We had packed up a lot of the extra things that needed to be stowed last night so we could get away early this morning. Today we had to travel our biggest day yet, as we were aiming for Airlie Beach. Normally this would keep us in the car for 6.5 hours but it never worked out like that. There were always delays.

We left at 8am. It was Easter Monday and we just didn’t know what to expect on the road today. By about 10am which was check out time for most accommodations, the roads got very busy and we saw literally hundreds of caravans going in the opposite direction to us and a few travelling in the same direction.

There is an unspoken road etiquette between caravanners in Australia that you must know about once you hit the road to travel. It is spoken about in travel forums, all over Facebook and if you are oblivious once you start travelling, you’ll soon know about it.

It’s the finger wave.

Caravanner to caravanner. This includes camper vans and anything in between.

Whenever one comes towards you the exchange is generally between drivers where they lift either one finger in a friendly salute, or two fingers if not comfortable. We’ve even had whole hand waves although this is not recommended because this means a hand has to be removed off the wheel. Sometimes the front seat passenger will join in and it is a front windscreen hand party.

Ray does the finger wave every time he sees an oncoming traveller. Today, by the time we stopped for lunch I offered to ice his fingers and take over the waving from my passenger position. There were so many travelers on the road! As well as causing finger fatigue, the extra traffic on the road created a much slower journey and that coupled with roadworks (yes even on a public holiday) or the automated traffic lights at ongoing construction works, made for a very, very long day in the car.

We stopped in Cardwell for morning tea and took note of a billboard on the way for somewhere to eat. We definitely were NOT returning to the eatery we went to on our way through here when Ray couldn’t get service or the bakery where they have vegetarian pasties every second week. But we did want to give Cardwell a second chance. The billboard mentioned a cafe opposite the jetty so we pulled up, made a beeline for the public loos (phew), then crossed the road and visited the cafe.

The menu was extensive, the prices were so reasonable they could be described as cheap and what was this…hot dogs! Ray thrust Henry’s lead at me and went inside.

Not only was this hotdog Rays favourite brand (Don skinless), but it was served in a soft roll. Just how he liked it. The cafe was a mum and dad business and their two kids were “on the hop” as Ray put it, helping out and doing a great job. They were delivering meals to tables, working the till, packing orders and the son even came out and refilled the dog water bowl for Henry. Ray chatted to them as they made his order and the door continually opened with new customers who the father said were both travelers and locals. The coffee was also great!

Lunch was at a rest area just outside of Townsville called Bluewater. Ten years ago we stayed here at the feee camp overnight and Ray was challenged by another camper to reverse into the only small available spot left between a tree and a concrete table. Apparently many had driven past it and left, deeming it too hard. Ray accepted the challenge, a crowd gathered. I squeezed my eyes closed and Ray did his thing.

We call it the “one try triumph”. We stayed there two nights confident that our gear was safe when we left it during the day because he had hero status amongst the campers there.

Not much had changed. Except that now you have to book your spot online using a QR code. The trees have rocks around them to protect them and the concrete tables were still there. We had a picnic lunch that I had prepared to save time, Henry had a stretch and explore and we were back on the road. We still had 2.5 hours to go!

As we pulled into Airlie Beach we clocked over 635km and close to 10 hours in the car. The Captain has been a trooper and slept for most of it. We’ve had to wake him up at each break.

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He’s had much less sleep during this trip than he would normally have at home so he’s probably had a good catch up today.