I know this doesn't look like much, but this is sugar cane. These fields stretch as far as the eye can see, and we drove the almost full 700 km with sugar cane fields the whole way. What is interesting is the whole way was linked and networked with a "cane railway". This is like a miniature railroad that connects all the cane fields with all the sugar mills (there appears to be one every 50 km or so) the RR has mini cars and engines and crisscrosses the highway ...

Well, today we got off to an early start, leaving Airlie Beach at 7:45 on our way to Cairns, a distance of about 700 km. We stopped on Bowen for a pit stop and continued on. This is taken in front of the Tourist Bureau there.

An aerial view of Shute Harbour. Like I said earlier, this was a lazy day. We're BBQ'ing tonight and then a dip in the pool and early to bed. Tomorrow we hope to be off early to Cairns, about 650 km. See you all later. Cheers, mates.

Denise and I with Shute Harbour in the background. There must be 500+ boats anchored/moored there. What a great hurricane hole. There are many ferries operating out of here which service all 74 Whitsunday Islands.

Well, what a lazy day this was. We slept in til 9:30, had breakfast and went into town to do some shopping. Even got a haircut. Got caught in a thunderstorm, so we sought refuge in a New Zealand Ice Cream Shop. Rum & Raisin is the best flavour here. Anyway, after a swim and lunch, we decided to drive to Shute Harbour (only 12 klicks) and see what's there. This sign warns not to play by the water's edge.