Travelling Around Australia: November 2014

October 7^th 2014 to November 16^th 2014

We stayed in Townsville at Rowes Bay Caravan Park for 10 days and really loved it. It is a beautiful thriving town and is known as the second capital of Queensland. It really has a laid back lifestyle and is a town I could easily live in. The Strand stretches for 2.5 kilometres along the foreshore and has views across Cleveland Channel to Magnetic Island. It has lots of swimming enclosures, playgrounds and BBQ facilities and is a great place to spend the day. Castle Hill is in the centre of town and the steep climb of 2.9 kilometres to the lookout, which is accessed by car or foot, offers breathtaking panoramic views over the city. It is really spectacular. Not far from the caravan park is a beautiful boardwalk up to Kissing Point, it has interpretive signs along the way and gives a history of Townsville’s involvement in WWll, as well as pretty views and some modern art.

We drove to Charters Towers and Ravenswood for a day trip and loved both historic towns. We drove up to Towers Hill lookout which has panoramic views of Charters Towers and factual storyboards where we learnt a bit about the regions past. There are about 30 WWll bunkers scattered around the hill and the ruins of the old Pyrite Works was worth a look. We walked the One Square Mile precinct and were amazed at this beautifully preserved historic city. Mostly all the old facades remain and although they have modern interiors’ they have retained the elegance of the past.

After lunch we drove to Ravenswood which is a heritage listed gold mining town. This town in its heyday had 48 hotels of which only two remain standing today and they are both beautiful examples of colonial architecture. The information centre is a restored railway station and the historic Railway hotel across the road is magnificent and has a yard attached which is a museum of old gold mining equipment. Chimney stacks can be seen all around the town which is testament to the hive of activity when this was a boom gold mining town. The beautiful and historic Court House Museum is very photographic as is the Post Office Store and the Catholic Church. We walked up to the lookout above the open cut mine which was full of water and very spectacular and found an old arch bridge on the road beneath it. We visited the majestic Imperial Hotel, the Thorps building an old mining site and a Miner’s cottage. We loved exploring this old town and spent a few hours doing just that; the photo opportunities were endless.

While we were in Townsville we celebrated our 5^th wedding anniversary in style at Jupiters Casino. We had a beautiful feast of Reef and Beef which was absolutely delicious. We enjoyed a great night and what a change getting dressed up instead of being in bathers or shorts and singlet. It was very special. We were also lucky enough on a clear night to witness the eclipse and the blood moon. It was stunning.

Pyrite Works ruins Charters Towers

View of Townsville from Castle Hill

View of Charters Towers from The Tower Hill

Greg at the Pyrite Works Charters Towers

Pyrite Works ruins

Charters Towers

Bell Tower Charter Towers

Charters Towers

Ravenswood

Inside Imperial Hotel at Ravenswood

Catholic Church Ravenswood

Around Ravenswood

Open cut mine Ravenswood

Old Arch bridge Ravenswood

Post Office Ravenswood

Old Court Museum Ravenswood

Railway Hotel Ravenswood

Old Miners Cottage Ravenswood

Full moon and eclipse Townsville

Blood Moon Townsville

Around Townsville

Kissing Point walk Townsville

Marina Townsville

Marina and Jupiters Casino Townsville

On the Strand

Ravenswood

After Townsville we headed to Bowen or Blowin’ Bowen as it is known due to it being very windy all the time. On the way to Bowen we passed through the lovely town of Ayr and across the Burdekin River via an immensely big steel bridge which links Ayr and Home Hill and is known as the Silver Link. It is the only bridge in Australia built without a solid footing and is longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge at 1.103 kilometres long. We spent three nights here at Queens Beach. Bowen is known for a couple of reasons; the Big Mango and its beautiful beaches. We drove up to Flagstaff Hill and were greeted with a beautiful view of Gloucester Passage, Gloucester Island and the North Head Lighthouse. We also had a nice view of Kings beach and the town of Bowen. The foreshore in Bowen has recently been transformed and has a skate park, a water park, playgrounds, BBQs and some nice walking tracks. The Catalina Interpretive Centre was really interesting and is located on the site where WWll Catalinas were maintained and serviced prior to being redeployed. Images of the Catalinas are etched into glass and give the effect of planes coming in to land.

