Day 138 Aug 29 - Airlie Beach

Up very early this morning - we were picked up at the caravan park at 6-15 am (seriously we are supposed to be on holiday) to do our trip to Whitehaven Beach, Hamilton and Daydream Islands.  We left Abel Point Jetty at 7 am and cruised firstly to Daydream Island where we picked up some more passengers.  Then we went to Whitehaven Beach - cruising around the Whitesunday Islands on the way.  We had about 2 hours on Whitehaven Beach - the sand is pure silica it squeaked when you walked on it.  It also cleaned gold jewelery.   A game of beach cricket was enjoyed by some of the passengers.  We watched a few seaplanes taking off and landing.  After Whitehaven we got back on the catamaran and then went to Hamilton Island - we only had about 30 minutes here it was just for a boat change.  In the marina there were quite a few very expensive yachts - the Whitsunday Classic had been raced recently.  Wild Oats XI was one of them.  We then went back to Daydream Island where we had about 3 hours.  Lunch was at the Boathouse Bakery, which we ate looking over the Whitsunday Passage.    The facilities were incredible - a beautiful pool looking straight out on the water.  There is a mini golf  course  - this is a 19 hole course and is called Around Australia - the sculptures are really good and aptly named.  We didn't play golf but had a walk around the course.  There was a fish pool with some incredible species of fish in it -  small sharks, rays, remoras, emperors just to name a few.  We had an hour around the pool before we had to get the ferry back to Shute Harbour.  All in all a really good day.  We saw our first whales of the trip today going over and coming back.  It doesn't seem to matter how many times you see whales it is still exciting each time.  

Whitehaven Beach

Recognise the "batsman"

Stroll along the beach

Leaving Whitehaven

Restaurant at Hamilton shaped like a whale

One of the yachts

Wild Oats XI

Approaching Hamilton Island

Daydream Jetty

View from Daydream

Some of the fish

Great place for lunch

Just relaxing

The pool at Daydream

3rd hole 

Day 134 - 137 Aug 25 - 28 - Airlie Beach

I have been a bit slack with the blog since we got to Airlie Beach on Saturday - main reason being that we have not been doing very much.

Saturday - we arrived at Airlie Beach and booked in at the Seabreeze Caravan Park which is in Cannonvale and in a great location - close to the shopping centre and to the board walk into Airlie Beach.  We didn't really like the park itself - the site they gave us was very dusty and there was a smell.  The owners are working on updating the park but we decided that we would like to move and were fortunate that they refunded our money so we only stayed on Saturday night.

Sunday - we moved to Island Gateway Caravan Park which is 2.5 km from Airlie Beach towards Shute Harbour.  Then we did a bit of shopping and settled down to read our books.  We are much happier at this park and have met a nice couple from Cannonvale in Western Australia - originally for Yorkshire.  There is a lot of bird life on this park - ducks, curlews, ibis and kookaburras .  The ducks wander round all day and the curlews are just as noisy at times as they were in Palm Cove.  

Just a few of the friendly ducks

Curlews - strange birds almost pre-historic

Monday - we went for a drive to Hideaway Bay and Dingo Beach.  We had been told that seeing Montes at Hideaway Bay is a must.  It was about 65 km from Airlie Beach and well worth the drive.  Montes Reef Resort is situated at Cape Gloucester and overlooks Gloucester Island.  We also had a look at Cape Gloucester Resort which was a little further on than Montes.       Here there was a swimming pool and pool bar looking once again over Cape Gloucester and Edgecumbe Bay.   We had lunch at Montes before returning to Airlie Beach.  

View from Montes

Gloucester Island

Tuesday - turned out to be housework day and cleaning of the caravan and car.  We spent the whole morning doing our chores then after lunch we spent a few hours down at the Lagoon in Airlie Beach.  The Lagoon was opened in 2001 and attracts a lot of backpackers and children. It is a really good area surrounded by landscaped gardens.  

