2014 Townsville Adventure

Day 55 – Day Trip to Ayr and Home Hill

Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2014 by shorty

We woke to another beautiful day and decided to go for a drive South to Ayr and Home Hill. We had driven through this area last year and thought that it warranted a longer visit this year.

Leaving Townsville, the landscape was mainly flat with mountains in the background. At one point we appeared to cross through salt plains, although there may be another explanation. There were some signs indicating that some University research studies were in progress in the area.

Scenery on the Way to Ayr

The vegetation soon turned to sugar cane and mangoes. The Burdekin region, of which Ayr and Home Hill are the two main towns, is the largest sugar producing region in Australia and produces around 1.3 million tonnes of raw sugar each year, which is about 25% of Australia’s total sugar production. The Burdekin region also produces around one third of the mangoes in the Australian market. With 300 days of sunshine each year, rainfall of about 1 metre and average maximum temperatures of 25 and 32 degrees in winter and summer respectively, it’s no wonder that growing conditions are so good for these and other crops, including capsicum, melons, zucchinis, rice, and more.

Mangoes and Sugar Cane on the way to Ayr

Upon arriving in Ayr, we immediately set about finding somewhere for coffee and a light lunch. We ended up at the Chill Lounge, where the coffee was great, food was delicious, and prices were great value. And the service was pretty good as well. Several insightful sayings were displayed in the café, including:

A yawn is a silent scream for coffee

Children left unattended will be given an espresso and a kitten.

Welcome to Ayr

Chill Parlour in Ayr

Once our appetites were satisfied we went for a long walk around town. The Tourist Information Centre is a quaint cottage in Plantation Park, and the volunteer on duty made sure that we went away armed with plenty of maps and brochures. Also in the Park is a 60 metre long sculpture of a giant carpet snake, Gubullamunda, which was constructed to celebrate and promote indigenous culture in the region.

Ayr’s Tourist Information Centre and Gubullamunda

There are some very interesting heritage buildings in Ayr, and we were particularly impressed by the Ayr Town Clock which was unveiled in 1930 as a tribute to sugar industry pioneer, John Drysdale. The Ayr Post Office also caught our attention. There are several hotels in town, as one might expect, including the Queens Hotel where we stopped for a cool drink before continuing on our walk. It was 30 degrees at the time!

Historic Buildings in Ayr

In front of the Burdekin Theatre is the granite and bronze “Living Lagoon Sculpture” opened in 1985, which pays tribute to native flora and fauna and recognises the importance of water to the Burdekin community.

Elements of the Living Lagoon Sculpture in Ayr

Having seen a fair bit of Ayr on foot, we returned to the Ute and drove some 12 kms to Home Hill, crossing the Burdekin Bridge over the Burdekin River in the process. This bridge – known as the “Silver Link” – is a vital transport link between north and south, particularly in the wet season when the river can swell by up to 11 metres. At 1,103 metres long it is longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Brisbane’s Story Bridge and Newcastle’s Hawkesbury Bridge. It took a decade and $6 million to build, and was officially opened in June 1957. Built to withstand the highest known flood at the time, it has never gone under water. Driving across the bridge in the dry still highlights how wide and deep the Burdekin must be during the wet season.

Burdekin Bridge

View from the Burdekin Bridge

Several kilometres from the bridge is the small town of Home Hill. It’s an interesting place and one of its better known landmarks is the Comfort Station where travellers have free access to showers and toilets, and is very popular with caravanners and others travelling along the Bruce Highway. There are a number of heritage buildings, including a couple of old pubs, and a beautiful Queenslander style Post Office.

Home Hill Post Office building

Once we’d had a bit of a look around Home Hill we headed back across the Burdekin Bridge and back home to the caravan.

We enjoyed our day trip to Ayr but really only scratched the surface of what the town and the wider Burdekin region have to offer. We will have to come back again, and maybe stay longer next time.

Still living the dream!

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: ayr, home hill, townsville

Day 52 – Day Trip to Ingham and Wallaman Falls

Posted on Monday, July 14, 2014 by shorty

The sky was uncharacteristically overcast this morning so we swapped our shorts and sandals for long pants and sneakers and set off on a drive to see more of the Northern Queensland countryside. We decided to head North towards Ingham.

From Townsville we entered the Bruce Highway and we soon took a turn off the highway to have a quick look at Saunders Beach. A lady we had met on our travels had raved about this place so we thought it would be worth a look. There was a small free camping area with about half a dozen motorhomes and a couple of backpacker campervans. There is a quite reasonable toilet block and it was a very short walk to the beach. The tide was right up so we didn’t see much of the beach. However we couldn’t find any shops other than a bar, and there didn’t seem to be too much to do about town, so we were a little disappointed.

Back on the highway we were quite interested to check out the free camp area at Bluewater. It was large, very busy and looked like quite a good place to stay. A short distance further along the highway we stopped for a quick look at the Big 4 caravan park at Rollingstone and have also added this to our “visit next time” list.

Up to this point the scenery has consisted mainly of dense scrub and small trees, right up close to the road with some patches of open ground.

