Chapter 6 - Townsville

Day 35 – Tuesday 9 July - Yeppoon to Bloomsbury - 450 km

It was time to head north for a week or so - to Townsville. We drove out of the Capricorn Palms Holiday Park around 8:15 and reached the Bruce Highway around 40 minutes later. The day was sunny and clear.

Marlborough was our spot for morning tea - as has happened a few times before. Just after noon we stopped at Ilbilbie and made a corn beef sandwich.

By now we were into sugarcane country and clouds had appeared.

Sugarcane & Clouds

By 1:30 pm we were in Mackay picking up a wheelchair (long story, more later) and diesel. Our sights were set on Jolimont Caravan Park around 40 km further north. It was soon established that Jolimont Caravan Park was dilapidated and very wet. We kept going.

Around 450 km into our trip we pulled into the carpark beside the Bloomsbury BP service station, with numerous other travellers. As we were having a coffee a goods train went by. Not really happy about that.

Our camp at Bloomsbury

A walk was in order, so off to the service station we went - for an ice-cream. The Bloomsbury BP service station also has a well-stocked supermarket, a bottle shop, fresh meat, fast food, garden supplies, rural supplies, fresh flowers, fresh fruit and Veggies, plumbing supplies and heaps of other stuff. It is amazing.

Hawkeye Shirley spotted a couple of pretty-well camouflaged Curlews.

Camouflaged Curlew

We relaxed and pretended that we could not hear the traffic. A second goods train trundled past.

A third goods train went past as Shirley cooked chicken schnitzels and veggies. Two more trains were heard over night.

Day 36 – Wednesday 10 July - Bloomsbury to Townsville - 294 km

Maybe it was Karma, maybe bad luck, or just poor judgement. However if you camp overnight in a parking area frequented by big trucks, maybe be prepared for a 'truckie' who needs to provide power to a refrigerated van (while he/she sleeps) or a recalcitrant traveller who (for some reason) needs to run a generator overnight.

Proserpine Vanilla slice

Whatever the reason Shirley and I both had sleepless nights, such that I was dressed by 6:20 am and had the kettle on soon after. Fried egg on toast was just after that. The monotonous rumble of some form of generator caused us to be on the road by 7:30 am.

It was some relief a while later as Shirley came out of the Proserpine Bakery with some magnificent morning tea, as in a vanilla slice and a lamington.

Not long after that we arrived at Bowen - a tomato area. Although we had to do a U turn we scored a superb 1.5 kg bag of Roma tomatoes for $5.

Bowen Roma Tomatoes

We crossed the Burdekin bridge and set sail for Townsville, arriving at the discovery Park around 11:30 am.

The Burdekin Bridge - always worth a photo

Camp was established - in 26-degree heat - then lunch, then some shopping (excellent Mission Beach bananas for $3 per kg), then some relaxation.

I drew the short straw and cooked some bolognaise sauce for dinner. It was pretty good. It was 21 degrees at 8 pm. My book and bed beckoned.

Day 37 – Thursday 11 July - Townsville

It was a quiet night and great for sleeping - a huge contrast to the previous night. It was 17 degrees at 7 am as I headed to the shower. Shirley slept on.

We relaxed, then relaxed, then went for a drive. The navigator suggested that we drive up 'Castle Hill Lookout', so we did. The views were impressive.

View 1 from Castle Hill to the Northeast, Magnetic Island in the background

View 2 from Castle Hill to the East

View 3 from Castle Hill, looking south 

We then headed to The Strand and walked along beside the beaches.

Above - The pool beside the beach
Below - Maybe a tropical setting?

It was time for lunch and more relaxation so back to camp we went. Not much happened until a guy wandered in and asked for a corkscrew to remove the cork from a lovely bottle of USA red. It was an excellent drop, a Zinfandel grape.

Dinner was BBQ pork chops, again excellent.

Day 38 – Friday 12 July - Townsville

Despite the hive of activity around the park, we were both able to have a sleep in and I did not get to the shower until nearly 8 am.

I placed a couple of our Bowen tomatoes on the BBQ and sliced some sourdough bread. They ended up being well cooked as another park resident arrived and wanted to know all about the towing capacity of our Isuzu. She and her husband are on the land near Wagga and are about to retire from the farm.

Tomatoes on sourdough toast, with great coffee, is a good way to start the day.

After a couple of jobs, some exercises, and a coffee we headed up the very winding road to Mt Stuart Lookout (584 metres above sea level), where we were able to see the majority of Townsville to the east. There was a huge tower with workers doing a cleaning and painting job (not my preferred idea of a job).

Above - Townsville to the east of Mt Stuart Lookout
Below - A workman with a paint roller a long way from terra firma

It was then time for 'street art' which seemed to be situated in a part of Townsville that is dominated by lanes and one-way streets. The following is a few photos of what we saw. As you would expect, each of these commissioned paintings has some deep and meaningful background to it. 

Next stop was "Ingham's Seafood" for something for dinner. Maybe a bit of crustacean to go with the Red Throat Emperor.