Lagoon Airlie Beach

Day 131, 132 & 133 Aug 22 - 24 - Bowen

We have had three quite relaxing days here at Bowen.  We said goodbye to Lyn and Noel once again on Wednesday, I don't think we will catch up with them again on this trip.  We have spent a bit of time reading and lazing by the pool and reading our books, the weather has been really good.  We did go up Flagstaff Hill Lookout, which gives a 360 degree view around Bowen.  We had a look at Mullers Lagoon, this is quite a big area with a lot of different bird life.  In the town of Bowen there are quite a few murals which are quite good.  On Friday we rode our bikes down to Horseshoe Bay and had happy hour with Janine and Tony, they are also leaving Bowen on Saturday but they are going through to Mackay, we are going through to Airlie Beach.  

Flagstaff  Hill Lookout

Flagstaff Hill Lookout

Mullers Lagoon

Mullers Lagoon

One of the many murals

Another Mural

Our site at Coral Coast

Pool at Coral Coast C/P

Day 130 Aug 21 - Bowen

Finally got Graham's phone fixed this morning.  There is not a Telstra dealer in Bowen but on Tuesdays they have a representative from Telstra come to the Retravision shop in town.  Anyway Graham was very pleased when they were able to unlock the phone and boy did he get a lot of messages through once it was open.  After this we went to the Front Beach .  This is where the film Australia was produced and there is quite a bit of information about this.  We walked along the jetty which was used during the film.  The set was dismantled after they finished filming.  There is also a Catalina Interpretive Centre, the information on these planes is etched into large glass panels which gives the effect of the planes coming in to land on the bay when you are looking at the images.   We had happy hour down on the front near the caravan park with Lyn, Noel, Janine, Tony and Noel's cousin and her husband.  The sunset was probably one of the best we have had in a long time.  

Poster of the Australia Film Set

Catalina Display

Jetty used during filming of Ausralia

Sunset tonight outside the caravan park

15 minutes later

Day 129 Aug 20 - Bowen

Happy Birthday Graham (65)  and Noel (62).

Big day today both Graham and Noel's birthdays - we went out for lunch to the Cove Restaurant which is a Chinese Restaurant down by Horseshoe Bay.  The view from the restaurant is incredible - it was just a pity that the weather wasn't good - we had a bit of rain today.   We had a really nice lunch with Lyn, Noel, Janine and Tony.  After lunch we went back to Janine and Tony's van for a couple of hours then in the afternoon we had happy hour at Lyn and Noel's van.  Lots of phone calls today for Graham to wish him a happy birthday - his phone was playing up so apologies to anybody that did ring and could not get through.  Hopefully we will get it fixed tomorrow.  

View from the restaurant

Birthday Boy

Noel, Lyn, Janine, Tony and Graham

Happy Birthday to us

Day 128 Aug 19 - Bowen

45 years married today and they said it wouldn't last.  

Went to the market this morning, most of the towns that we have been to seem to have a Sunday market.  I bought a couple of books but that was about all.  The weather today wasn't too good it was much cooler than yesterday and we have had some rain this afternoon.  Noel and Lyn arrived at about lunch time so we spent the afternoon with them.  We went down to Horseshoe Bay again and  met up with Janine and Tony, who are friends of Lyn and Noel's then we went for a walk down the beach.  The girls climbed to the top of the lookout whilst the boys waited for us down on the beach.  We then went back to Janine & Tony's van and had happy hour with them.   We SKYPED the children tonight.  

Day 127 Aug 18 - Bowen

At least it was quiet overnight at Home Hill.  After about 10-30pm the noise settled.  We had quite a good nights sleep and were up early ready to drive through to Bowen which was only about 105 kms.  We are staying at the Big4 Coral Coast Caravan Park and have to say we have a really good site although it is right in the corner.   There is a really nice swimming pool here at the park and for once it does not have a shade sail over it so it gets some sun and is not freezing cold.  We got set up then we went and picked up a few groceries before having a couple of hours around the pool.  We then went for a bike ride down to Horseshoe Bay which is a really nice beach and very secluded.  We are staying at Bowen for a week.  