Landscape Leaving Townsville Heading North

Coffee stop was at the Frosty Mango on the highway about 60 kms north of Townsville. This is a combined fruit plantation and café selling not only the usual coffees and cakes but a wide range of fresh tropical fruits and associated jams, sauces and ice-creams. We thoroughly enjoyed our coffees and coconut and mango cake, and Ann bought some interesting fruit that we will no doubt enjoy in the next day or so.

Coffee stop at the Frosty Mango

From here the landscape changed to sugar cane, and more sugar cane and a few sugar cane trains.

Scenery has changed to mainly sugarcane fields

Arriving at Ingham

We soon arrived at the outskirts of Ingham and had a bit of a drive around town. Ingham is famous for its Italian heritage and the Italian influence can be seen all around town. There is an annual Ingham Italian Festival which is a major tourist event for the town. Ingham is also home to the TYTO Wetlands area which is home to some 230 bird species.

We stopped at the Lees Hotel Motel for lunch. This hotel was founded in 1857 and is officially on record as the inspiration for the song “Pub With No Beer” made so popular by Slim Dusty. It is the only hotel in Queensland with Heritage Listed status. Our meals, and the beer at the pub with no beer, were delicious and we had a great time chatting with fellow diners and host, who recommended that we visit nearby Wallaman Falls. We even made it onto the Pub’s Facebook page!

Lunch at the Lees Hotel – The Original Pub With No Beer

We made it onto the Pub With No Beer’s Facebook page!

So from Ingham it was off further North to Wallaman Falls about 50 kilometres away. The road started out alright but we did encounter pigs and cattle on the road as we moved further off the main highway.

Pigs and cattle on the road and crocodile warning signs everywhere

The last 20 kms or so was a different proposition though and road conditions varied from new bitumen to rough dirt road with bone shattering potholes, all the while looking out for cassowaries, on-coming traffic and wondering exactly how steep the ground just inches from our tyres really was.

The last stages of the road to Wallaman Falls

Eventually we got to the top and made the short walk from the carpark to the lookout. That drive was definitely worth the effort and we were greeted with an absolutely amazing waterfall 286 metres high and Australia’s largest sheer drop waterfall. There are several walking paths in this national park and there is apparently a track down to the base of the waterfall where you can look straight up at the waterfall with it falling down on top of you. Ann and I decided not to go for a swim today so we did the shorter Djinda Walk which gave us great views of the gorge and other areas of this World Heritage Listed park.

Wallaman Falls

Wallaman Falls is Amazing

Views around Wallaman Falls and the national park

Eventually it was time to head back down the hill and after stopping for a coffee in Ingham we made our way back home to the caravan park, arriving home after dark.

It was a long drive today but we had a fantastic day!

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: ingham, townsville

Days 40 to 45 – Katie and Mick Visit Townsville

Posted on Tuesday, July 8, 2014 by shorty

Katie’s Birthday

Our daughter Katie’s birthday was on 2^nd July and we were delighted that she and her partner Mick came up to stay with us in Townsville for a few days before having to return home to a rather chilly Canberra.

First challenge was to set up our four man tent, which we had brought up in the caravan. Our site was big enough to include the tent and the caravan park was OK with that. It’s been a few years since we had put the tent up so after a few false starts with flexible poles, bending tent pegs and the like we managed to get the tent and it’s fly up and functional. Then it was time to set up the air bed. Last time we used the tent we slept on self-inflating sleep mats, but the birthday girl deserved better so we had bought up a queen size, double height, luxury air bed. I had assumed that I could use the 12 volt air compressor to pump up the air bed but of course the fittings didn’t fit so I had to revert to the hand pump. Sometime later it was up but at this point we realised that the air bed was so big that we couldn’t do up all the internal zips in the tent, so we decided that we needed to turn it around inside the tent. When we finally got that sorted out, it was time to actually make up the bed with sheets, a blanket, pillows, etc. By the time we were finished, our neighbour Pat and his wife offered applause and thanked us for a pleasant afternoon’s entertainment.

Tent Set Up – Air Mattress is Next

In the meantime, Katie and Mick’s flight from Canberra was cancelled due to fog, and the next plane they got a seat on was also delayed. This meant that before they had left the ground they had already missed their connecting flight out of Sydney. Things finally got sorted and they arrived in Townsville some 12 hours after initially leaving home. Sufficient to say this mucked up our original birthday plans but after a quick freshen up at the caravan park we all went out and had a great fish dinner at the Fish Inn.

Katie and Mick in Townsville

The following day we took Katie and Mick for a bit of a tour around Townsville. We finally ended up at “Shaw & Co” a recently opened bar in the new “City Lane” project. Shaw & Co promotes itself as the “Bar with Balls”, and their menu consists almost entirely of dishes featuring meat balls of some description. Mick certainly enjoyed his light snack.

