Takarakka Bush Resort to St. George. - 18/10/12

A big day of travel – some 400+km, in hot temperatures of circa 37degrees.

We say our farewells to Peter D. who is driving back to Brisbane today [ some 11.5 hours].  It was really great spending the few days with Peter and we all look forward to catching up with he & Sue in the future.   Hope you have good news Peter concerning the arrival of the new grandchild when you get home.

We had our first stop at Injune for a coffee break.  It was a very neat town and the lady at the Information centre was very friendly and informative.  We had started to encounter large farm machinery in transit on the roads……very oversized…approximately 1.5 lanes wide.

We followed an oversized truck for some distance and Tony was anxious to pass him.  He asked Dot to get on the CB and get the driver to let us know when it was safe to pass.  Dot chatted to the driver who was quite agreeable and he was overheard to call his support vehicle with the request – “I have 2 little ones behind me”  Hehe love it.  He duly let us know and Dot called Tony on the CB – '”now Tony”  no sign of Tony in the rear view mirror, Dot calls again “Tony NOW’  No  sign of him.  Dot calls again “NOW TONY NOW”  Finally the troopie appears in the rear-view mirror passing the truck.  Phew.  Tony admitted later that he had his foot flat to the floor and was peddling hard and didn’t think he was going to be able to pass!!!!  Haha is this one up  for the PRADO with turbo, we had heaps of juice left and could have gone faster.

A further 120km onto  Roma for some shopping and lunch.    A backlog of Telstra messages started to come in.

Around another 200 km through a variety of landscapes we arrive at St George mid afternoon and seek a bit of extra comfort via a motel  for a good shower and fresh clothes.

Tomorrow’s target is a caravan park at NSW’s Lightning Ridge.

Takarakka Camp Resort 15/10/12 – 17/12/10

Monday 15/10/12

We have to get the walking footwear out of the roof bag in preparation for our walks.  Peter D. had sussed out a few of the walks in the National Park  the previous morning, and came up with  a couple of easy walks to start with.

Firstly we tackle Baloon Cave – 1km from the carpark through wooded forest with fan palms, cycads and a variety of plants, some in flower.  Baloon Cave is part of the entry point to the gorge used by Aboriginal people for thousands of years. The sandstone overhang features fine examples of stencilled Aboriginal rock art.    

Then onto Mickey Creek Gorge – 2.5km from car park which leads to narrow side gorges where the walking track becomes a rock hopping adventure.  These have lovely little streams through them, along with lovely natural air conditioning.  Tony, Peter & Michael head off further into the gorge, having to clamber along ledges as well as up over rock step-ups.    Finally Tony comes to a section which going up . was a major challenge, but descending would have been even more difficult.  Peter manages to get a couple of photos with Tony in a challenging position.  Jen commented later that it was important that he had done up his fly.

Following this, it is off to the Rock Pool which is surrounded by fig and casuarina trees.  The pool has male catfish tending the young offspring, as well as platypus and turtles.

Back to the park for lunch and afternoon nano nap for Tony and catch-up time for Peter D with Michael & Dot.

At 5:00pm we head across to the assembly area to hear an address from Simon, one of the local guides.  He gives us an informative history of the area from a geological, the aboriginal and local use pre and post National Park status and wildlife. He points out the best walks and features of the park to be tackled.

 

 

Tuesday – 16/10/12

A big day ahead with walks covering circa 12 km anticipated  We head off around 8.30am and drive to the National Park and tackle the Art Gallery [5.4km from visitor carpark] walking through woodland and crisscrossing the river via large stepping stones. The Art Gallery has over 2000 Aboriginal engravings, ochre stencils and free hand paintings over the 62m long sandstone walls. Unfortunately examples of visitors engraving their names/initials over the artwork as far as back as 1952 can be seen.  Surveillance cameras are now in place as a deterrent.

Unfortunately Peter had a knee injury playing up and Dot and Michael and he would catch up with Tony & Jenny as they waited at a resting seat/s on many occasions.  As we head back we divert to Ward’s Canyon, which is a small but beautiful side gorge – a great photo opportunity.  The short steep track winds through spotted gums and around a small waterfall into a beautiful cool place [it is starting to warm up]  containing the world’s largest king fern.  Water containers were replenished in the lovely cool running stream.