The beaches are really pretty and made for great photo opportunities. Our favourites were Horseshoe Bay, Grays Bay and Rose Bay. There are 26 murals in Bowen depicting the diverse history from early settlement until the present day. Most of the murals are in the town centre and a small band of volunteers continue to work very hard to raise money to finance these murals. I think they do a great job. Mullers Lagoon is a picturesque botanical gardens and wetlands. It is easy to walk around and popular for picnics, weddings and other functions and attracts many bird species, particularly during the wet season. Bowen is the town where the movie Australia was filmed in 2007. Apart from being very windy, we enjoyed our brief stay in Bowen.

Burdekin River Bridge

Mural in Bowen

Bowen Foreshore

Catalina Glass etching Bowen

Catalina Bowen

Mural Bowen

Mullers Lagoon Bowen

View of Bowen from Flagstaff Hill

View from Flagstaff Hill

Looking towards Kings Beach from Flagstaff Hill

Grays Bay Bowen

Horseshoe Bay Bowen

Mullers Lagoon Bowen

Queens Beach Bowen

Rose Bay Bowen

The Big Mango Bowen

Our next destination was the beautiful Airlie Beach and marks the spot on our map where the lines are joined. As we had been here in 2011, we have now completed the outside lap of Australia as well as all our other inland and centre journeys. It didn’t mean we weren’t going to enjoy revisiting Airlie Beach as it is a lovely spot to visit. We also had people we wanted to reconnect with who we had met on our journey.

We took the ferry across to Hamilton Island and had a ball. Hamilton Island, whilst very touristy is absolutely beautiful. We got wrecked. We hired a buggy and made our way around the island venturing into every possible corner of the island that we could. We hired a Go Kart and had a thrilling 15 minute ride around the course. It was so much fun, but my arms were extremely tired after that trip. We then went on the most exhilarating jet boat ride around the island. Our driver was very adventurous and made sure he drenched us on a lot of occasions. It was the best ride ever. We then had lunch at the Marina Tavern which was very nice. We rode the buggy some more and then when we got too tired we went to the beautiful yacht club for a drink before catching the ferry back to Airlie beach. It was such a full on day but we enjoyed it immensely. We would highly recommend the Adrenalin trip to Hamilton Island.

We were able to catch up with Luke who lives in Strathdickie, just a short drive from Airlie Beach. We met Luke and Lindy on the West Coast last year and were looking forward to seeing them, but unfortunately time restraints and other commitments meant we missed out on seeing Lindy. Maybe one day down the track we will see them both again. Luckily for us Luke gave us a beautiful Lobster that his sister in law had caught earlier that week and we enjoyed eating that, in fact we replicated the Lobster thermidor dish we had at the Townsville Casino. It was delish. Luke also gave us the heads up on a sugar cane fire in the district; so we drove out there and witnessed a beautiful sunset on the way. The cane fire was amazing; they don’t last very long but are truly spectacular.

We drove out to Hideaway Bay and took in the beautiful sights there. First stop was Dingo Beach which is really pretty. The pub there looks really great and the beach and the walk was beautiful. We then drove onto Montes Reef Resort. This is really beautiful; they have cabins right on the beach and a gorgeous bar and restaurant. It would be an amazing place to stay to chill out for a few days. Gloucester Eco Resort is where we had lunch, but before we stopped there, we drove about a kilometre further along and came across the most gorgeous private little beach; it was so photogenic that I gave my camera a real workout. We went back to the resort and had lunch with simply the most amazing view over the ocean, so crystal clear and pristine. They also have a great pool that we enjoyed after lunch. It was a beautiful day out with perfect weather and perfect surrounds.

We caught up with Sue, Mick and James on our first night in Airlie Beach; we travelled with this family for five months earlier in the year, including our trip to Cape York. They are working in Airlie Beach at the moment and James is now attending school there. We did a few walks along the foreshore and the beautiful lagoon and marina. We had another family who we met in 2013 at Menindee who now live in Proserpine, that we wanted to see again but they were away, so we made a decision to go to Mackay for a week and then come back to Airlie Beach to see Emma, Rob, Taneika, Lily and Jake on the return journey. Another reason for coming back was to catch with my niece Rebecca who was holidaying in Airlie Beach the following week.

In Mackay we stayed at Tracy and Darren’s property near Kuttabul. We had stayed there for almost three months back in 2011, when Greg worked in Mackay for a little while. Tracy and Darren had just put in a new in ground pool and Greg and I helped Tracy with the landscaping during the week we were there. It was great to see them again, but after another week at Airlie Beach we were going back there again.

