Days 18/19 – July 21/22nd Tannum Sands. Memories are made once.

Tannum Sands was a highlight of our first trip. Linda had surprised me by booking into a site with our first ensuite, and we felt like we were living like royalty. The beach is close, there were cool turtle references everywhere and we found the first real good place to have a beer and dinner while being able to watch the ocean from the balcony of the Tannum Sands Surf Lifesaving Club.

Returning this time, we couldn’t snag an ensuite. The site at the park was not bad, but not great. The surf life saving club was having repairs done to the balcony so we couldn’t sit outside, then we could, and then it was too cold. Linda has pointed out that when we go to Bowen, we can’t get the same caravan park and maybe that is a good thing – because the memory from there was really about the people we met, and that wouldn’t likely be replicated. Keep that memory and make a new one. I think that is the lesson from here. Trying too hard to make the same thing happen that happened spontaneously last time is a folly.

There was one new memory in Tannum Sands though. As Linda backed out of a carpark at the supermarket, she said I should check out the the numberplate on the car behind. It was 54 DOG in QLD plates. When they parked, Linda parked again and I got out and asked if I could take a photo. The lady was very excited by it, and when she saw my bulldog top, she gdave me a hug! Her husband was resigned to the fact that the next 20 minutes was going to be his wife madly talking about the bulldogs, so he left us to it while he did the shopping. She didn’t really take a breath until her husband and my wife both showed up and suggested it was probably time to go. It turns out that she is a moderator on the Bulldogs Fan Forum on facebook. I am now a member.

Discovery Parks - Tannum Sands Google review

These Discovery parks are quite easy to discover as they advertise. They are on google maps and wikicamps, so technically we do discover them, but it is not a large task to do so. The internet here is mighty fine, and you don’t need the full bars on your phone to tell you. Everyone is inside their vans and in their own little domains as soon as the sun goes down.

Facilities are aged, but clean. Showers don’t have the shower curtains to cling onto your clammy skin, but the narrow cubicles do mean that you have a choice to make around which way to face when putting on the underpants. Do I hang on to the shelf facing one way, or press my butt against the cold walls when I bend over the other way. Rubber shower mat is an interesting choice. Unsure if they should be used in the shower to stand on to protect you from the wet floor, or for you to get out and stand on to keep your wet feet from the floor. Either way, they look mighty hard to clean so the thongs were on regardless. 4 stars.