Thursday 10th June ... Today we went to the Rockhampton Show (above left). It was dusty, colourful, scary and above all NOISY. After 20 minutes we decided to leave because we couldn't find any ice cream. Finally, just as we found the exit, we also found the "Mr Whippy" truck - so we stayed for half the day. One weird animal that we saw (above right) was kept in a cage - presumably for public safety. It won a prize for best cross between rabbit and chicken .... well, that was what it looked like.
Sunday 13th June ... Last night was maybe the coldest night for some time and the diesel heater cut in and out many times. The day was OK but still not as warm as we are looking for and so we advised the caravan park office that we will be moving on next Thursday. We checked the weather on Foxtel and it looks warmer and dryer north of here. To pass the time today, we decided to take a drive along the stretch of coastline called the Capricornia Coast which means passing through Emu Park ... and of course that means taking the obligatory photo of the "singing ship" (above left). If you have not already got a photo of this noisy sculpture, you should have, because everybody else has. The house (above right) looks exactly the same as did the last couple of times we passed through here - it hasn't grown at all.
Friday 18th June ... Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights we are sleeping at Blacks Beach near Mackay. Blacks Beach has a huge, wide empty beach with good sand (above left). The caravan park (above right) is good but we couldn't get a site where our satellite dish could see anything other than trees. In desperation, I finished up making a TV antenna with a piece of wire and we watched the local analogue TV channels - wow! that was exciting (do you remember "Days of our Wives")?
Sunday 20th June ... Sunday, Monday, Tuesday nights we are sleeping at Conway Beach Near Proserpine and Airlie Beach, the "Gateway to the Whitsunday Islands". The land that we can see just across the water (see photo Left) is Lindeman Island ... one of the popular Whitsunday group of islands.
They say "never let the truth get in the way of a good story" and nobody would know the difference if I said that the picture was Hamilton Island anyway.
... actually it's neither of them ... it's just part of Conway National park. Lindeman, Hamilton and Shaw Islands are over the other side of those hills and a couple of kilometers across the Whitsunday passage.
The caravan park at Conway Beach is the most colorful caravan park I've ever seen. Everything is painted bright colors ... (see picture left). If you look carefully above the yellow cabin (against the blue sky), you'll see that some weird person has strung up a radio antenna in an effort to contact civilisation.
Not surprisingly my Vodafone is out of range again. To add to the isolation
the local amateur radio repeaters do not provide access to the internet and the
rest of the world - only the local area. The caravan park does not offer
wireless internet either. Hell! I'm going fishing - and that means walking one
kilometer out to sea in order to reach water that comes up to my knees. 
If my Vodafone is out of range (which it often is) and you need to call us, use Connies Telstra phone No: 0458855861 until we get back to civilisation in a few days!
Monday 21st June ... We first visited Airlie Beach about thirty years ago and fell in love with a lovely little village with just a few shops and a nearby marina. Each of our visits since then has revealed more and more commerce as well as a huge influx of backpackers. Today, the town has outgrown the original pleasant relaxed atmosphere and instead it is now set up to cater for 1000's of holidaymakers who are not there. It's a little busy (above left & right) - however shop owners are reporting tough times.
Friday 25th June.. Wednesday night 23rd through to Monday morning 28th we sleep at Ayr. As usual we stayed at the Cascades Caravan park. It is so close to the main street of Ayr, hotels, ice cream shops, shopping, and more. Friday, we drove to the top of Inkerman Hill and all we could see (above left) was sugar cane plantations. I can't wait to see the cane fields on fire at night. Sunday, we drove to nearby Gropers Creek where everything is built eight feet above the ground (above right) and that includes shops, telephone boxes. Even the garage is raised up to the same level beside some houses and has to have a ramp to get the car up away from the flood water "every year or two".
Wednesday 30th June, from Monday night 28th June until Monday 5th June we spend a week looking back over Townsville. The picture (above left) is looking at the city from across Rowes Bay. The big hill is called Castle Hill and Townsville surrounds it (more or less). The port and marina can be seen in the picture (above right) taken from the top of Castle Hill. The V8 supercars will be here next week and the population is going to explode.
This picture (left) is NOT a picnic day for the local aged care home... it is the caravan park's Wednesday night "Greet & Meet". It features free hamburgers and a camp fire - however, the rules state that everybody must talk to a stranger and spend 10 minutes talking to them about "anything interesting that has happened at any caravan park during their travels". This has the potential to be exciting but the rules do not exclude medical stories - and hell that's a big subject with this lot.
Connie and I pretended to be strangers - and I invited her back to my caravan - didn't that cause some gossip!
Just up the road from Townsville (about 50km) is a place called Balgal Beach. Just after turning off the main road - to go to Bangal Beach we passed through a pineapple plantation and an antenna farm. There's a house just behind the tree line (left). All three towers are at the same house. According to my Call Book, the antenna farm belongs to VK4FWH (W.J.Harvey). Looks pretty bloody impressive to me! Connie wasn't excited at all - why?
There is "night life" in Townsville (left) .. one street about 100 meters long. Al fresco dining consumes the entire street. The "oldies" are more likely to be seen strolling along "The Strand" (right). One side of The Strand is the beach - and the other side is a mixture of coffee shops, bars, holiday units and one high rise block of apartments which [in our opinion] stuffs the whole atmosphere of The Strand.
On our last day in Townsville, we strolled along The Strand once again and enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. This included chatting to a group of Americans? who were celebrating "Independence Day" (4th of July). I was totally confused by the Canadian flag spread on the ground!! but wasn't prepared to display my ignorance by asking ...
Lets go to Part 5 now..