Ingham to Cardwell

It was move on morning again, however it was only a very short run today of about 60 kms.  The morning dawned with fog that only lifted about 0730. Not quite as warm overnight but a pleasant 14 degrees that soon warmed up to 20 by about 0800.

I went for another bike ride and this time riding through the town onto the road to Forrest Beach. This took me past the Victoria Sugar Mill. As I was traveling at a slower pace, I took in the smells of the Mill and also saw more of the activities around the mill. There are literally hundreds of small gauge rail wagons loaded with sugar cane waiting to go in. There was a train moving wagons under the chute to commence loading raw sugar. I deviated onto the Halifax Road for a while and then returned back to the Caravan Park the same way.

After a shower it was only necessary to finally let the Karavan down as I had done most of the pack up before the shower. As we departed we said farewell to Kate and Craig, the owners of the Park. They are a very friendly couple.

We left the Park and drove the few kilometres into Ingham. Our first stop was again JK's Deli. We had the same order as yesterday. We obtained our lunch there as well. Karen, the owner, recognised me from last year as did Megan who works there. It ended in a lovely conversation with them. This is a must stop location in Ingham.

Then we drove onto Cardwell being amazed at the amount of road construction going on especially over the range. Several stoppages as we drove along due to road work. It will be wonderful in the next year or so.

Soon we were in Cardwell. Our overnight stop is at the Cardwell Village Beachcomber Motel and Tourist Park. They are most certainly open for business following the cyclone.

We walked along a small part of the beach front, near where we are staying, taking in the majestic view of  Hinchinbrook Island to the east. There are other much smaller islands away in the distance, such as Goold, Garden and  the Brook group of islands in the far distance. To the west of the town is the massive Cardwell Range.

Poor old Op shop!

It is apparent that the cyclone caused a lot of damage. Even this Caravan park has had to demolish a big lot of cabins and their motel has been damaged extensively. As we strolled along the foreshore, the damage was even more obvious by the tarped roofs on houses and buildings and also some sites have been levelled. Trees have been uprooted and sand blown quite along way from the beach but it all seems to be business as usual.

Later in the afternoon, our longtime friends, Robyn and my former  agronomist, Paul, arrived back from their fishing out near Hinchinbrook Island.  Just after they returned, Paul took me around and I met up with several people I had known a long time ago in the Gunnedah area. Later, we had lovely nibbles and drinks before having a barbeque with them.

Ingham Day1

Another easy morning as we did not have to move away today. 

After breakfast, I went for a bike ride around the perimeter, approximately, of the town of Ingham. It had rained briefly overnight but the morning was beautiful and sunny. It was nice to see the variety of dwellings and to discover businesses that are not readily visible to the average tourist. Some parts are probably not of tourist interest such as an earthmoving business. I was out for about an hour and managed to bring the heart rate up.

Following my shower, we drove into town. We went to JK's Deli’, in Lannercost Street, Ingham, that I had been to last year as I passed through. We were not disappointed with our cappuccinos and I had toast.

Then we drove in a westerly direction to visit the Wallaman Falls. As we drove through the cane fields we did notice some cyclone damage to some buildings and trees. The closer we  drove to the foot of the mountain the more we saw cyclone damage. So much damage to the plantation. Some trees were ripped out of the ground, some broken off up the trunk and others with the foliage ripped off and now some of it is regrowing.

We drove slowly up the winding mountain road noticing damage to the trees and also to the road. There is work occurring now on the road. Quite a number of people doing the road repairs and cleaning up the road verge.

Eventually we arrived at the spectacular Wallaman Falls. The car park was quite full up. We park next to an English couple that we spoke to on numerous occasions while we walked around looking at the Falls. They are spectacular Falls and nothing can easily change that although the trees up there were also damaged from the cyclone too.

After we finished walking and looking around the Falls it was time for lunch. We boiled up some water on the butane stove to enable us to have a cuppa’. We ate our sandwiches and had the cuppa’. 

Then it was the slow drive down the winding road back into Ingham. We diverted to the Caravan Park to collect our clothes from the line after washing.

So we moved off again but this time we went out to Forrest Beach, passing the very large Victoria Sugar Mill, where we had a quick look around. The Victoria Mill produces up to 25,000 tonnes of raw sugar each week most of which is exported overseas.

Our next village was Halifax which appears to be a service village, or was in the past. Quite a few homes and a few shops there. 

Next it was to Lucinda where the longest sugar conveyor platform is located. It runs for some kilometres out to sea to avoid the shallow waters. A ship of up to 40,000 tonnes can be loaded from this terminal. It is built to withstand cyclones as it has done numerous times since it was commissioned.

Then back to the Palm Tree Caravan Park for a feed of fresh prawns and fish for dinner. Before dinner we had a lovely chat with the owner, Craig. As I have mentioned before, this is a very friendly and clean caravan park.