Back to the main track and then another diversion off to Moss garden where water drips constantly from the sandstone walls which supports a lush carpet of mosses, ferns and liverworts.  A currawong flew down and took his trail bar out of his hand as he attempted to pass a trail bar to Dot.

We all head back to the main track and then back to the carpark, (where an echidna is wandering around} ….unfortunately in the heat of the day arriving home around 3.00pm for a very late lunch.  Tony’s recommendation of having bananas to stave off cramp is taken up.

We had encountered a couple of French lads [with little English] leaving for the full circuit [32km] at around  2.00pm without water….they arrive back at the camp kitchen around 7.00pm totally exhausted.  Their evening meal was potato chips.    Peter D said they should be eating meat & vegetables.  Michael suggested Duck a l’orange which was met by a “Ugh”   Peter D quickly translated with a “Quack Quack” which the French boys understood,,,,,,,This broke Tony up completely.

 

 

Wednesday – 17/10/12

Everyone pulled up reasonably well after yesterdays effort.  A very quiet day with a small walk around the park in the morning and then Tony takes us off to another private safari park for a Devonshire scones & coffee for morning tea.

Back to camp for a casual lunch and some housekeeping tasks in readiness for tomorrow’s departure to St. George.

Dot gets Peter D. to transfer some photos to her laptop and then together look at the features on her Nikon camera, whilst Tony has his usual nano nap and Michael does some work on the blog.

Michael is pleased to have Peter D with us since it takes some of the pressure off Michael being the butt of Tony’s jokes – hehe.

Lake Maraboon to Takarakka Bush Resort [Carnarvan Gorge National Park] 14/10/12

Before leaving Lake Maraboon, we must acknowledge our camp neighbours Ian & Jillian who introduced us to the red-claw [yabbie/marron like ]  with some samples for an entree taste.  They have a large Bushtracker van pulled by a large GMC vehicle.   This is this home, as they have been on the road for the past 6 years.  They indicated they catch up with others who have been on the road for the past 12 years.

We also met another couple when we went to talk about their Roadstar Daintree caravan, as we had been interested in a Daintree a couple of years ago. They were in the midst of shelling a milk crate of large red-claw they had caught,  for subsequent freezing.  They gave us a pack of tails [400gram, 8-10 pieces], which we gratefully received and enjoyed over two nights with a garlic butter sauce.

On the road at a leisurely 8:30am and travelled through some interesting country with impressive mountain ranges.  We stopped at Springsure for a coffee reviver at the Information Centre, which contained quite a bit of history memorabilia plus quilting and sewing magazines which Dot had to purchase.

 

 

 

 

Then onto Takarakka Bush Resort, located just outside the National Park.  We arrived around midday, and caught up with Peter Daunton [part of last years trip] who had driven up from Brisbane the previous day.  It was great seeing Peter who was tender hooks, as wife Sue was in Perth with her daughter who had been admitted to hospital in labour

The campground is in a  treed environment, with great facilities – very large camp kitchen with gas cooker facilities, BBQs, hot water urns, sinks with hot & cold water plus cleaning accessories and large bench/seats catering for circa 40-50 people at a time.  A small general store with supplies including a range of wines @ $20.00 per bottle…..a must for our evening meal with Peter D.  The only thing lacking was Telstra 3G coverage!!!!!!!!!!

Kangaroos wander around the grounds and a range of bird life abounds.

It was very interesting watching the variety of vans and 5th wheelers, and talking to a number of their owners who in some cases have sold up and this is now their permanent home.

The National Park is obviously a mecca for serious bushwalkers.

 

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Emerald–Lake Maraboon 10-10-12 to 13-10-12

Had an uneventful trip to Emerald (much of the country was interesting), all the fun started when we arrived.  The trip (500+km) has taken longer than expected and it is quite late (5ish) when we get to Emerald). First job was to find somewhere to stay, the caravan/cabin park in town seemed to be the most sensible since we were not familiar with this area.  The caravan park was pretty crowded (which we don’t like), but we went into the reception area anyway.  They sent us way down the back and we were dismayed to see how close together all the caravans were.  All the cabins (or most of them) were being used by workmen from the mines.  We were not at all happy with where they wanted us to go and could not even see how we were going to get our tent into the allocated spot.  It also looked very possible that piles of people would surround us.  On to another park, we were told it was pretty ordinary and full up anyway.  Oh dear.  We decided to  stay in a motel for the first night and look for a camping spot in the morning.  Hmm, no room at the inn at all, not a vacancy anywhere.  We were talking to  each other on the CB radio when a man butted in and asked us what we were looking for.  We told him and he informed us that we had no hope in town, but that there may be vacancies at Lake Maraboon about 20 kms out of town.  He also told us that we would have to  go  in the back way since the road across the dam wall was closed.  A very helpful,citizen!