Katie and Mick Around Townsville

Shaw & Co – Bar with Balls

Later that afternoon I dropped Katie and Mick off at the Jezzine Barracks Parade Ground where the drivers in the forthcoming V8 Supercars round in Townsville were doing a signing. There were hundreds if not thousands of people there and queues were considerable, but Katie and Mick persevered and successfully got a good range of signatures. I also managed to take a few photos of some classic cars on display at the Barracks.

Scenes at the V8 Supercar Driver Signing

Magnetic Island

On Friday morning we caught the early ferry across to Magnetic Island. We really wanted to hire a Mini Moke to drive around the Island but previous phone enquiries had advised that no-one was taking car hire bookings over the school holidays so it was first in first served. When we arrived however, there were no hire cars available at all, Mokes or otherwise. So after a quick look around Nellie Bay, where the ferry lands, we bought all day bus tickets and headed off to Horseshoe Bay where we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and walks around the village and along the beach. We then hopped back on the bus and got off at Arcadia to have a good look around the village and the Geoffrey Bay and Alma Bay beaches. We had lunch at the Arcadia Bay Resort then got back on the bus again and went on to Picnic Bay. After walking along the jetty, Katie and Mick decided to climb to Hawkings Point Lookout, during which time Ann and I sat outside at the Picnic Bay Tavern and enjoyed a coffee. When they got back we got back on the bus to Nellie Bay and after a short wait we caught the ferry back to Townsville. There really is a huge amount to see on Magnetic Island and after two day trips we feel that we’ve only scratched the surface. A longer stay on the Island may be in order at some time in the future.

Scenes at Nellie Bay on Magnetic Island

Scenes at Arcadia and Picnic Bay on Magnetic Island

Kevin and Lynn

On Friday night we got dressed up a bit and went out to dinner at the Odyssey Greek restaurant on the Strand, where we caught up with Ann’s brother Kevin and his wife Lynn, who were also in Townsville for a few days. We all enjoyed a delicious meal and plenty of catch-up chatter. After dinner we all went for a stroll along the Strand and ended up at the Friday night Strand Market, where stall holders were starting to pack up. Never-the-less we had a good look around before saying our goodbyes and heading back to our respective caravan parks.

Castle Hill

Saturday was another take it easy day. Mick and I are going to the V8 Supercars on Sunday so we had a quick look around the track to see traffic conditions and work out drop off points, parking options, etc. Then we all went for a drive up Castle Hill, which has absolutely magnificent views over Townsville and the surrounding area. As we headed to the top we saw Kevin and Lynn on their way down. Mick and I went up the Radar Hill Walk which takes you to the highest part of the Hill. There are several other walks but it was very busy all over the hill so we had to take our time going back down and back to the caravan. After ‘fives’ on the beach opposite the caravan park we had a BBQ dinner back at the van.

Castle Hill – with view of the V8s track

Scenes around Townsville

Townsville 500 V8 Supercars

Sunday was the final day of the Townsville 500 V8 Supercar event. This is apparently the biggest single annual event in Northern Queensland and for anyone with an interest in cars it is pretty well a must do event. Timing wise it is in the middle of the school holidays and Townsville is literally packed at this time of year – in fact the local economy relies heavily on a good turnout. Mick and I contributed in our own small way to the 142,000 headcount over the weekend.

Overall we had a great day. Just for a change I went as a spectator to a motorsport event and not as a working photographer, so that was a nice change. I did take a small camera to try to capture some of the sights and atmosphere though. There was a huge amount to see and do over the course of the day, even without the motor racing. Lots of merchandising stands, usually with pretty girls in short skirts and high heels outside, and plenty of food and drink options. There was a Disney play area for kids featuring a Cars 2 theme. Mick couldn’t resist a couple of driving games, which all came with entry into a fabulous prize draw for a Ute or something similar. Last we heard Mick hadn’t received a winner’s phone call unfortunately.

Scenes at the V8 Supercars Event

General entry gave free access to the pits for the support series cars, so we got to see racing Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Lotuses, Aston Martins, and other exotic and expensive cars close up, along with V8 Utes and V8s from the Dunlop development series. Access to the V8 Supercars was more restricted, although we could have bought Paddock Passes which come with extra privileges.

Scenes at the V8 Supercars Event

The Big Top at the V8 Supercars Event

By the end of the day we had walked right around the track; visited a whole heap of merchandise and trade stands; had lunch in the shade in the biggest marquee we had both ever seen – Vanessa Amorosi and Jessica Mauboy performed there on Saturday night; bought a few souvenirs; bumped into Kevin and Lynn; and watched the V8s final on a big screen in shade and comfort. After the final presentations, we walked back down the road to a suitable spot where Ann and Katie picked us up in the Ute and we headed back to the van for dinner.

In the meantime, Ann and Katie had a great day as well. They visited Cotters Market in Flinders Street, went to Casteltown Shopping Centre, and had lunch at Harold’s Seafood on the Strand.

Katie and Mick Head Home

On Monday it was time for Katie and Mick to leave Townsville’s wonderful weather and head back home to Canberra. They had enough time before their flight to go for a swim in the Rockpool swimming pool on the Strand and have pancakes for breakfast. After a bit of final packing, we said our goodbyes and dropped them off at the airport.

