This stage of our travels started on 16th June when we headed 205klm North from Rockhampton to Clairview.
Tuesday 16th June. Slept at Clairview Holiday Park for 3 nights - sounds like a suave place eh! Well don't get too excited. The [only] feature is the beach and it's not a bit like Bondi (lower left and right).
I was more interested in the meals served each evening at "club prices" - not a patch on Connies meals, but no work involved for Connie! They also have a musician and singer for entertainment on some weeknights (lower left). The local residents keep the MAIN STREET OF CLAIRVIEW very tidy (lower right) !!.
Friday 19th June. Slept at Mackay for two nights. It was a nice short drive to Mackay this morning in absolutely perfect weather. The shock came when we reached the outskirts of Mackay and had to battle more than a kilometer of traffic, and two sets of traffic lights just to get to the north side of town. Later, during a walk into town we came across an engineering project that was to replace the old bridge that we have walked across so many times over the years. It was time for all the workers to go home and I took a photo of one of them (below left). The sun set a few minutes later and I couldn't resist that shot either (below right). At midnight I went beserk and told a whole group of European backpackers next door to "SHUT UP, OR ELSE". For some reason they did [shut up].
Saturday 20th June. We did the customary drive to the northern suburbs beaches and found a little pocket of Blacks Beach that we had not previously explored. The beach is one of the few in Qld that southerners would describe as bloody good (below left) but the attractiveness of this little corner was reflected in the size of the nearby houses (below right).
Sunday 21st June. Sleeping at Bowen for 2 nights. An easy 200km drive to Bowen got me in the right mood, and so did the warm tropical weather. It is often breezy at Bowen and today was no exception. As usual the breeze was just as warm as we always remember it. We decided to try the "Bowen Village Caravan Park" and (with some help from the manager) managed to short circuit a party that was being planned by a bunch of backpackers". I also spent an hour trying to get somebody's satellite dish working for him before he told me he was using a pirated card, and it may have been electronically erased !! Grrrr. Bowen also has a good beach (lower left) and heaps of magnificent views of the islands (lower right).
Tuesday 23rd June. We stayed an extra night at Bowen so we could go to the Bowen annual show (lower left) and it did include some novelties like racing pigs - and ducks walking the catwalk in hand sewn outfits - and well dressed dogs (lower right).
The big surprise was when we came across the remains of the set for the movie Australia - yes in Bowen! The scenes for the bombing of Darwin and the cattle run through the streets were done in Bowen (some of the buildings are recognizable from the pics below left). One of the most attractive beaches is Grays Bay (below right).
Thursday 25th June. Townsville. We arrived in Townsville yesterday just before lunch. The first exercise was to cut a small hole in the tree foliage so our satellite dish could see the satellite. Next I had to use the broom to clean up the leaves, twigs and branches left on the roof of the caravan. We watched the "State of Origin" like every body else in QLD - fortunately the number plates on my caravan are QLD plates - and I put a garbage bin in front of the car to hide the NSW plates. The Coral Coast Caravan Park is next to the RAAF base and they appear to be playing their "war games" again. Maybe they play all year round - they certainly seem to be enjoying themselves every time we come here. What a climate! This is mid winter and we left the doors and windows open all night. The temperature in the caravan got down to a very pleasant 20 degrees C during the night and is expected to reach 27 or more during the day - anybody want to come and join us? It is a little confined for radio antennas, but maybe when the tourists in the appropriate sites leave I might be able to put up some wire before the new people arrive? (grey nomads are coming and going all the time). The old couple next door (in their 70's) have just returned from a trip through the Tanami desert and are now going back to do the Canning Stock route - with just a 4wd and a tent/bed on the roof racks. I admire them - they are real adventurers. I'll take some pictures around Townsville later today.
Sunday 28th June. Townsville. Ahhh! this is great. It's like any tropical island. Palm trees, gentle breezes, clear blue skies, a night time average of 19 degrees C and daytime average of 28 degrees C. This morning we drove up to the top of Mount Stuart to look over the whole of Townsville (lower right). The big hill just left of the centre is called Castle Hill and it sits [almost] in the centre of the CBD. Yesterday there was a grass fire somewhere around the bottom of the hill and the thick smoke haze reminded me of home ☺(lower left).