Off we went.

Arrived at the park feeling a little dispirited and again sent down to the back (this park is pretty full too).  We don’t feel too enthusiastic about anything at this stage but have no choice so we settle in.  It is getting dark as we set up.  Michael fortunately heard on the radio, as he came back from reception, that we were due for a storm that evening.  Bummer, Tony is quite confident in his troopie, but our tent has only been exposed to a very slight shower, a storm with possible hail sounds a little threatening.  Michael puts lots of guy ropes on the tent. The wind began to build.  Sure enough just as we finished tea, the thunder and lightning started, then the pouring rain.  The tent came through with full marks, not a single drop inside and it withstood the wind very well indeed, needless to say the troopie didn’t even notice the storm.

Next morning we are feeling more enthusiastic and the park looks a lot better.  Michael and I have quite a large site (for a tent) and we have a huge off road van being towed by an American truck next door, no-one else on the other side.  There are vacant spots around us, so we have quite a private little spot.  The showers in our are are a bit old, but there is a newer shower block some walk away.

We drove to  the information centre to see what was what, checked out the mine tours and the lady in the information centre booked us into Carnarvon Gorge.  We had morning tea and drove to Rubyvale for a mine tour into a sapphire mine.  Had lunch in the pub at Rubyvale and went on the tour.  This proved to be very interesting.  Tony who had not thought he would enjoy it did so.  We were the only ones in the party and our guide was great.  And oh my, the jewellery in the shop was fabulous.

When we got back to the park (which is now great, hehe) our neighbours had come back from their fishing trip and had some ‘redclaw’  these are large yabby type creatures who are vegetarians!  We get all the info on how to catch them and begin to feel enthusiastic about having a try ourselves.  We need opera nets!

Next day Michael and I head off into town to buy some nets and to go back to Rubyvale where we had a go at fossicking for sapphires.  We found a few little pieces and one quite large that is a blackish colour and called a ‘bomb’, not worth cutting.  One little piece is quite nice and I am having it polished into a cabochon (it will be quite small when finished but it is a memento of our trip to Emerald).

When we get back with the nets, we bait them with potato, dog biscuits and orange (these are some of the suggestions we had).  We took them down to the lake and dropped them in.  Tony could hardly contain himself and kept on wanting to go and check his net.  We were told that they are night feeders and to  wait until morning.

Our neighbours (Ian and Jillian) had caught a bucket full and gave us a dozen small ones to try.  We grilled them on the BBQ with some butter and were quite impressed.

Next morning, off we went quite excited to see if we had caught any.  Michael and I had 4, Tony had 2, but they were quite large.  Great excitement.

We have lots of lovely birds around our campsite.

It is now getting quite cold at night and it may not be long before we need long pants instead of shorts.  Michael and I have brought way too many clothes and the ones we don’t need are on the roof of the car.  We decide to get the bag down and transfer some of the warmer type clothes into our bag.  Oh dear, one of our bags of clothes is soaking wet, the canvas roof carry bag has leaked, probably during our storm. Just as well we found it, the clothes would have become mouldy pretty soon. 

Tony has become enthusiastic about powered sites and we get them as often as possible.  Two days ago it suddenly occurred to him that now he was on power he could use an ELECTRIC jug and a toaster.  He had a toaster but went out and bought a jug.  He has been boiling water as much as possible, including water for us.  We couldn’t stand it any longer and today we went out and bought a jug and a toaster for ourselves, civilisation while camping!

Mum, dad and the kid.

We will be without internet connection for the next 4 (I think) days.

