Posts Tagged With: townsville

Day 67 – Townsville to Airlie Beach

Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2014 by shorty

After nearly six terrific weeks in Townsville, it was time to start heading South to see more of this great country of ours. The weather in Melbourne still looks pretty terrible so we’re not necessarily in a huge hurry to get there and we’ll be taking our time.

The first stage of our journey today was to Ayr, which we had travelled on a day trip a couple of weeks ago. We stopped for coffee at a very tranquil spot by the river near the Ayr Tourist Information Centre.

Coffee stop in Ayr

From Ayr we headed to Bowen for lunch. We were able to bypass the main centre of Bowen – not much fun in a caravan – and stopped in a good rest area opposite the Big Mango and Bowen Tourist Information Centre. There was also a track to the beach and we thought the view was pretty good, and hopefully a preview of what is to come.

Big Mango outside Bowen Tourist Information Centre

View out to the Whitsunday Islands from the beach at Bowen

Our final destination was Airlie Beach and unfortunately Gabby the Garmin let us down again and we got hopelessly lost. To be fair, when we were here last year the entire main street was undergoing major roadworks and presumably some roads were changed – maybe the Garmin GPS doesn’t know about the changes?

After a desperate phone call to the caravan park for clear directions, we finally arrived at the Island Gateway Holiday Park. Ann had previously booked us into a drive through site which was just as well as Airlie Beach seems to be a very busy place. Interestingly, we are seeing a lot more Victorian number plates here than we did in Townsville, but there is a lot of traffic on the Bruce Highway heading North. After finding our site and squeezing in, we got set up and then went for a walk to stretch our legs after a reasonably long day driving.

Arriving at the Island Gateway Holiday Park

View of Island Gateway Holiday Park

This is quite a nice park with good amenities. One thing of note is that the birdlife here is quite overwhelming. There are flocks of ducks wandering throughout the caravan park looking for food and plenty of strange brown birds that sound just like babies crying at night. There are also heaps of white cockies screeching loudly and dive bombing caravans. Some also seem to understand that food comes from the door of a caravan and hang about outside various vans waiting for dinner.

When back from our walk it was time for an early tea as we have a very early start tomorrow morning.

Stay tuned …….

Days 58 to 64 – Phil, Tracey, Alex & Emily’s Townsville Adventure

Posted on Monday, July 28, 2014 by shorty

Our son Phil, his wife Tracey and their daughters Alex and Emily joined us in Townsville to stay for a week. As we hadn’t seen them for a couple of months it was great to catch up and spend some “holiday” time with them all. The timing was also good as we were able to celebrate Alex’s birthday a week or so late and Emily’s birthday a week or so early.

Arriving in Townsville. Alex & Emily on their apartment balcony.

Over the course of the week we have had a range of adventures including:

Water Park on The Strand

This was actually the first destination for Alex and Emily on the day they arrived. We met the family at Townsville airport and while Phil and Tracey caught a taxi to their apartment with all the luggage to get things set up without the assistance of the girls, we packed Alex and Emily and a bag of clothes etc into the Ute to make a preliminary introduction to Townsville.

First stop was the water park on The Strand and after a change into bathers and hats and sunscreen and the girls were off, shrieking and screaming with delight. By local standards Townsville is enjoying a mild winter, but by Melbourne standards we are practically enjoying a heat wave so the girls stayed under the water until they were a pale shade of blue.

Adventures at the Waterpark on The Strand

The Water Park is a great place for kids and Alex and Emily have certainly enjoyed the wide range of ways to get wet on offer here.

Seaview Hotel

Our first family holiday dinner was at the Seaview Hotel on the corner of The Strand and Gregory Streets, after the girls had changed and warmed up after their initial visit to the Water Park.

Do they meet age requirements ?

The Seaview had a good and wide ranging menu, including a choice of kids’ meals, and the prices were quite reasonable. So with Angus or rump steaks for the grown-ups and sausages and chips for Alex and Emily, we had a very enjoyable dinner.

Fish Inn and the Rockpool

Ann and I have enjoyed several meals at the Fish Inn and so did Katie and Mick while they were here, and Phil, Tracey, Alex and Emily have similarly decided that this was a great place to eat.