Wednesday 1st July 2009. Townsville. The pressures are immense ... I set the sprinkler going ... and watch it for awhile. We walk down to "The Strand" so that Connie can check out the pool [lower left] (Connie just looks!) and I check out the fishing [lower right] - (I just look!).
Monday 6th July Townsville. We attended a convention of motor-home owners at "The Ross Dam" (above left & right) and wondered how so many LARGE motor-homes fitted into the Townsville suburb of Kelso. One of them transports his little runabout in the ... lounge room? or garage? (above right). The dam (above left) holds back the Townsville water supply (below left). The ants in Queensland are quite intelligent (lower right) - they know where to assemble in an emergency!
Wednesday 8th July Townsville. Excitement is starting to build up today as the V8 Supercar teams arrive in town (below left and right) for the "Townsville 400 V8 supercar championships". The cars start practicing Friday and the racing takes place on Saturday and Sunday - and that's all I can find out. I guess the organisers want the whole thing is to be kept secret until the last minute. Nobody seems to know where ANYTHING is, where ANYTHING goes, or where ANYTHING comes from. We do know that there will be racing over the weekend but nobody can tell us how we get into the track or where we can buy tickets. However, it won't be a total disaster - the ice cream parlour will remain open all weekend.
Saturday 11th July. Townsville. Put your earplugs in everybody - we're going to the "Townsville 400" V8 supercar championships. Trust me, it was noisy (lower left), hot and crowded (lower right). The view from the paddocks was frustrating and I'll get grandstand tickets in future. There wasn't enough toilets and virtually no transport for the [estimated] 150,000 spectators. We had to get a taxi back to the caravan - but this was the first time for Townsville. They will hopefully get better each year (for the next four years).
I was impressed by the sheer size and agility of the low flying RAAF helicopter (lower left) that successfully scared the daylights out of everybody during the breaks between races. It was also bloody noisy! Another weekend attraction was the shore front celebrations (lower right).
Sunday 12th July. Townsville. Some people just cannot walk past an ice
cream parlour without ... ...
(left) ,,,
I found the view of the Townsville 400 track (lower left) and the HUGE
crowd was impressive ...
from the top of the nearby Castle Hill (lower right).
Tuesday 14th July. Townsville. Twenty kilometers up the coast we took a look at a beach and free (48 hour camping/caravanning) rest area called Saunders Beach - it only accomodates around ten vans (left).
The beach is typical of many others in the area (lower left) and the tide goes out several hundred meters exposing the mud flats.
It is risky to swim in these waters because the irukandji stingers can KILL !! (lower right)
Saturday 18th July. Townsville. On previous trips to Townsville, I have had meals at the "Seaview" restaurant on "The Strand" and they have been amongst the best. The advertising outside the restaurant states something like "The best steaks in north Queensland" and I believed them ....... until last night. We had one of the most unpleasant meals we have ever had in that price range. The steaks were dried out and needed lots of chewing to eat - in fact Connie couldn't finish hers. I politely told the cashier about the meal when we were leaving and she told me that we should have complained earlier - they would have cooked another couple of meals for us. So, it seems that if you want the best steaks in Queensland, you may have to try more than one before you get a good one. We were not in the mood to wait again for another meal, and Connie hates complaining, so we left. During the night we suffered with painful indigestion and I needed medication. Maybe the restaurant's advertising should read "The best steaks in north Queensland - sometimes". Our usual response to this sort of service is never to return. Lets see how the manager responds when I talk to him today .....
Well, the chef was apologetic (but could not explain what had happened). The manageress didn't seem too concerned until I told her about this blog - then she suddenly wanted to make me happy by offering a couple of half price steaks. However, Connie wouldn't have anything to do with it - she said "the cheaper pubs and clubs are less than half the price of the Seaview, and the meals are usually better than our Seaview experience". I couldn't argue with that!