Horseshoe Bay to Burdekin Dam 8-10-12 + 09-10-12

Woke to a lovely morning, the wind has died right down now.  Went to do our shopping for the next 3 days, then Michael and I drove to the outside of town to photograph the ‘big mango’.
We caught up to  Tony and Jenny and started off to the Burdekin dam.  We passed acres of corn, tomatoes and rockmelons on black volcanic soil. 
The country is largely huge granite boulders and granite mountains.  Similar to Magnetic Island,  Bowen’s Horse shoe bay had granite boulders the size of houses.  Tony wanted one for his front yard.
We decided to stop in Collinsville for lunch and enjoyed a very interesting drive, through some great country.  There is a lot of water lying around in dams and ponds, we are very surprised since it is the end of the dry season.
After lunch we head off to the dam down the ‘back road’.  (There is sealed road from Charter’s Towers, but this is not for us – hehe).  The back road is a dirt road but is in very good nick. On the road we see a deer, Tony tells us it is an Indian spotted deer (Chital) and that they were released 100 kms the other side of Charters Towers 30 years ago. 
Finally reach the dam and can’t see the camping ground, there is a “T”  intersection, so Tony and Jen go to the left and Michael and I go to the right.  Pretty soon Tony is calling us on the CB to tell us that there is no camp down his road.  Michael and I drive down a very steep winding road to see the dam ahead of us – WOW, we have to drive on a narrow road right across the front of the dam wall.  Still can’t see any camp, but we travel on across to the other side and up the steep road.and find the park overlooking the dam. 
Surprisingly, it is a very nice park, not at all what we were expecting, there is even a swimming pool and the cost for a powered site is only $15 for a couple.  We have been paying $32 to $44 per night to date.  The park manager comes around in the morning at 7:00 AM to collect the fees.  There is a motel and several houses there, but the motel is closed and looks uncared for.  The only houses that seem occupied are the dam manager and his offsider.
We find a  couple of nice sites under some trees (not large or dangerous).  There are sprinklers at either end of our ‘row' and Tony moves them closer to us to discourage potential neighbours.  This works for him, but next day a couple with a large caravan pull in next to us and simply move the sprinkler.  Sigh.
We have 10 peahens wandering about, numerous birdlife and as dusk falls we get hundreds of kangaroos.  Lovely.
The next morning the park manager comes about and is inundated with questions (from us of course).  The dam took 4 years to build and there were 1500 workers.  A small village was built to accommodate them with a school to year 10, shops, medical facilities, police, pub, swimming pool and tennis courts.  The town has disappeared, there are remnants of foundations about, the roads and some footpaths are still there, the tennis courts are still there but in a dilapidated condition, the town swimming pool has been filled in.  Very interesting indeed.
We went for a walk through the park to the lookout over the dam.  There are many picnic tables and chairs, assembly shelter and a camp kitchen, .    Tony is convinced that he could make this park successful and a money maker.
In the small information centre there is a model of the dam that simulates different conditions, including a minor and a major flood (works electrically)
There was a green tree frog in the ladies loo, this is the first one we have seen on this trip.
It is hot and the pool is great, it is a little grubby (leaves) and Tony tells the manager that we will clean it out for him., Tony also appoints himself assistant groundsman and undertakes to move the sprinklers around. The park manager (who is actually the dam controller) is the only staff member there, a married couple is on holiday.  This means that he is responsible for the dam, the cleaning of the camp ground facilities (not done while we were there) mowing and collecting fees.  I think he was glad to have Tony’s help for a little while.

Horseshoe Bay 5-10-12 to 8-10-12

This is a very pretty spot,with 2 bays very close to our caravan park and several others within walking distance.

Horseshoe Bay is on the North side of the peninsula and Gray’s Bay is on the west.  This results in 2 quite different beaches, Gray’s bay is sheltered and the sea is flat, Horseshoe Bay has small waves and is the most popular of the 2 beaches.  Hehe, the waves are very small, but it makes it possible for children to use their boogy boards for some fun.  The 4 of us can’t help thinking about our grand children and how much they would love it here (and other places we have seen).  Our water babes would have a ball and the beaches are quite children friendly.  There is a life guard at Horseshoe bay until the end of the school holidays, but thankfully he looks bored out of his brain since there is nothing to do.  The swimming season will end on all of these beaches very soon, the stinger season is rapidly approaching and only people prepared to take a risk or people covered in stinger suits will go in the water (irukandji and box jellyfish).