One morning we received a phone call from Phil at about 11 o’clock saying that they were at the Rockpool and would we like to join them for an early lunch. This was a bit of a surprise as their apartment is at the other end of The Strand and they had all walked several kilometres to get to the Rockpool. Fortunately there is plenty to see and do along The Strand so Alex and Emily had plenty to keep them busy and entertained during their long walk.

The Rockpool and nearby playground equipment.

After a bit of a play on the playground equipment near the Rockpool, we headed inside for a great meal of fish and chips, calamari, salad and more.

Another day, Ann and I took Alex and Emily for a swim at the Rockpool, and I actually donned my boardshorts and bared my body to the world. There‘s a lot more of it now than there used to be and fortunately there weren’t too many bystanders to be shocked! The Rockpool is a well-planned and safe place for anyone to swim with plenty of grassed areas to sit or sunbathe. There are no stingers or crocodiles, and it is drained and cleaned out every week. There is a large area suitable for wading in and much deeper areas for the more adventurous to dive, swim, etc. After a rather long time in the water, the girls enjoyed cleaning off under the outside showers while Ann got some take-away coffees and hot chips from the Fish Inn to warm us all up. After our swim we went for a short walk around to the beach where Alex and Emily enjoyed making sand castles.

Enjoying the Rockpool

Alex and Emily Drying Off After Their Swim

Cleaning sandy feet before a warm snack after swimming

Harold’s Seafood

We also enjoyed a family dinner at Harold’s Seafood in Gregory Street. Harold’s is essentially a take-away with plenty of tables and chairs outside. There is also a Juliette’s gelato ice cream shop next door and a Coffee Club next to that, so everyone’s appetite can be satisfied. For dinner we shared a couple of fisherman’s baskets amongst the lot of us and the big surprise to Ann and I was that Alex simply loved prawns. Later in the week while we were minding Alex and Emily while Phil and Tracey went out for dinner at Odysee greek themed restaurant, we shouted them fish and chips with a special prawn pack for Alex. Just as well that Emily doesn’t like prawns.

Enjoying tea at Harold’s Seafood. Alex liked the prawns.

Coffee and Gelato Ice Cream

There are plenty of reasons to have a coffee and/or gelato ice-cream and we have certainly devoured our fair share while we have been in Townsville. No-one really needs an excuse and there are always different flavours to choose from. Alex and Emily needed gelato to warm up after their visit to the Water Park and at another time needed gelato for strength before their long walk home along the Strand after their swim at the Rockpool. There are multiple coffee and/or gelato shops along the Strand and Alex and Emily enjoyed many flavours of gelato with “bubblegum” or “smurf” as perhaps their favourites. They particularly liked the fact that all the gelato shops let them taste different flavours before they had to make up their minds.

Enjoying Gelato Icecreams

Interesting Coffee Art

Swimming

Apart from spending time playing at the Rockpool, one morning we bought Alex and Emily back to the caravan park where they had a proper swim in the swimming pool. This is a great facility with a small pool for kids and a deeper area for laps. Alex showed off her swimming skills by swimming across the shallow end of the main pool and both girls had fun playing with the pool noodles.

Alex and Emily in the swimming pool at Rowes Bay Caravan Park

Tracey also took Alex for a swim at the Tobruk Memorial Pool where she was able to do some ‘proper’ laps.

Other Activities

We took Alex and Emily for a bit of a walk around town one morning. They were very interested in what they could see from the pedestrian bridge over the river and were delighted that that could see some fish in the river. We bought them some buckets and spades to use at the beach and further down the footpath, they enjoyed a game of hopscotch. Townsville streets are quite interesting in that they have play areas like hopscotch and snakes and ladders painted on the footpath.

Walking Around Townsville – views from the bridge, hopscotch and buckets and spades

Plenty to do around Townsville

Townsville does a fantastic job catering for kids and along The Strand and also along the beaches opposite our caravan park are many different pieces of play equipment, much under cover, to keep the kids active. Alex and Emily particularly liked the dragon, fish and pirate ship outside the caravan park.

Plenty for Alex and Emily to do in Townsville

Tracey also took Alex and Emily for a visit to the reefHQ Great Barrier Reef aquarium and turtle hospital complex where they stayed for a couple of hours. The girls were very proud of their ‘turtle tattoos’.