Our Tiger Prawns, a couple going with the Red Throat Emperor on the BBQ

The Red Throat Emperor, with a couple of prawns and chips, made a superb dinner. 

Around 8 pm we headed out to the airport to pick up (daughter) Jodi and (grandson) Jack. Jack is here for the university Open Day tomorrow. As they were staying in a room near our caravan we settled outside our caravan, then ate (prawns, crisps, cheese), drank and talked. As the noise got louder near 10 pm we called it a day.

Day 39 – Saturday 13 July - JCU & Townsville

Another day in paradise started overcast and humid. The clouds soon dissipated.

I had an early shower and cooked myself some bacon and eggs. Around 8:30 am I served three generations of the family bacon and eggs (for two) and pancakes (for one).

Jodi, Jack and Shirley enjoying breakfast in the Townsville sunshine

Soon after Jodi, Jack and I headed off to the Open Day at James Cook university. Over the next four hours I wheeled Jodi about 6 km around the university, Jack helped a bit - but he was in research mode.

We headed back to camp, picked up Shirley and took the visitors on a "Cook's" tour of Townsville - the beach being the main focus.

Fish and chips for dinner - a fine piece of mackerel.

We dropped the visitors at the airport at 7:20, went home, and crashed.

Day 40 – Sunday 14 July - Townsville to Mackay - 390 km

Our reason for being in Townsville had come to a satisfactory end so we turned around and headed south, along the same path that we travelled a few days ago. We were both up early and departed our camp round 7:40 am. We had 1114 km to travel in three days.

We bypassed the market in Bowen in favour of our preferred Bakery in Proserpine. Our disappointment was extreme when we realised that the Proserpine Bakery is closed on the Sabbath. No 'Ned Kelly' pie. No vanilla slice.

Lunch was a sandwich at Bloomsbury - the site of a sleepless night last Tuesday.

Camp was established in Mackay soon after 1:30. Although we had a slight head wind all day it was pretty good driving conditions.

View from our caravan at North Mackay

To me, water means birds, and I was right. The closer to sunset it got, the more birds were posing for photos. The following is a selection...........

Above: Magpie Lark & (dancing) Willy Wagtail
Below: Maybe White Breasted Robins
Bottom: Pied Cormorant (sitting) & Eastern Great Egret (in flight)

There were also plenty of Ibis and various ducks in and on the water. Soon after the above photos the sun set, and it was time to move inside away from the mozzies. Dinner was a burger and veggies, followed by a fruit salad that was dominated by tropical fruit.

Day 41 – Monday 15 July – Mackay to Calliope – 448 km

Transit day two (of three) started casually with a departure of 8:15 am. We dropped the wheelchair off at 8:30  and headed south.

We bypassed Sarina and stopped somewhere for a cuppa out of the thermos, around 9:45 am. Lunch was a rice cake (or two) in a park at Carmilla. Onwards we pressed.

Civilization came in the form of a Rockhampton shopping complex where ‘Jamaica Blue’ provided a superb coffee and a blueberry muffin.

Our camp around 3:15 pm was at the (north) Calliope free camp – an excellent spot off the road. We went for a walk to an over the ‘Old Bruce Highway’ bridge and counted around 75 caravans and motor-homes. As the sun dropped it was time to head indoors and check the photos and discuss today.

Shirley had pre-prepared curried sausages and rice.

Above - White Faced Heron

Below -  ‘Old Bruce Highway’ Bridge across the Calliope River

Day 42 – Tuesday 16 July – Calliope to Hervey Bay – 294 km

It was 6 degrees outside and 8 degrees inside the caravan, as I turned on the diesel heater at 5:30 am. By the time I ventured outside for a sunrise photo, at 6:40 am, it was 6 degrees outside and 15 degrees inside. Shirley slept on, or pretended to.

‘Old Bruce Highway’ Bridge across the Calliope River - at Sunrise

We departed around 7:50 am. It was not long before we found the 'donut man' and purchased some fresh jam donuts - and coffee. It seemed to be a short time later that we pulled up in front of one of our favourite (and we have many) bakeries in "Gin Gin". It was too early for a pie (on top of donuts) so we bought lunch early (to eat later).

We had a walk around Childers and then set sail on the last leg of the drive from Townsville. We had a long stop at a road work project, where I counted 175 vehicles waiting for their turn to cross the same bit of road from the opposite direction.

We established camp in Hervey Bay around 1:30 pm. It was a slow setup as the driver was pretty weary.

Ray and Gill arrived some time later with some raw prawns and whiting fillets. The whiting became dinner.

This chapter is now complete - apart from a couple of later edits.

At the time of arrival in Hervey Bay our average spend was $34 per day on diesel and $41 per day on accommodation. One is about to decrease, the other will increase.

Tomorrow we start the Hervey Bay chapter.
Last updated at 7:30 pm on Tuesday 16 July 2024

Jump to the Next Chapter 

Jump to the Previous Chapter

Open the Table of Contents