Pity, I'll have left the country by then. Eungella is a great spot, but I don't like the actual ride up the front of the coastal range on a bike. It's really steep and there's a number of iron grates across the road to help drainage, and I just cringe at the thought of what they'd be like if they were wet as they scare the crap out of me even when they're dry.
20 km or so down from Eungella on the Mackay-Eungella Rd is the town of Pinnacle, and the Pinnacle Pub does a great pie, chips and gravy. Their pies are worth any trip, they're hot but the pastry has been formed up and crimped to the top like the old English pork pie. Their pepper pie, best of the lot.
One ride I love is to turn off the Mackay-Eungella Rd from about a km inland of Marani/about ten km east of Pinnacle, turn north onto the Marani-Mt Ossa Rd and cut through maybe 35 km to the Bruce Highway at Mt Ossa.
Another great eatery is the Old Station tearooms on the Cape Hillsborough Rd. You turn off the Bruce Highway towards the coast at The Leap (the Seaforth Rd) then just before Seaforth you turn right onto the Cape Hillsborough Rd and about 5 km along, on the left just after the Balls Beach turnoff, there's the Old Station tearooms - great wood fired pizzas on the weekend but they only cook pizzas between 12.00 midday and 2.00 pm. The pub lunches at The Leap Hotel are great too.
Or you could just go on up the Peak Downs Highway to Nebo (about 90 km from Mackay - about the same distance as Eungella is from Mackay) and have a burger sitting out on the verandah at the Nebo Pub. There's a twisty road back down to Sarina back on the Bruce Highway from the other side of Nebo, or you can head inland for 30 km or so and turn south down the Beef Development Rd -I think the real name is the Fitzroy Development Rd, Highway 67 - and head south through Dingo and onto the Capricorn Highway.
