Today, we start the 1000 kilometre journey down the Queensland coast to our home in Brisbane. I am going to mix up the shots a bit otherwise the subjects are going to become repetitive blocks, so there may be some leap frogging about.
36 kilometres south of Mackay is the sugar cane and railway town of Sarina. It has its own sugar mill, called Plane Creek. Plane Creek Mill also makes prodigious quantities of power alcohol (bioethanol) for industry and fuel. Currently owned by Wilmar Sugar, it was the last mill in Queensland to receive chopped cane by mainline Queensland Railways train. The main depot for coal trains operating on the Goonyella System to the Hay Point port and holding roads are located at the large Jilalan facility owned by Aurizon just to the south of town.
The mill also has an extensive narrow gauge cane tramway system with a line penetrating well to the south which replaced the Queensland Railways operation when it stopped operation.
But Sarina, in my books is also the location of this little gem of an eatery that seems to have been operating successfully in basic mode for as long as I can remember and must be the most basic place I have seen anywhere. It doesn’t even seem to have a name or existence, but the food must be good judging by the number of walk ins. Now, this isn’t the type of place to take your wife and the kids! The signs on the outside are advertising for anything but the place’s name which remains a mystery, let ‘s call it Chuck’s! To get in and take some form of seat you enter by one of the outer doors, the middle door appears to be where either the cook or serving staff (if they exist) operate. It is always open, a safety feature in case of a ferocious fat fire! In fact, I wonder how the place has any fire safety or evacuation plans except to yell "Fire" and abandon ship really fast. Kebabs seem to be high on the menu and given there seem to be other kebab shops in town (online at least), the food must speak for itself.
It’s these sort of places that make a journey through our country great fun. Mind you, we didn’t go there, never have (after all we had just finished breakfast in Mackay) and I wasn’t even game for really get up close and look in.