Katie and Mick About to Return Home

Mick and Shorty in their New Shirts

Ann and I then had the tent and airbed to contend with, and we really worried that neither was going to fit back into the containers they came in. First was the luxury air mattress and that was a bit of a challenge. It took great ingenuity to squeeze all the air out but we did manage to fit it back in its bag. The tent was actually less of a challenge that we expected, and it also fitted back in its carry bag. A couple of loads of washing for sheets and towels and by the end of the day pretty well everything was under control and stored away.

Trying to Deflate the Luxury Air Bed

At about 6.30 pm we got a text from Katie advising that they were home safely and missing the warm weather already. It was great to spend some fun time with Katie and Mick for her birthday. We’ll probably see them again on our way home.

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: castle hill, magnetic island, townsville

Days 29 to 38 – Townsville – Highlights

Posted on Monday, June 30, 2014 by shorty

We’ve been in Townsville for just over a week now, so it’s probably about time that we give our fellow Adventurers a bit of an update.

We’re going to be in Townsville for around 6 weeks so we’re not going to be sightseeing every single day and we do want to share some of those experiences with the family once they get here. Equally, we’re not going to bore you with stories of broken cupboard door magnets and the subsequent trip to Bunnings, etc.

Sunday Market

We really enjoy the Townsville Cotters Sunday market. Flinders Street in the Townsville CBD is closed off for a couple of blocks and street stalls of all sorts are set up for the morning. There are local handicrafts and clothing, street entertainers, plus most of the retail shops are open as well. What really attracts us is the amazing range of fresh fruit and vegetables – much of which we don’t see at home and some of which we simply don’t recognise.

Food Stalls at Sunday Market

On our first Sunday here there was a Scottish pipe band parade down Flinders Street through the market. The bagpipes certainly bought back memories from my days in school cadets and had many feet tapping. It was quite a bit different to the country music and didgeridoos that we usually expect.

Pipe Band at Sunday Market

Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms

One place we were looking forward to visiting was the Heritage Tea Rooms at the top of Herveys Range, about 30 minutes out of Townsville. Gabby the GPS failed us on this one and couldn’t find the tea rooms or even the correct road, so we reverted to paper maps for navigation.

Spectacular Views Going to Herveys Range

The tea rooms are situated in what was originally the Eureka Hotel which was built in 1825 and is one of very few slab sided inns left standing in Australia. It has since been restored but the original colonial feel is still very much in existence, and there are some very old and historic photos and artefacts on display.

Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms

Displays at Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms

The old building is surrounded by beautiful tropical gardens, so we enjoyed our lunch outside with native birds providing a lovely background soundtrack.

Sights at Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms

On the way back from the tea rooms we stopped at a roadside lookout – the views across to Townsville were amazing.

Views from Herveys Range Lookout towards Townsville

We also made a brief detour down Black River Rd to the Black River Stadium caravan park. It’s about 20 kms from town but promotes itself as a “seniors” camp with no jumping castles etc, and with having large sites and very competitive rates. We didn’t actually go for a walk around the park, as we often do, but from what we could see there were certainly plenty of big rigs and there appeared to be plenty of room overall. It would be worthwhile considering as an alternative if we couldn’t get into either The Lakes or Rowes Bay, where we are this year.

Kissing Point Fort and Jezzine Barracks

Ann and I often go for a walk before breakfast and last Wednesday we set off in the general direction of The Strand, assuming that there would be a track that would take us all the way there. There certainly is a track and it took us through Kissing Point Fort and Jezzine Barracks. There is a long timber boardwalk, plenty of interpretive signs and a great collection of artworks reflective of the indigenous history of the area.

Boardwalk to Kissing Point

Artwork along Walkway

Kissing Point Fort was completed in 1891 to defend the harbour from the threat of foreign attack – at that time by the Russians. During WW2 it was the Headquarters for 265^th Australian Infantry Battalion and landing ship tanks used the beach near the fort to embark and disembark men and supplies.

Sights at Kissing Point Fort

The walk also takes you through the Jezzine Barracks, a newly redeveloped recreation area that features Jezzine House, which is privately owned, a collection of army huts and the Army Museum of North Queensland.

Jezzine House and Army Museum

As the last stage of our walk was reasonably strenuous for a couple of old crocs like us, we needed a rest, so we took refuge in the Odyssey on the Strand, where we both had a delicious breakfast. Once suitably nourished, we returned back to the caravan park by a slightly less strenuous route. Our early morning walk ended up taking nearly 3 hours! Odyssey is a very nice Greek themed café and restaurant so we will probably come back one night for dinner before we leave Townsville.

Odyssey on the Strand and Jezzine Barracks

Walk Along Rowes Bay Beach

Another morning we walked along the beach in the other direction. It was a much flatter walk among some of Townsville’s amazing trees with their huge exposed root systems. There were a lot of people fishing along the beach and we were stunned to see fish literally jumping out of the water. Ann has put in an order for a fishing rod for Christmas! It’s exciting when there is actually something to catch!

