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