Michael and Tony have been in for a swim every day and thoroughly enjoyed themselves, we have all walked on the beaches and ventured up onto the lookout over the bay, which initially looked very difficult, but was not so bad, the path being very well planned and winding it’s way up.  Tony and Jen walked across into another little bay where it is theorised that Gina Reinhart owns one of the properties.  The scenery was fantastic.

We have wandered down to the little cafe on the corner where the others had the boring usual (coffee, coke) and I had a berry breeze (mixture of berries and berry sorbet)  YUM.

On Sunday the wind died down, what a pity that it hadn’t happened earlier as this is our last day.  This morning we walked to  the monthly market, about 2 km away, love these although I rarely buy anything – am tempted by heaps of stuff though, but do not have the room to put it in the car.  Tony told us that we had to walk to  the market this morning (2.5 km) since we were putting on weight. When we were there, he had a bacon and egg sandwich (he had already had breakfast), he has said that he will miss out on lunch.  Tony is very fond of bacon and egg sandwiches and has them almost every time we stop for a coffee at morning tea time.  This one was apparently pretty good since it was cheap – cooked at the Rotary tent.

Michael and Jen have been badly bitten by something at Wunjunga and are now covered in bites and itching badly, Michael in particular.  We think it must have been no-see-ums, since we have no idea what they were bitten by.

I bought a pineapple, rockmelon and some bananas in Bowen, the pineapple in particular was delicious, running with juice.  Tony and Michael and me have enjoyed bananas and custard for dessert.  (Tony introduced M and me to long-life custard, not as good as mine but an OK substitute out here).

We leave tomorrow to head for the Burdekin Dam and then Emerald where I hope to do a little fossicking for gemstones (in a fossicking park where thousands have gone before me, any hope do you think?).

Wunjunga to Bowen (Horse Shoe Bay)

Left Wunjunga (forgot to  mention the salt pans yesterday.  Here goes, there are extensive salt pans along the road to Wunjunga, we drive across them, it would be interesting to see this country in the wet.

We travelled through enormous sugar cane plantations, the largest we have seen to date.  There is some harvesting going on and the little trains are loaded to the hilt with the cane.  As we approach Bowen we can see in the distance a very large structure, no idea what it is, it seems to  be perched in the middle of nowhere.  Then as we get nearer we see that it is an enormous bridge.  Can’t help wondering why they need such a large structure. we have crossed very large river beds on our journeys and the bridges have been roads that were elevated.  Hehe then as we cross, the reason becomes evident.  This is the Burdekin River.  See the photo for the river bed.and the bridge ‘struts’

 

 

 

 

 

This river must be truly amazing in the ‘wet’.

There are lots of fields of vegetables, strawberries and tomatoes as we come into Bowen. 

Bowen was the main location for the Film “Australia” the one with Nicole Kidman, there are some interesting photos around the town of various scenes from the film and how they were created.

Bowen is quite a nice town and we decide to  try our luck on its coastline.  After visiting 3 caravan parks we settle on one at Horse Shoe Bay.  This caravan park is a bit run down, but the nearby beaches are really nice and within very easy walking distance.  However, it is very WINDY.

Townsville to Wunjunga 3-10-12

Had a nice slow departure from Townsville, we decided to eat breakfast on the way to our new destination – as yet undecided.  We are in the lucky position of being able to travel and stop when we see something we like.  We pulled up to a Coles in Ayr that had a Coffee Club cafe – breakfast!  We were ready for it by now although we are ‘over’ eating out, it seems that almost everything comes with chips and salad. We chatted to the waitress in the Cafe who told us that a place called Wunjunga was wonderful. Sounds like this is our next stop. We did our shopping for provisions for 4 days since we have no idea what facilities will be at our next stop.

We drive out to the Ayr information centre (just outside of town) for some more details on the area.  This is where I took the photo of Gubulla Munda, the giant snake. Two hours later we are still in Ayr so decide to have lunch.  I order a chicken and salad sandwich and they try to give me chips with that.  Oh dear.

Wunjunga was not hard to find, the camping ground (named “Funny Dunny Park) is basic, but the toilet (drop box) is clean and doesn’t smell, the overnight fee is $5, so far so good. But….Oh boy, the WIND!!!  nonstop all afternoon, Michael is eaten alive by midges, no-one else seems to be bitten.  

We went for a walk along the beach, turtles come here to lay their eggs, but according to the volunteer caretaker, we are too early to see them.  Wunjunga was the place where about 79 turtles came up onto the beach and died this year.  I understand that they still do not know what killed them. 