Amazing Trees and Artworks

Wandering

We’ve been snapping as we’ve been wandering around town so here’s a collection of some of the sights we’ve seen.

Flinders Street, Townsville

A Nice Place to Stay on the Strand overlooking the Marina

Lots of Fun at the Water Park on the Strand

Scenes Around Townsville

Townsville Show

Today – Monday – is actually the Townsville Show Public Holiday. The Show started on Friday night and coincides with the start of Queensland school holidays. It certainly looked very busy over the weekend. Max and June our neighbours here at the caravan park reported back that it was great for 5 year olds who were looking for show bags and rides, but that there really wasn’t much for us oldies to we decided to pass today and go for a long walk in the sun along the Strand instead.

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: herveys range, townsville

Day 28 – Townsville

Posted on Saturday, June 21, 2014 by shorty

Friday

The big highlight today was securing our site in the caravan park for the next 6 weeks or so.

As instructed, after spending Thursday night on an unpowered site, we arrived at the Office a little before 9.00 am after having a good look around the park to get an idea as to which of the powered sites we might be able to fit into, and some idea as to which vans might be moving today.

We were third on the waiting list for today and were given two options. It was just as well that we had done a reconnoitre in advance as we knew that we wouldn’t be able to get into one of the two options, so we settled on the other and paid for a fortnight. This site is not only accessible but quite conveniently placed. It is also a big site with shelter from some large trees which will be great when Katie and Mick arrive in a couple of weeks.

It was then back to the van to pack up, hitch up and make our way to the new site which would be home for the next 6 weeks. Once here, we did a proper set-up as we had power, water and sullage and full mobile, internet and TV reception. As we will be here for a while we also set up the awning with the side wall and the back wall which will provide us with protection from the afternoon sun whilst still allowing the beautiful cooling breezes to flow through.

Comfortable in our new site

Settled in Paradise

The second highlight of the day was seeing 6 Chinook helicopters flying in formation, very low and very loud, over the caravan park. We later found out that this was the first time in 19 years that all 6 of the Chinooks had flown together, so it was quite a historic moment. Unfortunately we were backing into our new site at the time and didn’t have the camera on hand, so we can’t include a photo of this stunning and extremely noisy fly-over. As a poor substitute we have included a photo of the front of the Townsville Bulletin showing the 6 Chinooks.

Chinooks made front page

After setting up the van we had a tasty lunch into the van and then headed off into town to have a bit of a look around. Parking in the centre of Townsville can be a bit of a challenge, but once parked we heard some music – good 1960s and 1970s music at that. There was a live band playing in the “Perfumed Gardens” as part of the council’s free Music in the City program. The band was pretty good and there were quite a few people up dancing.

Music in the City – Townsville

From there it was off for a walk up and down Flinders Street, the main shopping strip. It was sad that there seemed to be so many vacant shops in what is theoretically the centre of town, but we then came across the new “City Lane” precinct which officially opens tonight (Friday). This new development is being seen as something of a saviour to the city of Townsville which has attracted new businesses to the city and thus created interest and jobs. A second stage will effectively open in August. We will make sure that we check out City Lane now that it is actually open to the public.

We then made a quick visit to the Visitor Information Centre to find out more about what’s going on in Townsville for the next few weeks. After picking up some brochures we had coffee at the nearby café before heading back to the van to relax for the rest of the day.

Yes, we truly are in paradise! Just to rub it in a little, overnight minimum temperature is forecast to be 16, which is the forecast top for Melbourne. Sorry Melbournites and Canberrans!

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: townsville

Day 27 – Charters Towers to Townsville

Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2014 by shorty

Within 2 hours of arrival at Townsville, Ann was enjoying a meal of Barramundi! Can you spot a pattern here?

This morning started off a little chilly – I started out in shorts and a long sleeve top but the top was soon discarded for a t-shirt as the day warmed up to the high 20s.

After a quick and easy pack-up we went for a final walk around the Dalrymple Tourist Van Park – it was very quiet the night after the big game! We then set off along the Flinders Highway towards Townsville.

Early Morning View of Caravan Park at Charters Towers

Our morning coffee stop was at the Reid River Rest Area. We stopped here last year as well and the area has been upgraded since then. This would be quite a good spot for an overnight stay.

Coffee Stop at Reid River Rest Area

It was then an easy drive the rest of the way into Townsville. You can’t help but be impressed by the mountains as you get closer to town.

Scenery Approaching Townsville

The GPS got absolutely lost at some roadworks approaching town but we persevered and found ourselves again and finally arrived at Rowes Bay Caravan Park. We stayed at The Lakes last year and thought that we would try somewhere different this time. Rowes Bay however doesn’t accept bookings so we have accepted an unpowered site overnight and are on a waiting list for a powered site tomorrow. An interesting system but apparently it works and we have a great site overnight.

After unhitching and setting up we headed off into Townsville to find something for lunch.

Spectacular Houses on the hill in Townsville

We ended up, not surprisingly, at The Strand and stopped for lunch at the Fish Inn where we both enjoyed delicious grilled barramundi and Greek salad.