Back in Airlie, we contacted my niece Rebecca, who informed us that her and her partner Paul, were getting married on Whitehaven Beach the following day. This was a secret and now we were the only ones privy to that piece of news. Oh wow! So we had an impromptu Hens and Bucks night with them. It was so great to see them after such a long time and to share the excitement of their elopement. The following day we went to their apartment at the Outrigger and took some photos of the wedding preparations. Rebecca and Paul, with their sons Sam and Charlie were flying by seaplane to Whitehaven beach on the Whitsunday Island to get married. They gave us the key to their apartment and when they returned a married couple we prepared a couple of platters as a reception. We had the best time with these two people and their boys and it was so worth the change in our plans to see them again and help them celebrate.

We left Airlie and went to Proserpine to stay with Rob and Emma and the kids for a couple of nights. It was delightful to see them all again, even if for such a short time. We enjoyed a night out at the local RSL where Emma works and which was unfortunately closing down that night due to lack of finances. But we met with their lovely friends and neighbours, had a great meal and an enjoyable night. We went to the famous Colour Me Crazy shop in Proserpine and believe me you have to see it to believe it. This shop is full of all sorts of goods and wares and it is all colour co ordinated, from jewellery to clothes to plants and home furnishings, every colour under the sun. It is truly amazing. We had a couple of BBQ meals, a few drinks, chewed the fat and totally enjoyed seeing our friends again.

Back to Mackay now, where Tracy was ready to welcome her kids and grandkids for a five days. We also went to Sarina Beach to see the Welsh family, whom we met at Big Crystal Creek in September. Fiona, Cameron, Kiralee and Braydon, live at Campwin Beach near Sarina. We went to see them on the day the kids were competing in a Surf Lifesaving Carnival at Sarina Beach. Again it was great to see them and spend a few hours chatting and enjoying the atmosphere of the carnival. We drove to the Port of Hay Point, near Sarina, which is one of the largest coal distribution ports in the world. There are two wharfs with shiploaders; one that extends 1.8 kilometres out to sea and the other which extends 3.85 kilometres out to sea; it was quite amazing to see and a great photo opportunity. With Tracy and her family we went to Cape Hillsborough for dinner one night where her friend Ange works. Ange prepared a beautiful dinner for us and we enjoyed some time on the beach there which is very pretty. Ash and Travis, Tracy’s kids spent five days here with her and Darren, along with her grandkids, Emmy and Braxton and Travis’s partner Brit. It was great to see a family enjoy each other’s company so much.

Pretty much the last few weeks have been about socialising and catching up with old friends and new acquaintances; celebrating life and loves. It has been amazing.

Outrigger apartments Airlie Beach

The lagoon Airlie Beach

The Lagoon Airlie Beach

The beach near Gloucester Eco Resort

The beautiful Rebecca and me on her wedding day

View from the Outrigger apartments

Gloucester Eco Resort

Gloucester Eco resort

Cape Hillsborough

Tracy with Emmy and Braxton at Cape Hillsborough

Possum at Cape Hillsborough

Dingo Beach

Leaving for Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island

Us on Hamilton Island

Beautiful church Hamilton Island

Me in the Buggy Hamilton Island

Hamilton Island

At the Yacht Clun Hamilton Island

Us at the Yacht Club Hamilton Island

Yacht Club Hamilton Island

Us on Bec and Paul's wedding day

Montes Reef Resort

Plumed Whistling Duck at our Campsite Airlie Beach

Port of Hay Point

Sunset Airlie Beach

Cane fires Airlie Beach

Dingo Beach

Airlie Beach

Tomorrow 17^th November 2014 we are commencing our journey home; maybe we’ll be there before Christmas, maybe after the New Year, who knows. We don’t want our journey to end, but end it will. After over 1070 days on the road and over 1000 days of summer our journey is coming to an end. We can be sad, but we can also be ever so grateful that we have seen and experienced our Australia; the most beautiful, diverse and wide brown land in the world. Australia we have enjoyed you, your beauty, the people in you and the people who visit you; many of whom we have met along the way. We love you all. What a wonderful country; it feels like we are saying goodbye to an old friend!

I will do one more blog before we get home maybe......so Cheers til next time.

Travelling Around Australia

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Townsville to Mackay