Guthalungra Rest Area, QLD (30km West of Bowen)

Day 241 – 15th October 2011

Guthalungra Rest Area, QLD (30km West of Bowen)

This morning we got up early and joined in the local fitness regime and walked (Nele – 29min) / ran (Andrew – 18min) up Castle Hill. It’s a good workout climbing 230m over 2.9km. Afterwards we drove to the rockpool for a refreshing swim and had breakfast. On our way out of town we had a quick look at the harbour. We travelled south towards Ayr and turned towards the coast to have lunch at Alva Beach. Not much to see and do in Ayr so after a visit to the tourist info centre we were on our way again. We travelled over the 1103m long Burdekin Bridge, known as the “Silver Link”, connecting the towns of Ayr and Home Hill and stopped to take some photos. This is Australia’s only bridge built without a firm foothold as the absence of rock in the riverbed meant engineers had to sink the huge concrete caissons into more than 30m of sand. Next we drove to Mount Inkerman Lookout offering beautiful views of the surrounding region. We stayed a while in the hope to spot a cane fire (when green cane is burnt before harvesting to remove excess leaves known as cane trash), which is said to be a magnificent sight but unfortunately didn’t see any. We continued on to Guthalungra rest area where we camped the night.

Like many of the locals we have decided to walk / run up Castle Hill 

Walking back down Castle hill - a good little workout

local bird life on the walk back down

Townsville with Castle Hill in the background

Alva Beach (near Ayr)

Local fisherman checking out the beach
Alva Beach (near Ayr)

Lunch at Alva Beach

Ayr Main Street

Ayr Post Office

Burdekin Bridge 'Silver Link'

Burdekin River

Inkerman Mill

Burdekin Bridge 'Silver Link'

Mount Inkerman Lookout

Mount Inkerman Lookout

Mount Inkerman Lookout

Mount Inkerman Lookout