Lunch at the Fish Inn

Views from Fish Inn to the Rock Pool and Magnetic Island

From the Fish Inn we walked to Juliette’s Gelateria for gelati and coffee on the beach. A short drive to reacquaint ourselves with the general area was followed by a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies, then back to the van to meet the neighbours and read in the sun.

Our temporary site at Townsville

Oh what a life!

PLEASE NOTE:

We plan to be in Townsville for up to 6 weeks and intend doing a lot of relaxing, reading, eating gelati and generally enjoying ourselves. We will not be updating this blog on a daily basis. However, there are some interesting things happening while we are in Townsville including visits from both our kids and our grand-kids, the Townsville Show, the V8 Supercars, markets, trips to Magnetic Island, and a whole lot more. We will update this blog when appropriate! So you can either check back from time to time, or why not sign up for email notifications which will send you an email whenever we do update the blog – see the bottom right hand corner to sign up.

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: charters towers, townsville

Days 24, 25 & 26 – Charters Towers

Posted on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 by shorty

Monday

Today was a “catch up” day when we both caught up with all sorts of things, many of which can’t be done while free camping or with limited services. Ann was able to catch up the washing, drying and ironing and I was able to catch up on a number of maintenance tasks required around the caravan. I also made a start at trying to get rid of the accumulated red dust/mud on the van and Ute. In some places the red mud was set like concrete and I was literally trying to chip it off, rather than wash it off. We also were able to catch up on phone calls and emails – and a couple of favourite TV shows.

Free camping has its advantages, but it doesn’t take too long being away from creature comforts like phone, internet and TV to realise just how much we rely on them for daily living.

Tuesday

Weatherwise today was a bit cooler and there was a bit of drizzle and light rain around at various times.

Today we played tourists around Charters Towers. Charters Towers came to fame in 1871 when gold was found here. In time it became the second largest town in Queensland and was affectionately known as “the World”. In its peak it included 11 crushing mills, 65 hotels and one of the first regional Stock Exchanges in Australia. It has many beautiful heritage buildings and work is continuing on the restoration and maintenance of buildings around town.

City Hall, Theatre, Private Hotel & Stock Exchange Arcade

For instance, the Visitor Information Centre was once the Union Bank, built in 1880, and the building that was The Australian Bank of Commerce Limited building is now not much more than a façade for a new and very impressive theatre and entertainment complex. Other heritage buildings have also been repurposed with the Excelsior Hotel now serving as the city library. Some buildings, like the Post Office and Police Station are still used for their original purpose. The old Bank of New South Wales building now appears to be a private residence.

Stock Exchange Arcade & Post Office

Other Buildings around Town

After walking around the main heritage area of town we wandered along Gill Street which is much more commercial, although all the buildings are heritage with wide verandahs and many with the early owner or purpose displayed. What appeared to be a large old fashioned draper shop is now being used by Target, and they haven’t gone over the top with signage so the visual heritage appeal of the building remains. There are very few vacant shops in the main streets of Charters Towers which is quite different to many country towns we have visited, and the town does have quite a positive “vibe”.

We returned to the caravan for lunch after picking up some supplies at a modern Woolworths supermarket – it was down a historic shopping arcade rather than directly facing the street and looking out of place.

After lunch we ventured up to Towers Hill which is slightly out of town. Towers Hill plays a vital role in the water supply to Charters Towers. Water from the Burdekin River is pumped up to two large tanks, one built in 1890, which store nearly 10 million litres of water which is then reticulated through the city.

Towers Hill Lookout

Water Tanks & City View from Towers Hill

Gold was originally found at the base of Towers Hill in 1871 and in the next few years approx. 30 vertical mines, shafts and tunnels were dug by miners in search of gold. Many of the mines are still visible but the government has specific programs to make areas like this safe.

Towers Hill also played a role in WW2 when the RAAF established the “No 3 Replenishing Centre” to store bombs, detonators and ammunition for use by RAAF bases in Townsville. There are around 30 concrete bunkers built on Towers Hill. They were camouflaged and reinforced with mullock from the old mines. Interestingly none of the bunkers’ entrances face each other – this was to ensure that an explosion in one did not set off explosions in others.

Bunker & Mine Shaft at Towers Hill

Towers Hill is also home to Allied Rock Wallabies, as well as eastern grey kangaroos, common wallaroos and pademelon wallabies. We saw quite a few examples while we were there.

Friendly Rock Wallaby at Towers Hill

After hours walking around Towers Hill we returned to the caravan where Ann whipped up a delicious dinner and we later relaxed watching TV.

Wednesday

It was decidedly chilly this morning but the sun came out and it turned out to be a beautiful day in the mid 20s with clear blue skies. The weather in this neck of the woods is far preferable to that in Melbourne.

