Our next adventure was to Bowen which is a quiet town south of Townsville which is Queensland's oldest town, with Captain Cook passing this site in 1770. Captain Henry Daniel Sinclair discovered Port Denison in 1859 which is Bowen Harbour. Within a year of settlement there were 20 cattle stations in the area along with hotels, stores and government agencies. The movie "Australia" was filmed in Bowen. The history of Bowen is depicted by a series of murals painted on the side of buildings around the main street. There are several lovely beaches and walks around the area. The township has been maintained by the establishment of the Abbot Point Coal Loading Facility which is 20km north of Bowen and employees 500 personnel. Once again we found purdy relatives an old friend of Dale's who has a mango farm. He took us for a tour and told us the story from growing the small trees to exporting the fruit which was fascinating