6. The one with trivia, ISIS and sugar cane

Current weather: 28/13°C, sunny!
Total distance travelled: 3068km (+1065km)

We pulled away from Beerwah at 10:30am on Saturday, heading straight for the M1 for our trip further north. We drove with constant rain and heavy fog outside, the heater blaring inside, slowly drying-out after the morning's packing.

Despite the deluge, the day's travels were thankfully uneventful for us. The same couldn't be said for a few semi trailers. One we encountered jack-knifed and bogged after rounding a bend, the next needed to lock up its brakes as it slid towards a line of traffic, which had stopped for roadworks just over a crest. We were positioned in that line of traffic, so were thankful the cloud of smoke wasn't followed by anything else!

I appreciated the local road authority's attempt to mix marketing with safety messages: fight fatigue with trivia! Questions posted on road signs included naming the floral

emblem of Queensland, or what town you can watch turtles hatch, or what town whales visit.

Driving into Childers I noticed an interesting landmark: the Isis River. Given their proximity, a number of local businesses have used it as inspiration, some of which result in rather eyebrow raising shopfronts. The ISIS CULTURAL CENTRE AND LIBRARY was my personal favourite, as if this town's association with horrific & violent acts in recent times wasn't enough!

We arrived in Rockhampton shortly after nightfall, and parked in a gravel area attached to the Kershaw Gardens. We were thankfully able to squeeze ourselves into a small muddy patch in the back corner, the prime positions long gone by this hour. When we left Rocky at 9:45am the next morning, it was mostly deserted. We're certainly not the early birds in this caper!

Sunday's weather was the polar opposite: brilliant sunshine all the way! The key moments in the day were watching the outside air hit a new trip record of 28°C, and stopping for bakery treats in Sarina, where the smell of sugar cane processing filled the air.

The sugar cane industry dominates the landscape up here, but the road signs we passed over these 2 days contain a bucket list for future trips: Hervey Bay, Fraser Island, Mon Repos, Gladstone, Yeppoon and so many more. We'll be back!

Curiously, we drove over 3 separate waterways, all named Alligator Creek on Sunday. With people often fishing right on the banks of each, I questioned whether the naming was accurate.

We arrived in Airlie Beach just after 4pm, with the kids jumping into the pool roughly 1.5 seconds later. The Big4 we're staying in is packed-full of school holiday travellers, although not the ones we had hoped for - our good friends, the McLeods, having their travel plans thwarted at the last minute. We'll miss them, but hope to make the most of our 5 nights here.