We started our day by heading off into town and having coffee at The Healthy Treat tea rooms. Then we went for a bit of a walk around town before getting back in the Ute and having a leisurely scenic drive around the outskirts of town. We ended up at the Venus Gold Battery which is apparently the largest surviving battery relic in Australia. It was constructed in 1872 and became a State Battery in 1919 to provide ore crushing facilities for small miners. It ceased commercial operations in 1973 after a century of service. Unfortunately we arrived just after a tour departed and decided not to hang around for an hour for the next tour.

After further meandering around Charters Towers we returned to the caravan park to generally tidy up and do all the preparation for our departure tomorrow. I spent more time working on the red mud encasing various parts of the caravan. So we are fully packed, awning is up, outdoor furniture packed away and we have actually hitched up so that we can make an early start in the morning. The caravan park we plan on staying at in Townsville has been recommended by practically everyone we have spoken to, but they don’t take bookings. So we need to get there as early in the morning as possible in order to secure a good site.

M0st people here are gearing up for a big night by the bon-fire watching the Rugby State of Origin game tonight on the big screen but we will have an early night tonight in preparation for an early start tomorrow!

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: charters towers

Day 23 – Belyando Crossing to Charters Towers

Posted on Sunday, June 15, 2014 by shorty

Within 2 hours of arrival at Charters Towers Ann was enjoying a meal of Barramundi!

When we first looked out the window to check the weather this morning, we thought it looked a bit foggy. Then we realised that it was just the red dust on the window! A weather check outside revealed blue sky with a few white clouds and looking like a nice day to come. The weather gods certainly didn’t disappoint and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

We left Belyando Crossing reasonably early as there was no reason to stick around and we didn’t want there to be any issues with either of the two vans parked behind us wanting to make an early start of their own.

Leaving Belyando Crossing

Morning coffee was at the Cape River Rest Area (Q401) which is about 90 kms North of Belyando Crossing. This was quite a reasonable place to stop and several vans appeared to be well settled in for the foreseeable future. The Cape River itself was a very wide expanse of sand without any sign of water. That said, the landscape changes quickly and we did see areas that seemed to have water lying around, some creeks with water, and some empty dams and some dams with water. There is nothing consistent about the landscape up here at all, other than cattle nearly everywhere.

About to cross Cape River – dry as a bone

Bush coffee break

From there it was less that 120 kms to the Dalrymple Tourist Caravan Park at Charters Towers.

Arriving at Charters Towers

Beautiful Poinsettias by the roadside in Charters Towers

We’ve got a nicely sheltered spot with plenty of greenery and all services – this is a welcome change after several days without internet, mobile phone, TV, water or sullage. After a quick set-up we went for a short walk around the park. It is very lush and tropical and has some very nice facilities, including a massive camp kitchen.

Setting Up

Views around the caravan park

As it was about noon by now we drove back into town for lunch. We ended up at Henry’s Café and Restaurant where Ann indulged in a serve of barramundi and I had turkey. Both our meals were delicious and we went for a quick walk around town to try to walk some of it off. We stopped at the Tourist Information Centre and spoke to a very helpful lady who told us about all sorts of places we should see – we left with an armful of brochures and maps.

Henry’s

Then it was back to the van for some relaxing and bringing our blog up-to-date.

We’re not sure how long we’ll stay in Charters Towers but it does seem a nice place to be with plenty to see and do.

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: belyando crossing, charters towers

Day 22 – Theresa Creek Dam to Belyando Crossing Roadhouse

Posted on Sunday, June 15, 2014 by shorty

At 5 minutes past midnight I heard rain on the roof of the van – it was only light but persistent. As we had left some windows and the door open for ventilation, I got up and closed up the van. If I had been more awake I would have taken the opportunity to bring our waterproof jackets in from the Ute. It rained all night and I didn’t sleep very well at all. I had a recurring nightmare that the soil under our van would turn into mud and that we would ski into the dam on the orange plastic blocks we put under the caravan legs. Fortunately that didn’t happen.

After showers and watching a bit of TV we were still a bit undecided as to whether we should stay and see out the rain or continue travelling north. When we heard that they were possibly expecting 30 ml of rain today our minds were made up so we packed up the van in the light rain and headed back to the highway.

A bit sad in the rain

A reminder that it is raining!

First stop was not very far away at Clermont. This seems to be a nice old town with plenty of interesting heritage buildings. We did some shopping at IGA and stopped for a very good coffee at Bella Baristas café. We were contemplating staying overnight at the Clermont Caravan Park as recommended by Frosty, but it turns out that there is a large equestrian event on over the weekend and the park seemed very busy.

Scenes around Clermont

So we headed back to the Gregory Development Road northwards. As we left town we could not ignore the huge piles of earth around the Clermont Coal Mine, and what looked like an incredibly long undercover conveyor belt, presumably to move coal from the mine to the railway.

Conveyor belt and coal mine

We had lunch at a roadside stop near the entrance to Frankfield Station. We were a bit intrigued by the sign for the Dead Horse Yards!

What’s a Dead Horse Yard?

