Day 25 to 26. July 14 and 15 2022. Yeppoon. Surprise!

First some surprising news. On our way to Yeppoon we stop at Rockhampton, which has a lovely town centre and quite a variety of old buildings and architecture. That is not surprising. While Linda was getting something else done, I stop at a store which has those big thick padded flannelette shirts out the front. Now it could be argued that is surprising due to it normally being hot in North Queensland, or it could be argued that the fact that I didn’t already own one of these beauties is the surprise. Well, I don’t. Well, I didn’t. I do now. It is also surprising how much wear I am getting out of it because it is still cold at night in Queensland. With the UK having temperatures over 40, it is hard to deny climate change now.

We are staying at another town I have never heard of, and we arrive to find that we have turned up to a caravan park that has all the bells and whistles. At least, all the waterslides and the people. The park is relatively new and has great facilities for the kids. Pedal cars, outdoor movie night, massive playground and hence there are a lot of families crammed in and kids running around unchecked. This is also the first park we have arrived at that also offered cocktails fro reception at 11:00 am from the office, so you tell me if that is a coincidence.

We are in a bit of an in-between age group for what we are doing. We are young for a grey nomad – whom are retired at 65, and have multiple grandkids they have left in Melbourne for 4 months of the year. We are also older than family that have kids aged between 2 and 13, have taken the kids out of school for the adventure of a lifetime and let them free in the park after getting nuggets for dinner, and the parents get a cab to the local pub for a counter meal.

We have nothing against either age group… per se …. but we are finding that the parks with the great kid facilities and the younger crowds that, while they are more modern and up to date, they clientele does not seem to respect the amenities too much and a few hours after cleaning there are decisions to be made about which shower you might take or which toilet cubicle you may enter. If the lid is closed before going in, don’t open it.

The older places where there are more stereo typical grey nomads, we are finding that the amenities are clean and they work, and there is a general respect towards what is being provided. It isn’t just a maturity thing, it is that they are generally booked in for weeks \ months at a time, so are effectively residents. It is the same in choosing an apartment building in the city, don’t buy one that allows air b&b in the building. If people have to live in the space for longer, there is generally a greater respect for the space.

We have also found that these sites have the people asking you over and join their group. They seem to have gatherings from around 4:00pm that go until 5:30 which involve a few drinks, a lot of a chat and then time for bed. This doesn’t happen at the bigger younger sites. There are kids at the older sites, but they seem to have a different play agenda. On the beach, blowing bubbles, making games……and there seems to be a lack of chicken nuggets and cocktails being offered at reception.

Yeppoon was very touristy and not our town. Emu Park has a great war memorial and in between the two places was a sperm whale. I want it as my games room.