A TALE OF TWO LOOKOUTS AND ANOTHER COAL TERMINAL - BOWEN AND ABBOT POINT (30 MAY 2017)

Towns which are built on and around hills might well present some navigational difficulties for the newcomer, but they do have at least one significant advantage....the high ground does provide great vantage points from which to overlook the district.

In Bowen this is especially so. We were quick to make the most of what was on offer from two of its more prominent lookouts. 

Again, for some perspective, I have engaged Google Earth. The first we visited, Flagstaff Hill, is located immediately to the east (right) of the marina walls at the bottom of the peninsula. 

   

The second lookout, on Mount Nutt, is virtually directly above the Queens Beach Caravan Park and is located just to the south (below) the Don River estuary at the top of this shot.

So off we trotted, firstly to Flagstaff Hill, where, according to the road signs and the tourist information, we were to find an Interpretive Centre and a cafe. Well, not quite.

The building was still here,

but as we made our way across the almost empty car park and along the pathway towards what is quite an impressive edifice, 

it soon became clear that we would not be partaking of coffee and cake, nor could we expect any 'interpretations'. The building stood empty.  As we looked more closely it was evident that Cyclone Debbie had left her calling card. Broken ceiling fans, torn off light fittings and other damage was a stark reminder of the tempest which must have howled in from the Coral Sea over this high ridge to batter this completely unprotected building.

Ah well, at least the views remained unsullied.  We would just have to work things out for ourselves. And what views they are.

We made our way back across the car park to a pathway which took us up to the first of two 'formal' lookout points, 

but not before we had passed what considered to be one of the silliest signs we have seen for some time........"no vehicles allowed beyond this point". As if! 

From here we were presented with this stunning view looking to the east out over North Head Island and Stone Islands with the glowering grey bulk of the much large Gloucester Island forming the backdrop.

As we were taking this all in, I suddenly noticed a row of buildings along the low lying section of Stone Island.  What a treat it would be to live there.

From this vantage point, looking to the north, we could see the sandy sweep of one of Bowen's feature beaches, Kings Beach 

and the houses of Rose Bay on the slope of the hill at the far end of the beach.

We finally tore ourselves away from the splendour of the far end of the Gloucester passage seaway and wandered across to the second lookout point.

There laid out before us to the south-west were the mangrove flats and the road bridge across Magazine Creek which had brought us up to Flagstaff Hill, the small boat marina,

the main town wharf beyond thrusting out into Port Denison and, back on shore, the cluster of buildings which comprise the Bowen CBD.

Panning further to the right, and now looking to the north-west, this rather poor photo (which has suffered badly from the cropping necessary to include the detail I wanted) includes Queens Beach on the right had side and The Mount Nutt lookout on the horizon (mid left). And if you peer particularly closely, the grey 'lump' right on the far horizon just to the right of Mount Nutt is actually the wharf and a large bulk coal carrier at Abbot Point, some twenty kilometres distant.

This photo, zoomed in from Flagstaff Hill, hopefully provides a better perspective of the crest of Mount Nutt with its transmission towers and reservoir tank with the Abbot Point wharf in the distance.

So now it was time to again retrace our route across town and climb to the crest of Mount Nutt, where, to our disappointment, we discovered that access to the main viewing platform atop the large tank had been closed. This was a real shame, because that spot offers unimpeded views through 360 degrees. 

But we soldiered on nevertheless and by walking around the bottom of the tank were able to snap away, beginning with the view east over Queens Bay to Cape Edgecumbe and Grays Bay in the far distance. This shot also served to demonstrate just how close this vantage point was to our caravan park.  The roadway mid shot





is in fact ours. There we were, UN flag flying proudly in the light coastal zephyr (aren't the gardens here just lovely!).

Around the other side of the tank the flat alluvial plains which are such a feature of the district came into focus. From here it was easy to see what a significant part horticulture plays in the local economy.

At this time of the year these plastic covered rows would normally be a mass of staked tomato plants, heavy with fruit ready for picking, but this year Cyclone Debbie put paid to all that.  Replanting was underway at a frantic pace in the hope that something could be salvaged from the season, but we have our doubts.