Townsville to Ingham

This morning we bade farewell to Townsville. How we will miss the sound of traffic, trains, cars/trucks and most of all the RAAF Super Hornets. It was not that bad but fairly constant particularly the land based vehicles.

We packed up quite quickly and then we made our way to the Caltex-Woolworths fuel outlet at Deeragun on the Bruce Highway. We refueled at about 141.9 cents per litre.  The Mazda is still producing good figures even at slightly higher road speed.

After rejoining the Bruce Highway we traveled for about 3/4 of an hour to the Frost Mango. I had stopped here last year and knew what was available. However, the cappuccinos left a fair bit to be desired but not the worst. We had some toast with mango jam. Before we left we bought several containers of mango ice cream.

There was only a short distance to Ingham left. As we moved closer we noticed a lot of damage to the trees and some houses that are undoubtedly a legacy of Cyclone Yasi.  Big trees destroyed and knocked over and still some buildings covered by tarpaulins. I suspect we will see worse over the next few days as we move more into the centre of the cyclone impact area.

Soon we arrived at the Palm Tree Caravan Park. It was nice to be recognised and again made welcome by Craig, Kate and their son Sam. They are probably the friendliest park owners we have come across. They were into farming in the Clermont area, near Emerald, so that may be why.

We then set up and had our lunch. After lunch a quick trip into the town to get a few items.

Then we settled down to watch the Wallabies lose their first international Rugby game for the year to Samoa. It can only get better however Samoa is a very good team.

Townsville Day 3

Another easy day today.

We set off fairly late into the Strand by way of the Airport road. We used a few different streets to take in the variety of homes in the area.

Eventually, we parked the Mazda and walked a short distance to a very popular Cafe Bambini. We went to the same cafe yesterday. We had our cappuccino and toast as well as a read of some of the papers provided by the Cafe. Catching up on the junk news!

After leaving the cafe, we went into Bi Lo to obtain some groceries to replenish some lacking in the Karavan. All the cool items went into the car fridge.

Our next stop was the N.Q IMAX Dome Theatre where we watched "Under the Sea". This was amazing like something we have never seen before. Sitting in the middle of the theatre you can't see the edges so you feel as if you are in the action. The seats were tilted back to about 25 degrees so as to get the maximum vision.

Then we did a walk along the street stopping and reading the historical plates attached to some of the buildings. It is apparently the night club area of Townsville as most of the venue were not open until later in the day.

So it was back to the Karavan for a very late lunch and a relaxing afternoon. Tomorrow we move on to Ingham for a couple of days.

Townsville Day 2

Another laid back start to the day. Chatting to Ian, from Murwillumbah, who had been parked beside us. He was leaving for the north. Possibly we may catch up with him somewhere later on.

When we left the Coral Coast Caravan Park, we traveled on the Ingham Road until we turned left onto the Airport Road. We cruised along not really worrying too much about the direct track with the result we saw some of the residential areas.

Rowes Bay looking to Castle Hill

Our next major turn was to the left onto Rowes Bay. The nice quiet road took us past the Townsville Police Academy. The road took us along the coastal dunes to the village of Palarenda which is on the northern end of the Bay. It is a residential area. The dunes have been damaged and now being repaired as a result of the Cyclone Yasi earlier in the year. No doubt we will see a lot more as we go further north.

The return journey was back along the coast right around to the Strand again. We stopped at the Surf Club and walked around the swimming pool that obviously takes in sea water. It also appears to have sustained some damage from the cyclone, too. It is all working but some areas are fenced off.

We moved on and then drove up the very steep and winding road to Castle Hill Lookout. A large number of people were either walking/running/cycling up or down. It is a 2.9 km climb and would be a very hard ride let alone run.

Looking over RAAF Base

When we arrived at the top, the car park was very full so parking was at a premium. The view is 360 degrees although not in one spot. The first walk was so we could look over the RAAF Base/City Airport. A military exercise is taking place in the north so there were numerous movements of fighter aircraft and helicopters along with numerous civilian services. It is a very busy airport.

Looking towards the Army Lavarack Barracks in the background

Townsville CBD and Port

Rowes Bay and Magnetic Island

The views from Castle Hill are very interesting as there are 3 areas overlooking the eastern part of Townsville while the  reminder covers the rest of the city and suburbs. One highlight is a complete view of Magnetic Island with the constant movement of varying sizes of barges to and from the mainland to the Island. While there we saw a large ship entering the channel with 2 tugs moving out to meet it. Prior to that we noticed some very large barges moving out.

After the Lookout we went down near the Strand to have morning tea of cappuccino and toast. A very busy alfresco cafe with good service and goods. We spent about half an hour there.

After leaving the Strand we partially backtracked to the Caravan Park to get some information. Then we drove out to the Bushland Beach. We were amazed at the number of homes and development out there. We drove past Baf and Sharon's beautiful home set among many others. In that area, the homes have incredible views of Magnetic Island roughly to the east as well as wonderful views to the west.

