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.