The road seems longer in the rain

Another 100 kms or so and we reached our destination – Belyando Crossing Roadhouse. This is a small roadhouse with very expensive diesel, a licensed bar and quite a good shop with meals etc. There is some reasonably priced motel style accommodation and powered and unpowered caravan sites. The layout of the powered sites is interesting in that there are three rows of sites with vans parked behind each other. We hope that the people behind us don’t want to leave at the crack of dawn! We have power but no water, and no TV, internet or mobile access.

Arriving at Belyando Crossing Roadhouse

Interesting Set-Up at Belyando Crossing Caravan Park

Tonight’s accommodation is not on the same page as last night, it is just an overnight stop mid-way between Clermont and Charters Towers with nothing to see or do. However the weather is better and we are now closer to our eventual destination of Townsville.

The adventure continues…..

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure, Free Camping | Tags: belyando crossing, clermont, theresa creek dam

Day 21 – Sapphire to Theresa Creek Dam

Posted on Sunday, June 15, 2014 by shorty

Last night we had a surprise but very welcome visitor – fellow Trailblazer adventurer “Frosty”. We have known Wayne and Marg Frost as long as we had owned our Trailblazer 5^th Wheeler, and we have stayed in touch via email, occasional phone calls, and through our respective blogs. We have met up in Melbourne but we had never crossed paths on the road. Wayne and Marg had booked into a caravan park in Sapphire yesterday for a week to do some fossicking and had seen another Trailblazer at the free camp and wondered who owned it. Wayne then read our blog and realised who it was and came straight over. We had a great chat and hope that we will catch up again later in this trip.

Our free camp site at Sapphire is basically a vacant block of land between the swimming pool and the fire station. There is a public toilet and a dump point and a great general store a couple of hundred metres away. The land isn’t flat but there were 8 vans there overnight and room for a few more.

We had a look around Sapphire before we left and it really is a fascinating place with lots of mines and miners living in sheds and caravans, and plenty of gem shops and places catering for fossickers and prospectors. Much of the landscape seems to consist of mullock heaps where miners have deposited unwanted soil and other material.

Scenes around Sapphire

First stop for coffee was a short distance up the Highway at Rubyvale. This is a bigger and in some regards a more modern version of Sapphire – there is certainly more development happening. We stopped for coffee at the Rubyvale Café where the coffees were great and I had the largest melting moment ever. The Rubyvale Gem Gallery is in the same building and there is also accommodation available. There are still plenty of more “traditional” mining and tourist establishments in town.

Rubyvale Cafe & Gem Gallery

The Biggest Melting Moment I Have Ever Seen

Scenes around Rubyvale

Back on the highway and another stop at Capella. We went for a good walk around town and picked up a few supplies. One very interesting monument was dedicated to the Australian Light Horse Brigade and the belief that the traditional wearing of emu feathers in the soldiers hats’ has a direct link to Capella. Also of interest were some large silos just out of town, but we couldn’t work out what they contained.

Scenes around Capella

From Capella it was on to our final destination – the free camp at Theresa Creek Dam – and we made one of the worst decisions in our many adventures in the Trailblazer. We ignored a street sign pointing to our destination in favour of listening to the GPS! Big mistake!

This is the Sign we ignored

Our GPS – which we call Gabby – told us to bypass the sign to Theresa Creek Dam and take another road. She then told us to turn onto a dirt road and then possibly 15 kms up that road decided that she was lost. Not good news! We had no other option but to continue up the dirt road until it either reached civilisation or we could find a place to turn around – not necessarily an easy thing in a Trailblazer 5^th wheeler.

Seemingly endless dirt roads and nowhere to turn around

Fortunately a farmer/grazier/? and his wife pulled over next to us and confirmed that we were lost but told us that we could follow them to a couple of options where they thought that we could turn around. We passed on the first option and although we were a bit doubtful about the second we managed a U turn and then headed back down the dirt road.

Following our Friendly Farmers

After our U Turn on the dirt road

Nearly there!

Finally we reached the turnoff we should have taken in the first place and soon arrived at Theresa Creek Dam. It was quite crowded and no wonder. What an amazing place! Cost is $10 per night and there are showers, toilets and a dump point, but it was the view and the serenity that was priceless. After a long walk around the camp I cooked gourmet burgers on the BBQ and we sat out under the moon and stars until very late. Nothing beats an outback sky at night!

Approaching Theresa Creek Dam

View from the Caravan of Theresa Creek Dam

Set-up at Theresa Creek Dam

Serenity at Theresa Creek Dam

Although we have only booked a single night here we think we will stay a bit longer.

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure, Free Camping | Tags: rubyvale, sapphire, theresa creek dam

2014 Townsville Adventure

Day 55 – Day Trip to Ayr and Home Hill

Day 52 – Day Trip to Ingham and Wallaman Falls

Days 40 to 45 – Katie and Mick Visit Townsville

Days 29 to 38 – Townsville – Highlights

Day 28 – Townsville

Day 27 – Charters Towers to Townsville

Days 24, 25 & 26 – Charters Towers

Day 23 – Belyando Crossing to Charters Towers

Day 22 – Theresa Creek Dam to Belyando Crossing Roadhouse

Day 21 – Sapphire to Theresa Creek Dam

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