There are a lot of bush turkeys running around the camp ground, hoping that we drop something for them to eat.  We are mean and not prepared to  encourage them. The birdlife is really interesting, I wish I knew more.  I have bought a book, but it seems you have to have an idea as to what you are looking at before you can find it in the book.

By evening the wind had dropped a bit, but cooking on our little butane stove was not very efficient, the wind blew the flames every which way.  We hear that his wind will keep up until the weekend, so we decide to head off in the morning.

TOWNSVILLE - [2 DAYS] 02/10/12 & 03/10/12

TUESDAY
We all had a lazy start to the morning with breakfast at Bistrone, then off to enquire about  and book ferries to Magnetic Island for Wednesday morning.  Following this we all went to the Townsville Tropical Aquarium.  It was very busy with school holidays, but it was a special place enjoyed by all.   The colours of the variety of tropical fish were staggeringly intense.

We wandered across to The Strand where Dot & Michael caught up with David & Lorraine Law [ex Rotary Club of Lilydale] and son Andrew & granddaughter [based in Townsville] Kaitlin for a leisurely lunch on the foreshore. They had been following the blog and saw that we were at Mission Beach last weekend and by chance we were all in Townsville at the same time, after the Qld long weekend.  It was good to catch up with David & Lorraine who were flying back to the Yarra Valley in their Piper plane on Thursday or Friday.

Tony and Jen had a nice lunch elsewhere and went onto to do a few things for themselves, including a nano nap!!

Walking along the Strand foreshore was very pleasant and is  a great place for children with the playground and water playground facilities.  The historical buildings in the area are very pleasing to the eye, along with the massive curtain figs in the gardens & foreshore.

The evening meal for all was at the Townsville Cowboys Leagues Club….mass produced at an economical price…possibly subsidised by the large range of pokies.   Back to Rydges at an early hour.

 

WEDNESDAY
Alarms were set for an assembly of 7:15am to head to the Magnetic Island [MI] ferry terminal for a 7:45am departure.  The 8klm  trip to MI took 20 minutes, and then onto a hop-on/hop-off bus to Horseshoe Bay [ the top part of the island].   We had breakfast at one of the few opened bar/restaurants……the young Irish waitress seemed to be very possessive of her section of the eating area and was very curt and abrupt with another waitress [ in her 50s] over directing us to her area and attempting to take our order.  This other waitress described the place as worse than Faulty Towers, especially in the kitchen area as we waited for our orders.

Tony investigates the island information book and decides on a walk to  Balding Bay of 1.7klm in an estimated time of 1hour.   The walk is up and over the granite strewn steep ridge to a secluded bay.  The out and back walk definitely walked off breakfast.  Upon return to Horseshoe Bay we were back on the bus back to the ferry terminal and swapped to another bus to head to Picnic Bay one of the closest points to Townsville.     The bus trips are not direct to your destination, instead meandering around the normal bus route on the island….. a great way to get an appreciation with what is on the island.

Following lunch, back on the bus for return to the ferry terminal for the 3.00pm ferry back to Townsville.  We all slept on the return trip through the white caps due to the strong constant wind, which had been blowing all day.  Back to Rydges for housekeeping or dozing time till evening dinner.   All of us were looking for something fairly light.

Mission Beach to Townsville - 01/10/12

We pack up this morning with rain threatening, and are ready to leave before 8:00am [ office opening hour for return of Toilet block keys – $20.00 Deposit paid], so off to town for a coffee.

Tony & Michael return after 8:00am to hand over keys and get refund.  They note that the park manager had approx 6 keys returned by early leavers, through the slot, without having to provide refunds…..not a bad cash income lurk.

We head off to Townsville some 3 hours away and pass a cassowary wandering just outside the thick rainforest edge.  Further on we pass the the unique Licuana palms, as we encounter some passing showers.

Tully [Home of the big Gum-Boot]  is by-passed and we come to the town of Cardwell which was close to the centre of Cyclone Yazi’s impact on the coast.  There is BIG Mud Crab on display.  As we head south we turn into the Port of Hinchinbrook…..a suburb of very flash houses backing onto canals, along with expensive boats parked out back or at the marina.  Hinchinbrook Island is just off the coast.

