Proserpine, a short 70 minutes from The Leap near Mackay, was a lovely little town, and easy to walk around.
The donation camp is right in the middle of town. An easy walk across the road to the supermarket and a lovely stroll up and down the streets. Located behind St Catherine's Catholic Church, it was super quiet, secure and so handy to shops, and tourist attractions, such as Airlie Beach.
We arrived on a Friday about 1pm and there was still a number of vacant spots. However by 7pm it was packed. Saturday was much the same. We had a 'wiz bang' turn up about 11pm on the Friday night and squish in between us and the van next to us. We didn't hear them ..... until just after 5am when one of them lit up 'something' and our smoke alarm went off!! They also left a lot of toilet paper around the area!!
In 1859 George Elphinstone Dalrymple, on an expedition north, named the Proserpine River after the Greek goddess Persephone (Latin name Proserpine). The area appeared to be very fertile and Persephone was the goddess of Spring and fertile growth. Prior to the arrival of Europeans the area was home to the Gia people. The first Europeans settled in 1861 with the Proserpine Creek pastoral run. By 1882 sugar plantations were being established along land cleared by Pacific Islander and Chinese labour. The land around the creek was surveyed in order to establish a town, and by the 1890's was subdivided into lots. In 1897 a sugar mill was opened to service the many sugar plantations in the area, and it still operates today. The town quickly grew around the mill, including many hotels.
The Prince of Wales Hotel on the main street (pictured above) is a lovely art deco building built in 1904 by T. Heron and C. Cheffins for Mrs Elizabeth Simpson and provided accommodation, meals and stabling of horses. Many building renovations have taken place over the years, with the most recent being the added bistro and beer garden.
Across the road from the camp was a public park - Pioneer Park. It has toilets and showers, that are only open during the day (due to vandalism), bbq's, small playground and covered picnic tables. There is also a monument telling the legend of Persephone, the Greek goddess of Spring, after which Proserpine is named.
Perephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and fertility. Perephone was picking flowers in a meadow and Pluto, the god of the underworld appeared and kidnapped her back to the underworld. Demeter was furious with Zeus for allowing their daughter to be kidnapped and refused to let crops grow until Perephone was returned. Zeus persuaded Pluto to return his daughter but she had eaten the seeds of a pomegranate, which symbolised marriage with Pluto. A compromise was achieved with Perephone spending one third of the year with Pluto and the earth would be cold and barren, the rest of the year on earth when crops would grow and the harvest would be full. This explains the seasons.
Close to the Whitsundays, Proserpine is now a tourist stop. A little further north, before the turn off to Airlie was Whitsunday Gold Coffee and it was well worth a visit. We stopped in to get a coffee before heading to Airlie and spent quite a while there.
It's a cafe ......
..... and a menagerie of birds and animals.
A short drive to the coast is the beautiful Airlie Beach. The first European in the area was Captain Cook who explored the islands and named Repulse Bay.
That looks such a nice place.
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