July 31st, We finished packing up and headed for
Bowen. This wasn’t a long trip but we made a roadside stop, for a coffee break,
after travelling around 1 ½ hours. We hadn’t made a forward booking, so we
pulled into the Bowen Information Centre, at the Big Mango, to get their list
of Caravan Parks. The Big Mango was huge, 10 metres tall.We were told that the Parks in Town were mostly booked out
and out best bet was the next Park up the Highway, on the left, called Bowen
Palms. We called into the Bowen Palms
Caravan Park and after checking their prices and looking around decided to stay
for 2 weeks. The weekly rate was discounted by one free night and we were able
to pick our own site. After setting up we walked across the Highway to The
Homestead Store, to see what was on offer and Val bought a huge bag of red Tomatoes
and planned to make some Tomato Chutney, for her Market Stall, of course. They
also had “home made” Jams, Pickles, Relishes and Sauces for sale, made by a
local woman. We couldn’t believe that they were all in grotty used jars of all
sizes, dusty and so watery that they didn’t look edible. 
August 1st, We drove into Bowen, about a 5 minute
drive, to have a look around. We noticed on the way in that the Salt Works was
closed down, as we were told at the Info. Centre, as it is up for sale. We are
now north of the sugar cane area and this is a farming area, famous for its
Mangoes but also grows other Fruit and Vegetables. The main streets of Town
look just like most other small Country Towns, Shops on both sides of the road
and wide streets. We drove around the waterfront of Port Denison to the Marina,
where Val bought some seafood for her dinner tonight. A bit further on we
arrived at the Flagstaff Hill Interpretive Centre and Lookout. The view was
amazing and the Centre had a Café where you could get a meal or just coffee and
look at the view. The water was so “blue” and a couple of yachts were drifting
around in the breeze, you could sit and watch it all day. Going back through
Town we stopped off at the Supa IGA Store, for Val to check out their fruits
(for jam making), as she is keen to make some Strawberry jam. We called in to
the “BIG RED” Grocer Shop on the way home, to see if he had green tomatoes and
he said he would get some for Val when he goes to the Farm, in the morning.
August 2nd, We drove into Town to do some
shopping and called into “Big Red” on the way home and he gave Val a huge bag
of green tomatoes (3.7Kg.) at no charge. How generous is that! As soon as we
got home, Val started on making up 2 batches of “Green Tomato Pickles”, to add
to her Market Stall stock.
August 4th, Today was Market Day in Bowen, so we
went to both to check out the competition and see if they had cheap fruit for
Val’s jams. The first Market was at Queens Beach, very small and plenty of
“home made” condiments on sale. Very unattractive and of doubtful quality. They
were all put up in 2nd hand jars, of all varying sizes, and some
sauces were in soft plastic drink bottles! We couldn’t believe that they would
be allowed to sell their products in that condition. The other Markets were at
Horseshoe Bay, much larger, well laid out, lots of clothing and jewellery but
no jams and pickles. This was promising, for us, as long as we could get a spot
under a tree, as we don’t have any shelter and the weather is very hot. 
August 5th, Val decided to put some signs up
around the Park, to sell her Jams and Pickles out of the Van. When she went to
the Office to ask permission, she took some jars to show the Manager,
Jill, what she was selling and got her
first sale for a jar of Green tomato Pickles. As you can guess, Val was “over
the moon” with excitement and soon found a box, to keep her sales money
separate. We went into Town to the Woolworths Shopping Centre and picked up
some nice strawberries that were on special. While in Town we called around to
the Information Centre, to get a contact number for the person who organizes
the Horseshoe Bay Markets and I was reminded that the Town of Bowen was the
Town where the movie “Australia” was made. They transformed a huge block of
land and built a Movie Set depicting Darwin, back in that era, as well as
dressing up some of the buildings in Town. A local farmer, who was a machinery
collector of pre 1940’s era, supplied a lot of the props required for the film.
Back home, Val cooked up her Strawberry Jam and packed into jars. Val decided
to book a stall at the Horseshoe Markets, so called her contact and was asked what
she was selling and when told, was asked if she had her Kitchen Licenced. The
Council, for a cost of $245, conduct an inspection and issue licences. So,
that’s the end of our selling at any Market that requires a licence. Interestingly,
the Council has no control over how the cooked product looks at point of sale!
So, it’s been a day of ups and downs. We will now concentrate on selling out of
the Van in Caravan Parks.
August 6th, Val made another batch of Apricot
Jam, as she had the fruit soaking overnight. It’s HOT again today, but
thankfully we had a nice afternoon breeze to make it a bit more bearable. Val’s
adverts around the Park bought in another customer this afternoon, who bought
Green Tomato Pickles, Watermelon Rind Pickle, Ploughman’s Pickle and Tomato
Chutney. Business is picking up!
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