Townsville

 We arrived in the city of all things sport, Townsville...home of the Cowboy, V8 super cars and the big boxing match between Tszyu and Horn. 

Things seemed to have bounced back from the floods and other than the lack of international tourists that town seems to be thriving.

We decided that 3 days would be enough in the city so we parked up at the Discovery Park out near the racecourse......not the best but location was very handy.

After a quick bit of shopping we could up with Steve Brown (ex Longreach) who now calls Townsville home. Plans made and it was back to the park for a swim. I was going to head out for a quick catch up beer whilst they played.

Saturday was booked up, Cindy and the kids were off to Reef HQ Aquarium whilst I went for a hit at Townville Golf Club with Steve. Massive grudge match arranged against the club Capt and as those that know Steve there was a lot of Smack Talk leading up to match, needless I say we go dealt with. I even witnessed a classic SB shank on the short par 3, lost 5&4. Beers were good though and the course was a pleasure to play.

The Aquarium was great and the kids really had a good time.

This is what Charlie wants to catch, me too. No fishing allowed.......

That evening we all heading in to The Strand to catch up with Steve, Nicky & Maddy as well as Harley, Maddy's 20 week old Border Collie. Well that kept the kids happy whilst we waited for our Fish & Chips.

Sunday Markets in the main street was a great option, once again The Browns and Harley with us, kids and dog......very happy. Typical back buying soap, nothing has changed.

Next stop, Castle Hill for a good look at Townsville from up high, great views across to Magnetic Island, definately worth a visit next time.

We were hoping to do the Army Museum at the end of The Strand but for some reason it was not open, was meant to close at 1pm just not that day. Instead it was up the hill and around to the Rock Pool for a quick swim and then back to the park for more slide action in the pool.

Townsville - such a lovely place and hive of activity. It is good to see things are relatively normal with Covid19 . Great vibes. Will spend longer next time. Thanks Brownies for the hospitality and tour guiding.

We continue our trip further north.....new post to come.

Updates:

EEC, no change....not really expecting this to increase in the next few weeks. EEC stands at 97.

CCC, well very disappointed, having seen signs not to swim everywhere we are still yet to see any in the wild, expect that this will change very soon. CCC stands at 6.

Sarina to Townsville

 After leaving the Hughes (with a nice bottle of rum might I add) we took off north, first stop for a quick look was Cape Hillsborough NP, just a little north of Mackay. Very nice and did a couple of walks before heading for our destination for the evening, Seaforth. We camped at the reserve there right on the beach. 

Getting there a little late we just had time for a quick walk along the beach and kids found a few shells. It was quiet windy and the tide was a long way out so things were not as great as they could be.

A great night sleep was had listening to the waves wash up on the beach. First up it was time to head out to the beach and see what the high tide had brought us, well..... Coconuts, lots of coconuts. The kids kept picking them up and then they would find another, lucky Cindy likes carrying coconuts.Charlie and Em both tried their hand at climbing with very little success, although Charlie did manage to find the largest coconut in Seaforth, a total monster.......even had juice in it. Another great job for Dad when we stop next.

Next stop Airlie Beach, grabbed a few supplies and straight to the camp site. Bikes down, togs on and it was straight to the pool for the kids.

In the morning, more bike riding, and finished off in the pool whilst Dad packed the camper, actually worked well.

Spent the rest of the morning investigating the main strip and another swim in the lagoon, shame we didn't know about this earlier as it was heaps better than the pool at the caravan park.

On the road again, plan to stay at Alva Beach, firstly we stopped in by Bowen to have a good look around, some very nice beaches and bays there but no spare campsites. After a quick sorty of the campsite in Alva we decided to give it a miss and look for something further up the road towards Townsville.

Trying a few spots with limited success, we even pulled in to one just north of Giru but the mossies carried us a way before we could even unhook the camper. We had previously driven in to Giru looking for this site and noticed that there was a free stay just near the pub, decision made, freestay and pub meal it was.

There were a couple of vans parked in there too so seemed to be a good option, dinner at the pub was very good and then back to the camper for the night. Now there are a couple of positives, near the pub, no mossies but also near the sugar mill, currently running 24/7 but the constant noise was ok. The noise from the goods trains that came through all night was a little of an issue, all in all not the worst night.

In the morning Charlie and I did some exploring, I had been to Giru 20+ years ago with a fishing mate Bill, its a great place to catch Barra and by the look of the photos on the pub wall its been happening around there for a while. Every house has at least one boat. We went down to the boat ramp where we found about 6-7 vans all set up, looks like a good freestay for fishing with a toilet to boot, not sure what the sandflies would be like but talking to a few they have been catching off the bank as well, next time then.

Townsville here we come

Camping on the coast with the Hughes

 After a good day in the car and a quick stopover in Clermont for the night we headed to the coast (Sarina) to catch up with Tim and Judy Hughes, having caught up with them at DRD it was a good opportunity to see the area where they live and enjoy some of their hospitality.

We grabbed a few supplies and headed of south of Sarina to a great little spot, Notch Point (well worth a look if you can work out how to get there), lucky we had out resident guides.

How good is this place, views, crabs, sure there are fish but this was not necessary.

We spent 3 days here but could have spent a lot longer. Definitely worth a look in if you are heading past.

Crabbing was not to great but we did manage to catch a feed, even managed to catch a good size occy and Tim got to use his new crab cooker.....very impressive.

On the Sunday we packed things up and headed back to Sarina to stay a few days with the Hughes, a very good opportunity to have a shower and do some washing. That afternoon we sat down stairs having a cold drink and chewing down on a couple of large muddies whilst the kids played on the trampoline,

it just doesn't get any better than that. A late dinner of not too spicy Thai Green Curry and washed down with some of Tim's homemade rum, very nice and even though it did the job I woke up fine the next day.

Tim and I managed to get a sneaky 18 holes at the very nice Sarina Golf Club, very nice even though the greens were been done that morning.

Lets just say I whacked him in the skins but on handicap it was a draw, had to give him too many shots.

The afternoon was off to the Sarina Cane Shed to learn all we could about Sugarcane, 

very interesting and the kids even managed to get some fairy floss to sample whilst Cindy and I tried the local rums and relishes.

Another good night at the Hughes, little more rum and good food and company. Thanks Tim and Judy, look forward to repaying the favour when you get down to Victoria (hopefully that's not too long away but who knows)

Clean, fed and rested it was off again, north we go.

Updates:

EEC, no change, sitting at 97

CCC, after a very disappointing search the number remains constant but the further north we go I think this will explode, CCC stands at 6