We thought we’d better leave Cania Gorge before we spent the whole day talking. This place was a trap. 

We decided to try to make it to Rockhampton as we realised that we needed to keep climbing higher so that it would get warmer and remain drier. Cairns is looking really good but there is so much to see between here and there. Rockhampton would allow us to restock before moving on to Mackay and beyond. 
We made a slight detour so that Ray could see the town of Banana. This town was named after a bull leading a team. He was a legend of the area. He finally lay down and died beside the creek nearby. The town was established and named after him. We were kind of hoping for some real ‘banana” bits and pieces but there wasn’t a banana tree in sight. We ate our own so then we could say that we ate a banana in Banana. Ray seemed most impressed with it all and I think he thought that the 85km detour was entirely worth it. We had differing opinions but looking at his very happy face we decided to keep our opinions to ourselves!

We drove on and on, needing finally to stop for a toilet break in a town called Wowan. We found the toilets after a bit of a drive around the town and as Ray got back in the car he said, “I haven’t actually seen any people, have you?” I realised that I hadn’t either. We took another drive around the town and we didn’t see a soul. It was a bit strange and my mind started running away with all sorts of UFO/alien scenarios. We left. It was a long day driving and we pulled into Rockhampton late enough to justify a fish and chip dinner. The deep fried greasy fatness of it all was scrumptious and sleep came easy.