Magnetic Island

Phil, Tracey and the girls were all pretty keen to visit Magnetic Island and thoroughly enjoyed the apparently rather fast and bumpy ride over. They had originally thought that perhaps they would just catch the ferry across and back but in the end stayed and caught the bus around to Picnic Bay where they had lunch and explored a bit before catching the bus and ferry home.

Quad Bike Riding

Just to show that they are really just big kids, Phil and Tracey booked a Quad Bike Adventure so Ann and I looked after Alex and Emily for the morning. They were picked up from their apartment and driven out to Herveys Range to the Quad Bike centre, next door to the Heritage Tearooms that Ann and I had visited earlier in our stay. They were the only ones on the morning tour that day so received great attention from their guide. The morning started off with an introductory session on riding a quad bike with laps around a paddock before they set out on their tour. Both Phil and Tracey apparently had their share of “exciting moments” but thoroughly enjoyed the tour through beautiful countryside, up and down some very steep hills and through some old railway tunnels. After a quick snack at the tearooms they were brought back to their apartment. They both agreed that it was “wicked” fun!

Quad Bike Adventure – photos by Tracey

Phil and Tracey obviously had a great time on the quad bikes!

Billabong Sanctuary

Phil and Tracey took Alex and Emily to the Billabong Sanctuary about 17 kms south of Townsville. Tracey said that she had been to quite a few zoos and sanctuaries and that this was probably the best she had ever been to. What sets Billabong apart is that it is truly interactive and that the kids can touch and hold a huge range of native wildlife. Alex and Emily had a great time and handled their fair share of birds and animals, including a crocodile, before having their photos taken with their favourites. A great day was had by all.

Feeding Turtles at Billabong Sanctuary

Emily and Alex with their new best friends at Billabong Sanctuary

The week certainly passed very quickly. It was fantastic to have so much quality time together. We hope that the girls are old enough to remember their Tropical Queensland Adventure in Townsville. Nana and Papa certainly will!

Categories: 2014 Townsville Adventure | Tags: townsville

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

Townsville to Conway Beach

Posted on Monday, August 12, 2013 by shorty

We got up bright and early this morning and got ready to hit the road. We had taken down the awning and put away the outside furniture last night so there wasn’t too much to do. After farewelling our new friends at Townsville and suggesting that we’ll possibly see them next year, we hitched up and headed for the Bruce Highway. We had been considering going further north to Mission Beach but in the end decided to head South in a vaguely homeward direction. Apparently by the start of September it starts getting really sticky up here, so heading South seemed a better option.

The condition of the Bruce Highway has been a real topic of conversation locally and has even hit the federal political arena. It wasn’t too far out of Townsville when the roadworks began and remained a feature of our travels today. For much of the way traffic was one lane only so we faced considerable delays waiting at temporary traffic lights.

Our first stop was for morning coffee at Ayr, about 90 kms from Townsville. Ayr is in sugar cane country and it is quite fascinating to see the cane being harvested and loaded onto cane trains. It seems to be something of a continuous crop as there were fields being prepared for planting of cane as well as other fields contains cane in various stages of growth. At one stage the sky was full of embers from a cane processing plant and we wondered if that in fact posed a fire risk.

Harvesting Sugar Cane

Embers in the Air

Sugar Cane Plant

Welcome to Ayr

Burdekin Bridge

Great Idea – But What Sort of Fruit Is It?

Outside Ayr all traffic came to a dead stop In both directions and banked up for kilometres. We turned on the CB radio and heard that a car and a large truck had collided and that police were in attendance. When we finally got to the crash site we could see a truck carrying sweet corn had overturned on the wrong side of the road and there was a damaged car as well. There was a mini Dingo digger moving the sweet corn off the road. These situations are really frustrating but at least by having the CB we had some idea as to what was going on. No matter how serious these situations might be the truckies’ batter is often quite hilarious.

Traffic ahead of us

Rolled Truck

Traffic behind us

We finally arrived at Bowen, where we made our way to Queens Beach near the surf lifesaving club and we had a late lunch. From our seat under what appeared to be maccadamia nut trees we had a wonderful view across the water to places further around the coast.