If nothing else, by the time this late harvest makes it way to the markets of the major cities, early spring crops grown in the south would be beginning to make an appearance on the supermarket shelves and the natural sales advantage of the winter crops of this region would be challenged if not lost altogether.

Whilst the main horticultural emphasis here, as I mentioned previously, centres on tomatoes, melons and capsicums, a few mango orchards splash  across the landscape in dark green rows.

And, as you can see from this shot, the fields of fruit and vegetables lie side by side with suburbia, in this case the houses of Queens Beach. And looking down at this mansion, standing in all its isolated glory (the driveway to which runs off Mount Nutt Road directly opposite the entrance to our caravan park), we decided that at least one grower has done very well over the years. 

These were but a small sample of the many, many hectares of plantings which can be found for kilometre after kilometre along the Bruce Highway on either side of the township.

Looking directly to the north from the Mount Nutt lookout (and hauling hard on the focus button) brought the coal loading wharf of Abbot Point into closer view. 

As I noted before, this is actually some twenty kilometres or so to the north of Bowen.  We decided that we should mosey up the Bruce and make a closer inspection. With thanks to 'theaustralian.com' this is an aerial shot of the facility which we had hoped to see at first hand.

You may well have gathered from that comment that ours became a fools' errand. After making our way off the highway and driving some distance along the Abbot Point Road,

this was our eventual reward. No viewing platforms, no guided tours........nothing. Well done Adani, and this from a company desperate for good publicity given the raging debate about their plans to develop mines in the Galilee Basin.

At least we did gain a glimpse or two 

of some of the machinery used to move the coal from the shore dumps out along the jetty to the holds of the waiting bulk carriers.

So whilst this facility remains a no-go zone for interested visitors, I have had to rely on other sources to discover what Abbot Point is all about.

Wikipedia came to my aid with this information:

"Abbot Point is the most northerly deepwater coal port of Australia, situated 25 kilometres north of Bowen........ Established in 1984, it consists of a rail in-loading facility, coal handling and stockpile areas, and a single trestle jetty and conveyor connected to a berth and shiploader, located 2.75 km off-shore. Coal reaches the port via the GAP railway line from the Bowen Basin Coalfields.

The Port of Abbot Point is of significant strategic value to North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation, as there are very few locations along Queensland's eastern seaboard where deep water (>15m) is so close in-shore. 

However, the port's location is controversial as it is so close to the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO world heritage site. There are concerns that the port and the ships that transit the reef to and from the port may harm the reef and its animal life."

The port is planned to provide export facilities for coal mined from the Galilee Basin. The terminal is being expanded with the addition of a second wharf and shiploader well as an additional onshore stockyard and machines. Once completed [if this ever happens] it will be the largest coal port in the world.

In May 2012, the expansion plans were scaled back, with only two new wharves being built instead of six. The scaling down of the project came after Rio Tinto announced its withdrawal. BHP Billiton and Hancock Coal are expected to use the second and third terminals.

An environmental assessment which included a review of 16 environmental studies, found the port's expansion would not have a significant impact on the Great Barrier Reef and that Greenpeace's claims regarding the expansion's impact were overstated. 

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Protection Authority (GBRMPA) advised minister Greg Hunt not to approve dredging for the Abbott Point coal port expansion. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act was amended so that government does not have to consider expert advice before approving major developments such as mines and ports."

I suspect that the future of Abbot Point remains very much in the balance, hinging particularly on the outcome of the argy-bargy relating to the proposed development of the Galilee Basin mines by the Adani Group and the strength of the protests relating to the depositing of dredge spoil should expansion continue.  Another case of "watch this space".

And even if we did not get to see the port at close hand, at least we had a very good view of one of the coal trains which had just completed its delivery and was waiting for the line to clear before returning to the mining area in the Bowen Basin for its next load.  Oh, and by the way, this photo only captures a segment of it. As we drove past we clicked on the odo.....1.8 kilometres long!

In my next we shall explore the port facilities and small boat harbour of Bowen and cruise around the much vaunted (and in our view highly over-rated beaches of the town).