Day 125 Aug 17 - Home Hill

Tonight we are at a free camp in Home Hill and if we had known that it was so close to the railway line I think we would have gone straight through to Bowen.  We arrived here late afternoon and the railway line was quiet but around 6-30 to 7-00 the trains started.  It is very noisy and we are just hoping that they stop overnight.  Fortunately we are only here for the night so we will have to make the best of it.  We certainly would not recommend it to anyone.  One good thing about it is the amenities, they were clean, had two showers with hot water and there was a camp kitchen with two free BBQ's which were also clean.   After a walk around the town and picking up a few grocery items we sat and read our books for the rest of the time.  

Day 125 Aug 16 - Townsville

We had a much quieter day today - caught up once again with the washing before we move on tomorrow and then we went for a long walk along The Strand.  When we got there the Rock Pool was empty -  council were doing some maintenance work on it.  It certainly looked very different from the first time we saw it.  We spoke to one of the workers and he said once they had finished the maintenance it took 3 - 4 hour to fill.  We sat and read our books in the afternoon and then we met Lyn and Noel up at Castle Hill Lookout for sunset.  It is a very steep ascent up to the top and we were amazed how many people were either walking, jogging or riding up the hill.  Without exaggerating there would have been 100 people if not more, it was quite dangerous as the road is very windy and they were walking three abreast at times.  After this we went back to our van and we had a BBQ for dinner with Lyn and Noel.  It was a really mild night.  They days have been absolutely beautiful whilst we have been in Townsville around 26 degrees each day.

Empty Rock Pool

Jetty on The Strand

Day 124 Aug 15 - Townsville

We have had a full day today we left the park at about 8-15am to go over to Magnetic Island, we caught the 8-45am ferry across.  We were very impressed with the cost of the ferry - instead of $29 each it cost us $29 for the two of us with our senior cards, then we had a docket that gave us free parking at the ferry terminal.  When we got over to the island we decided to take the public bus and not hire a car - again we were very impressed with the cost $3.50 each for an all day ticket and you can get off the bus at all the little bays.  We actually missed the first bus so decided we would walk the 2km to Geoffrey Bay and we spent about three quarters of an hour there before the next bus came along.  We then got on the bus at Arcadia and  went to Horsehoe Bay.  The Bay is surrounded by mountains and the water is crystal clear.  We spent a good few hours here on the beach and had lunch before returning to Geoffrey Bay.  Here there were some very tame rock wallabies that are obviously very used to human contact, they let you get very close to them to take photographs.   on the bus where we walked up some.  We had lunch there before returning to Geoffrey Bay on the bus to have a look at some rock wallabies.    We had a quick drink at the Arcadia Resort before returning on the bus to the ferry terminal for the 3-20pm ferry back to Townsville.    The beaches are absolutely beautiful on the island and we had a fantastic time over there.   When we got back to Townsville we decided to go and have a look at the casino - if you join as a member you get a voucher for a free meal - so tonight we went to the casino for dinner and all it cost us was $8 for a beer.  After this we decided to have a drive down The Strand but the only thing that was lit up was the fountain at Memorial Park.

Just one of the many beautiful homes on Magnetic Island

Horsehoe Bay

Alma Bay

Rock Wallabies

Coming back into Townsville

Fountain at Memorial Park

Day 123 Aug 14 - Townsville

We have been away exactly four months today and we have seen some really interesting places.  In all we have been to 32 different towns and cities.  I think we have preferred our time in Far North Queensland to Outback Queensland although they are very different.