From Bowen it was down the highway towards Proserpine before turning off to Conway Beach. The last 20 kilometres or so were quite “interesting” with lots of curves and up and down some quite steep hills. Going back the other way might also be “interesting”. Finally we arrived at Conway Beach Tourist Park, which basically appears to be “it” at Conway Beach – the Park’s shop is the only shop in Conway Beach. This is a very brightly coloured park and appears to be somewhat reserved as a hidden treasure by a small band of regulars who come back here every year and who seem reluctant to share the location of this park with anyone else for fear of spoiling their little piece of paradise. That being said, they really are a friendly bunch of people here. We were quite surprised at the facilities that this park has for kids. There are two jumping pillows and a huge water playground with water slide and more.

After unhitching the Ute and setting up – we didn’t need the awning – we sat outside enjoying the calm and had a cup of coffee. Then it was off on a walk down to the beach to explore. The sand here isn’t white but there is plenty of it and huge potential here for long walks along the sand. Many of the other campers in the caravan park have boats and there is quite good fishing here, apparently. It certainly smelled great at dinner time!

Welcome to Conway Beach Tourist Village

Unhitched and ready for a cool drink

Colourful bar area and shop

Colourful amenities block

Colourful kids water playground

View of Conway Beach

After a light tea we will have an early night. Today we drove further in one day that we had driven in the last three and a half weeks, and it took us over an hour and a half longer to get here than we expected. There is plenty to look forward to tomorrow!

Categories: 2013 Big Adventure | Tags: Conway beach, townsville

Townsville – An Overview

Posted on Sunday, August 11, 2013 by shorty

As today is our last day in Townsville, and we’ve been here for several weeks, it’s about time that we gave a bit of an overview of our impressions of Townsville and what we’ve done and seen. [Don’t forget you can click on any photo to make it bigger]

Townsville:

It goes without saying that we have loved it here in Townsville. The weather has been absolutely perfect with every day in the mid or high twenties. Nights have been a bit chilly but it’s easy to pull up a blanket. Due to its location Townsville misses out on some of the weather extremes of other nearby towns.

Townsville has a population just under 200,000 and like most regional towns it faces a range of economic and social challenges from drought, the decline in the mining boom, and so on. Still, there’s plenty happening around town. For instance, we just missed the V8 Supercars before we got here but there has been the Townsville Races, the Magnetic Island to Townsville Swim, Mini Car Club Show ‘n’ Shine (click here for photos), Townsville Running Festival, Cyclones Hot Rod and Custom Car Club Show (click here for photos), a 3 day Jazz Festival, a Seafood Festival, Sunday Markets in town, Friday Night Market on The Strand, and the Townsville Cultural Fest next week.

Architecture wise Townsville is a mix of old and new, with typically older inner suburbs and newer outer suburbs with more modern facilities. The CBD still has many heritage properties but also many high-rise apartments and newer office buildings. There are plenty of traditional “queenslanders” up on stilts, many very nicely restored and updated. Up on the rocky areas there are some spectacular houses built on nearly vertical land.

Flinders Street Townsville

Palmer Street Townsville

Water Tank in Townsville

Some spectacular buildings in Townsville

Changshu Pavilion – Sister City to Townsville

Flinders Street is basically the main street in the CBD but there are other areas to visit including the Palmer Street restaurant and port precinct and the Flinders Street East nightclub area. On Sunday mornings, Flinders Street is closed off for a farmers and artists style market with all the traders open as well. We found some very exotic fruit and vegetables there.

Sunday Market in Flinders Street

Castle Hill:

One of the features of Townsville is that it seems to be surrounded by hills and mountains, and in fact parts of the city appear to have been built into the hills. Castle Hill looms over the city and a 2.9 km drive up a very steep and twisty road rewards you with spectacular panoramic views of the city and across to the nearby islands. Motorists have to watch out for pedestrians who walk or jog up and down the hill.

View from Castle Hill Lookout

The Lakes Holiday Park:

One of the best things about our caravan park is its location. We are bounded by the Mercure Resort, the Lake, and a large Rugby complex, and we are 4 kms from town, 5 kms from The Strand and about 6 kms from the airport. It is less than a 5 minute walk to Red Rooster, Pizza Hut, Sizzler, Maccas, Subway, plus kebabs, Chinese, a convenience store, a fantastic butcher, and more. Castletown shopping complex is less that 1 km away and it has pretty much everything we need. Bunnings, BCF, Spotlight, Kathmandu, Harvey Norman, Joyce Main, Officeworks and just about any other store you need to visit is reasonably close by.

