to share a dorm with a few others.
An early start again saw us on the road at about 07:15 and a familiar pattern is emerging of unhealthy eating (I am blaming Beryl for introducing us to the moreish sweets) and shared driving. The agriculture remained similar with more sugar cane and bananas but now there are definitely more grazing livestock although the pasture looks variously brown and interspersed with trees. In many places the vegetation has been subject to a controlled burn. This is typical all over Australia and is a necessary part of maintaining the indigenous plants and it is how the Aboriginal peoples maintained the land for thousands of years. All the plants (especially the trees) are able to survive the fast burn and some need the heat to germinate the seed.
We broke the journey with a visit to a roadside fruit stall come bric-a-brac shop. Nicola had a hard job from stopping me purchasing a set of skis, a trinket from Hong Kong and some Egyptian papyrus art although the pile of very worn CDs was perhaps a more tempting offering given the length of the journeys. I am sure if Rolf Harris' Top Twenty Didgeridoo Tunes had been available a purchase would have been made from this department. In the end we bought a couple of tomatoes, apples and pears and then I spotted a pineapple. Unfortunately without a knife this would remain forbidden fruit but the owner came to the rescue again by selling his knife so a very tasty pineapple for $1.00 was acquired with a grubby knife for $0.50!
All in all it was a surprisingly popular place given the appearance of the shop front but perhaps all travellers have reached breaking point on their journeys at the same spot.
We arrived at Hervey Bay around 18:30 which is much bigger than Airlie Beach and luckily found our hotel straightaway. A quick pizza at Pizza Hut (you can have enough of fine dining every night!).