Today Graham went to Bob Janes to have the wheels on the Pajero rotated.  He was very pleased when they told him that we have probably only used approximately half of the tread on the tyres and we have done 33,000 kms on them.  When he got back to the van we went up Castle Hill Lookout.  We were expecting just to drive up there have a quick look and then come back.  Well we spent an hour up there, at the top there are four different walks that you can do and they all give a different view over Townsville.  We were very impressed and the views were magnificent.  On our way there we saw a house that was supported on stilts, it must have been well engineered it seemed just to hang over the cliff.  I don't think I would like to live in it.  After lunch we went for a drive to Pallarenda which is to the left out of the caravan park.  It is quite nice down there, we may even get the bikes off on Thursday and have a ride down there.  Then we went round to see Lyn and Noel for an hour.  Tonight after dinner we sat out until about 9pm with Mary and Richard having a few drinks.  They are leaving tomorrow for Bowen.  

A feat of engineering

View from Castle Hill - our park is down there

View over city

Harbour View

Day 122 Aug 13 - Townsville

We were going to stay at The Riverside Convention Centre here in Townsville (which is run by the Seventh Day Adventist Church) but when we eventually found it we decided it was too far out of town and I didn't really like the area it was in,  so we rang to see if we could get a site at Rowes Bay Caravan Park - which is right on the beach here in Townsville and usually very hard to get into.  They do not take pre-bookings and you have to ring on the day to see if they have any vacancies.  Well we were able to get on a powered site so were really pleased.  There are some really nice walks around here and we are not far from The Strand which is where the Rock Pool is.  Noel and Lyn are here in Townsville but they are staying at a different caravan park - they came round for a cuppa this afternoon.  Mary and Richard are here on this caravan park so it was good to catch up with them again.  No photos for the last few days but I am sure we will make up for it in the next couple - we are going to be doing a few of the touristy things.

Day 120 & 121 Aug 11 & 12 2012 - Macrosan Park

We hung around Charters Towers until lunch time on Saturday as there was a festival on that did not start until midday.  It was only a very small festival and there wasn't much there.  We think it may have livened up later in the day.  Anyway we got away at about 2pm and headed to Macrosan Park, a free camp about 22 kms from Charters Towers.  It was next to the Burdekin River, which was running quite well.  It is a big camp with toilets and cold showers.  There were a large number of vans in there some of them had been there for a fortnight or more.  I think a lot of people just travel there to get out of the cold down the south.  The days were really warm but my were the nights cold, on both mornings the temperature in the caravan was 5 degrees.  Graham actually slept in his thermals on Sunday night - looked like a big telly tubby but at least he was warm.  We did a lot of reading whilst we were there, not a lot more that we could do.  

Day 118 & 119 Aug 9 & 10 2012 - Charters Towers

Thursday - came through to Charters Towers where we once again met up with Lyn & Noel and a couple of their friends Janine & Tony.  We are staying at the Aussie Outback Oasis Caravan Park which is quite a big park and is really nice.   We had a quick drive into the city and picked up our mail and had a look around the city centre.  There are some incredible old  buildings around the city  - the one we both really liked was would you believe was the "Target" store - which was housed in an old drapery department store and the windows had lead lighting and the ceiling inside (of course I had to go in) had an inlaid patterned plaster.  Another really nice building was the Post Office.  Tonight we went up to Tower Hill lookout with Lyn, Noel, Janine and Tony at sunset.   We bought pizzas for dinner and had them up there with a glass of wine.  We saw some Allied Rock Wallabies - they came out when the food was there.  

Friday - went down to the Information Office in the city and got some information of things to do and what to see.  We did a self drive tour - you hire a CD and a map and the CD explains all of the historical places.  Whilst we were in the Information Centre we watched a short film on the history of Charters Towers and then in the Stock Exchange Arcade listened to the "Calling of the Cards".  

Look at the lead lighting

Post Office Building in the distance

Stock Exchange Arcade

Calling the card

Courthouse

Allied Rock Wallabies