That area had an airfield on it during the Second World War. Quite a few buildings in Townsville were taken over during the War by American Military as were airfields that were quickly constructed.

Then we returned by a new link road to the city. There is so much area available for development. This area is apparently growing very fast.

The rest of the late afternoon was taken up with relaxing and chatting to fellow travelers.

Townsville Day 1

This morning we awoke to a nice morning of around 18 degrees. At last we are into warmer conditions such as sleeping with windows open and only a sheet over us. Prue did some washing early.

About 0900 we drove into the Townsville CBD and located a free parking area just to the south. I remembered where it was from last year.

We crossed over the Victoria Bridge to the CBD. There is a lot of work happening at the end of the bridge. It is all pedestrian friendly with no vehicles at all. It is a bit messy with all this work. Last year it was the Mall being done and I must say it is beautiful.

Old Railway Station

Great Northern Hotel

Our morning coffee was at the Verandah Cafe. My cappuccino was among one of the best since leaving In the Pink at Lennox Head. Prue had some poached eggs and I had fruit toast.

After our morning tea, we set off and located the Tourist Information centre where we picked up a few items. Our collection included the 3 walking tours around the CBD and the southern side of Ross Creek.

Our decision was to walk the Civic Trail which covers the CBD. There are some lovely older buildings with discs on each of the buildings numbered in the pamphlet. A lot of the cities history emanated from within some of these buildings and most likely the 2 old hotels on the western end of the CBD. They are very close to the original railway station. No train movements are in the CBD anymore.

Port Townsville

On our way around, we noticed quite a number of vacant shops. Like many towns and cities, the old original CBD has died off due to the growth of suburban shopping centres, like Stockland, Centro and Westfield. Some of these shops are now becoming offices for professional services like law firms, banks, development businesses and so on. So the old CBD is becoming the professional centre of some of these communities.

The Strand

Magnetic Island in the background

After wandering around the CBD, we returned to the Mazda and then drove through the eastern part of the CBD which seems to house quite a few eateries and club venues. We continued to the Strand which is on the foreshore with lovely views across to Magnetic Island and to the Port of Townsville.

Following our 'cruise' along the Strand, we then crossed over Ross Creek again. As we joined onto the main road, it is very apparent that the Townsville 400, motoring racing, venue is being returned to its normal function. The pit area and stands are still all standing as are the massive black tyre marks from the race cars.

The next stop was the large shopping centre, Castletown. Some groceries were purchased and then we dropped into Baf and Sharon's "White Poppy" shop and chatted with Sharon for a while. Then it was back to the Coral Coast Caravan Park for a late lunch and a bit of relaxing.

Airlie Beach to Townsville

It was on the road again. So a reasonably early pack up and on the move.

First stop was the Post Office looking for a small parcel . No luck, so it will go to "Return to Sender".

So our track took us along the Proserpine road for a short way and then we turned onto the Bowen road. We traveled along this road until we rejoined the Bruce Highway.

Our travel along the Bruce Highway took us through a variety of landscape to Bowen. It started with sugar cane then cattle grazing, followed by irrigated salad type crops such as capsicum and tomatoes, etc.

In Bowen we looked around the foreshore and the Information centre. It is adjacent to the pier which goes back for a long time. The pier was originally used for coal loading until the new and more efficient loader ay Abbott Point was commissioned. All we saw tied up were two ocean going tug boats. This area was also used to represent the city of Darwin in the movie "Australia".

Tugs moored in Bowen Harbour

Bowen Harbour

Looking across to Gloucester Island near Hydeaway Bay

One of Bowen's beaches

Then we drove up to Flagstaff Point lookout. It is run very well by the local aborigine members. It has a fantastic view especially of the islands to the east and to the mainland on that side. This was looking over towards the resorts around Hydeaway Bay that I visited 2 days ago. While here, Prue received a phone call from her walking friend, Vicky. Vicky and Phil were in Townsville and wanted to catch up. This is as a result of following our movements on this blog. The second couple to locate us due to either the blog or Facebook entries!

On the way to Townsville.

Our journey resumed with us moving onto Ayr. We parked here and had some lunch. It is obviously a service town to the surrounding area.

Finally, we returned the Bruce Highway and we were on our way towards Townsville. Soon we were in the city suburbs and making our way towards the Coral Coast Caravan Park. As we completed our booking in details, Phil and Vicky arrived.

We set up the Karavan watched by Phil and Vicky and then we could have a brief chat before they had to move onto Bowen.

The Coral Coast Caravan Park had a 'Meet and Greet' evening along with hamburgers provided. To entertain us, there was a fellow singing a variety of songs along withe the manager telling a few good jokes. It was a chance to meet a few new faces.