This morning we headed out (once again) to the kayak launching spot we had discovered yesterday as I felt relatively safe after discussions with locals. No crocodiles had ever been sighted in the Boyne River! Although I was kayaking with the flow of the tide and river, the wind was quite strong and in some spots the wind was strong enough to push me back easily if I stopped paddling. The first half of the kayak I didn’t stop much because I didn’t want to go backwards. Finally there was a spot in the river where a change in direction meant that the wind was not such an issue. I was very proud of the fact that I managed to kayak down to the boat ramp, close to the river mouth and meet Rob. Rob estimated it was about 11 km and it took me about 2 and ½ hours. After Rob had collected me and the kayak, we headed to Gladstone. We drove to the marina area and found a lovely cafĂ© for lunch. From there we drove out to explore more of the marina and huge harbour. We went for a walk and saw where coal was loaded onto the ships as well as the many islands located off the harbour. We learnt that on one of the islands is a place where Liquefied Natural Gas projects are being constructed. We also saw the Queensland Alumina refinery (mainly owned by Rio Tinto) which was huge and not to be confused with the Boyne Island Aluminium Smelter (also Rio Tinto). Now despite all this industry, Gladstone and its surrounding area is still a lovely, large town with a very attractive parks and a large marina full of nice looking boats and yachts. Once we’d put fuel into the car and did some grocery shopping, we drove back to our caravan at Lake Awoonga.
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