That said, each site at the caravan park has an ensuite, and has a double concrete slab with grass areas between sites, so there is plenty of room. There are even chains incorporated into the slabs so that vans can be chained into position during the wet season – how thoughtful! On weekends, there are model yacht races on the Lake behind our site.

We’ve done a full set-up with side-wall and both ends to add privacy and protection from the hot sun. Most meals are eaten outside under the awning and many are cooked on the van’s pull-out BBQ.

We have a great bunch of neighbours and have enjoyed many happy hours on the grassy area behind our vans by the Lake. There is also a Friday night BYO BBQ at the park’s swimming pool which is a great way to meet fellow travellers and assist in fund raising for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Set Up at The Lakes Holiday Park

Grassed Area to the Lake Behind our Site

Remote Controlled Yachts on the Lake

The Strand:

We have spent a lot of time at The Strand, which is a palm tree studded promenade along the main Townsville beach. It is several kms long with a nice “Rockpool” swimming pool at one end and finishes in town at the other. It’s a beautiful shady and protected place to walk, run, cycle, skate, or whatever and is very busy at weekends.

On the beach side, every several hundred metres is a kiosk selling coffee, gelato ice-cream, fish & chips, or a bistro/bar, etc. There is also a fantastic water park for the kids, plus showers, toilet facilities, exercise stations, impressive kids’ playgrounds, barbeque areas, the Tobruk Memorial Baths, and more. On the opposite side of the The Strand are apartments, motels, restaurants (we especially liked Harold’s Seafood and Gelatissimo), more gelato places, coffee shops, and so on. Best of all there is plenty of space and shade to simply sit down and relax.

The vegetation is very tropical and there are some amazing trees along The Strand, including huge fig trees with their magnificent root systems. Some of the buildings along The Strand are built on almost sheer cliff faces, and there is even a waterfall from the top houses to street level.

A bit further on from The Strand is a busy marina with a good variety of yachts and boats, Jupiters Casino, the Entertainment Centre, the port area, and departure points for ferries to the nearby islands.

Rockpool on The Strand

Patrolled Beach along The Strand

Kids’ Water Fun Park

Tobruk Memorial Baths

Views from The Strand

Views of The Strand

Harold’s Seafood

Harold’s Seafood Basket

Gelatissimo

BBQ Facilities along The Strand

Magnificent Trees Along The Strand

Waterfall by The Strand

Marina with a View to Jupiters Casino

Views of The Strand

War Memorial WW1 & WW2 on The Strand

Magnetic Island:

Magnetic Island is a simply spectacular place only 20 minutes by ferry from Townsville, and you can even take your own vehicle or hire a car on the Island. We caught the ferry – oldies’ return costs $16 – which lands at Nelly Bay and then simply caught the local bus to Horseshoe Bay – oldies’ day pass costs $3.60. At Horseshow Bay we had a good wander around town before having a light lunch at the Marlin Bay Tavern. Another walk up the beach in the opposite direction then it was back to Nan’s Tea House for dessert and coffee. By then we decided that it was time to catch the bus and then the ferry back to Townsville.

Next time we will make sure to arrive earlier and get on and off the bus at various stops and have a much better look around the island, as we only saw a small part of it. Or we might hire a Mini Moke and drive around, or we could do an island tour in a stretched jeep, or do a cruise around the Island in a boat or on a jet-ski, or catch the Red Baron biplane for a flight around the Island. Choices, choices, choices.! We will go back to Magnetic Island for sure.

Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island

Mountainous Outcrop on Magnetic Island

Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island

Marlin Bay Tavern on Magnetic Island

Our Ferry Back from Magnetic Island

Overall Conclusion:

We are so glad that after having owned the fifth wheeler for nearly four years that we have finally done a really good job of escaping Melbourne’s winter. This is more than just a holiday – this is a great lifestyle – and we love it.

We both love Townsville and we plan on coming back next winter – why wouldn’t we?

Categories: 2013 Big Adventure | Tags: castle hill, magnetic island, townsville