Aah, another sun drenched morning.  After a relaxed start to the day, we headed to Yeppoon for a bit of shopping and a look around.  Yeppoon is a quiet seaside resort town with splendid views from the top of the not inconsiderable hills (I assume the views are splendid, we didn’t actually climb any of the hills).  It is also where I was reminded that today is Daffodil Day.  So following tradition, I purchased this year’s Daffodil bear, raising funds for the Cancer Council.  I have quite a collection of small furry bears, each one different.  They reside in my office at work.

So now I have “Beach Bear” and he is very sun-smart in his hat and sunglasses, and sensible beach attire.  I decided that he could become the Guardian of my cabin and put him straight to work.  I think he needs more training …

Next port of call was Emu Park.  This is also a seaside resort town, but smaller.  It is very neat, fresh, compact and pretty – my pick of the places along this stretch of coast. We left Guard Bear practicing in the car while we ate pies for lunch.  The main tourist attraction of Emu Park (no emus by the way), is the Singing Ship, a hilltop sculpture that overlooks Keppel Bay and its cluster of islands.  When the wind blows, the sculpture “sings”.  Today it was receiving the finishing touches of a fresh coat of paint, so it was gleaming white against an azure sky and very photogenic – below is a selection:

Emu Park has a new attraction, and an excellent one it is.  Centenary memorials to World War 1 are springing up all over, but this is one of the nicer ones.  There is a large sandstone memorial with a rosemary-for-remembrance plantation, which one day will be a beautiful hedge.  There’s a very clever piece of art, depicting a painting of Anzac soldiers making their way up the cliffs at Gallipoli – but it’s on a transparent screen, on top of the hill above the real beach, and aligned so that the soldiers look like they are climbing the actual hill – you can see the painting and the real backdrop at the same time.

There is also a new boardwalk which hugs the coast for a few hundred metres, leading to a lookout perched under the Singing Ship, and providing sweeping views of Keppel Bay.  At the other end is a series of interpretive panels covering all aspects of WW1 in a nutshell.  The three of us were very impressed at the imagination and care which has gone into the whole project.

On return, I left Guard Bear on duty and went for a swim.  The pool was, well, refreshing, and I stayed in long enough to say I’d had a swim.  Sunbaking and book reading followed, after which I returned to the cabin and let Guard Bear have a well earned nap.  Fish and chips for tea rounded off a very pleasant day.