Outside Cardwell the highway passes though some Pine forests remnants on either side of the road……the 30 – 40 feet high trees have either been snapped in half or have been totally shredded of any foliage by Cyclone Yazi.

We stop for a break at Ingham and another coffee……We pass the hotel which had first the poem and then the song …”Pub with no beer” written.   This related to an incident when troops on their way north in WW11, called in on a hot day and drank the pub dry, much to the angst of the locals.

We pass wetlands, with many waterlilies in flower, along with ducks, herons and brolgas outside Ingham.  The countryside is very easy on the eye.

We arrive in Townsville around midday and check in to Rydges or as our GPS has it to Rudges!!!!  Townsville, like all the towns on the way, is rather quite with nothing open due to the Public Holiday in Qld.  We come to understand why the locals up on the Cassowary Coast, where it is so green, call Townsville – “Brownsville”….it is much drier looking as it is in a rain shadow area.

Following this we all wander around the nearby food places in Palmer Street, we find some lunch which in most cases is over filling.  Tony then off for the usual [nano nap] and Dot & Michael take a walk around parts of the nearby entertainment precinct to check out options for the next couple of days.

Very light tea for all then back to rooms by 7:00pm for a cup of tea and some reading and blog work!!

Mission Beach - 30/09/12

Dot is up early to get access to washing machines for another  wash of the shorts/T-shirts & undies – recycling the same 2 – 3 items of each.

Following our early morning breakfast, we all walked off to the Rotary Monster market, some 2.5klm away.  With little cloud cover the sun was starting to have a burning effect.  Michael caught up with a number of the Rotarians managing the market.   They had very stylish yellow & blue shirts, with the word “ROTARY”  printed in a portion of the Rotary wheel, visible front and back.

A variety of stallholders mainly of a craft nature, but some with fresh local produce and some fantastic orchids in flower.  A coconut grower was very popular, cutting the top off to provide coconut milk drinks, as well as the coconut meat.

Tony, at the coffee tent,  caught up with a “local” 80+ year old gentleman [Bob] from Southport Yacht Club who lives up to 7 months at South Mission Beach.  He was a keen fisherman and sailor and was very informative on the local area and of a few must things to do before we leave.

Back to the campground to commence some packing for next day’s departure.   We head the 60 metres back to town for lunch, Tony & Jen at one place, and Dot & Michael to another for barramundi, chips & salad.  The barra fillet was very thin and disappointing compared to Burketown, now some weeks ago.

After lunch Dot & Michael go for a drive to see some sights whilst Tony has his nano nap.  We follow the attractive winding coastal road at the base of rainforest cliffs, adjacent to the beach, to Bingil Bay.  Then onto El-Arish [a small town on the Bruce Highway – named after a battle in Palestine] for a visit to the recommended 1928 built Tavern/Pub.  This Pub has photos all around the walls of pig hunts and the sizes of some of the slaughtered feral pigs is unbelievable – possibly up to 7 feet from snout to backside.

Whilst enjoying a refreshing drink at the bar, they get to talking with a “local”  - Lindsay …an ex Victorian [and a Collingwood supporter]  who has been here for 30+ years, but is getting sick of the heat, humidity, and the cyclones and is thinking of returning to Victoria up near the Murray.  Lindsay [an Army Engineer in Vietnam]  - informs us that El-Arish is a soldier settlement area established after World War 1, with all the streets named after British & Australian Generals.   Monash was the only General who was a winner of any battles.

Dot & Michael leave El-Arish and head back through cane farmland with mountains as a backdrop, then rainforest to Wongaling Beach and South Mission Beach opposite Dunk Island and other small islands.   All of this is very attractive and you can see why people are drawn to to the coastal beaches.   Many houses and apartments on the beachfront and nearby are up for sale….impact of the 2 cyclones over the past 6 years.

Dot & Michael return to the campground for a shower in readiness for heading to Bingil Bay, with Tony & Jen, to meet up with locals David & Christobel at the local Bingil Bay Cafe.  The Cafe is very popular with the locals, being their lifeline following Cyclone Yazi in 2011. With generators it was the only power source for  3-4 weeks in the community, following the cyclone and has now expanded from a very basic fish & chip shop to provide a  good menu of local products.  We have a very nice evening with David & Christobel, learning about their life in Nth Queensland and sharing travel experiences.