Townsville Tuesday 8th June

We drove into Townsville to do some of the various Heritage Trails that have been set up around the city.

Parking along the Strand we walked down to the Flinders Mall area and was confronted with the whole place being ripped up. It was very hard to appreciate the city buildings as they were mostly obscured by safety fences and hoardings. They are in the process of removing the mall and putting back the two way road (for slow moving traffic) to try and bring back some life into the area with the wide pavements and street landscaping.
On the other Heritage Trails we did see some great Art Deco and Heritage buildings which have been well preserved and put to good use.

We walked over to the Marina and checked out the Museum of Tropical Queensland however having been into it last year we instead decided to drive the length of the Strand to Kissing Point.

 Great beaches along the way and with the enclosed swimming area at the end of the Strand there were plenty of places to swim and relax by the water.
To finish off our days activities we headed for Castle Hill.

Castle Hill is a pink granite monolith standing in the heart of the north Queensland city of Townsville. It rises to a height of some 286 metres above sea level and dominates the city skyline.


We drove up to the top and then walked out to a few of the viewing platforms which provided us with some of the greatest views of the city and surrounding areas.

This climb to the top and back is one of Townsville greatest recreational activities. Hordes of people were either running or walking to the top and back down again. The idea appealed to me but I couldn't get Beatrice interested, anyhow it was getting late and we didn't have our running gear with us.(Also it was time for our evening drinks etc back home)
  With that we decided to call it a day and slowly made our way back down the narrow twisting road ensuring that we kept well clear of the runners and walkers on the sides of the road.

Monday Leaving Blacks Beach for Townsville.

Having been up early we were able to pull out of Blacks Beach at 8.15am. It was another beautiful day with a clear blue sky.

Having driven this road last year we were interested to see what or if there had been any changes made along the way. We found the Bruce Highway was still the same with no major upgrades and most of it still being just two way traffic with very few over taking lanes.
From the Mackay region it was mostly cane fields and with the cutting season just about starting from now until November there were warning signs about giving way to the cane trains that cross the road. With the only indication being lights and bells you had to keep aware of what was happening.

We stopped off for our coffee outside the information centre and the Big Mango on the outskirts of Bowen.
Stopping off for lunch after another couple of hours we continued on to Townsville having checked out somewhere to stay and phoning ahead to confirm that they had a space for us for a few days.
By the time we had set up we felt quite exhausted so before dinner we walked around the caravan park to get our bearings and then read our books and planned what we would do for the next few days.
However we found that our quiet evening was not to be as the caravan park was situated right by the                                            
                                                       RAAF BASE TOWNSVILLE

 RAAF Base and it appeared that they were having night flying practice and those big Black Hawk helicopters make an awful lot of noise especially when they criss cross the night sky right over your head. I 'm pleased to say however that it did all finish just after 10pm so they did have some consideration for the townsfolk. Thankfully the commercial airport flights came in over the sea so they didn't trouble us. We did though have the railway line within earshot and with the train horns and whistles it all added to the noise of the place.

Mackay Saturday-Sunday

Saturday
Birthday Girl Beatrice opened up her cards and her beautiful island bracelet from me.

It was once again a beautiful day so we drove into town to do the Heritage Walk.A listing of 22 Art Deco and historic building around the streets of Mackay.The Walk took a couple of hours under a clear blue sky and around 25 deg. Very pleasant


Sugar was the dominant industry in Mackay in its earlier days, however more recently the hinterland coal mining developments and the tourism have been added to drive the success of this region.
Had Beatrice's Birthday dinner

at the Eimeo Pacific Hotel overlooking the ocean.

Sunday- Walked the beach, visited the orchid pavilion and read our books.

Mackay

Friday 4th June

We drove into Mackay and visited the new Art Gallery and walked around the town.
Drove out to the Marina for our fish and chips lunch and returned to Blacks Beach to sit on the grass overlooking the ocean to read our books and have a quiet afternoon.

Leaving Rockhampton for Mackay

We awoke to rain.We debated as to whether we would stay another day, as we hate having to pack up when its   wet. However the gods were kind to us and by 7.30 the sun came out and it wasn't long before everything was quite dry. We have it all down to a fine art now and having had our breakfast and showers we pulled out at 9.15.
Tom Tom read out was 320 kms and indicated we should arrive by about 2pm without any stops factored in.
               As we had to drive some distances where there very few places to stop for fuel we stopped at the BP Marlborough just after 10 am.to fill up. It had now started to rain which meant that we just had to pull over around 11 am for our coffee stop which we had made before we left this morning along with our lunch.Having to stay in the car I was unable to stretch my legs which is something I like to do every few hours on a long drive. As we continued on the sun came out and the blue sky appeared. Lunch was at a truck stop under the shade of some trees.
The 300 stretch of road was mainly through cane fields and some cattle grazing areas, the only real excitement was when we were confronted by a police car coming at us on our side of the road with its headlights full on and its lights flashing.As I slowed up I had to move over to the grass edge whilst he came alongside me and stopped. By this time other traffic behind me was also pulling over to the side as we could now see what it was all about.

The policeman explained that we should pull over more as coming our way was a truck carry a very wide load that took most of the road up. As it passed we could see it was some kind of generator which had we been travelling along normally would have wiped us off the road. The two or three police cars were continuing travelling ahead of it clearing the way.
The journey on through Sarina to Mackay the( sugar capital of Australia )we decided to go up to the northern beaches and stay at Blacks Beach where we stayed when we passed through this way last year. Its  right on the beach and only a 15 minutes drive out of Mackay.

Rockhampton 2nd June

After breakfast and another beautiful day we decided to visit the Archer Park Rail Museum  where they say you can " Step back in time to an era when steam trains reigned ".

Arriving early we found ourselves to be the only visitors, what a bonus was that as we were given a personal guided tour by Bill, an ex Station Master who joined QR in 1946 and went on to make 48 years of service. Having now been retired for 20 years Bill along with Blair were still enjoying the thrill of the railways as volunteers at the museum. Between them they had us fascinated with all their stories.Bill told us that' carriage 1007' that was in the museum and was currently under refurbishment was one of the carriages that he served on when he first joined the railways as a boy.
Archer Park was originally opened in on the 11th December 1899 and was closed as a railway station in 1970 and is now heritage listed. Another one of the main attractions is the Purrey Steam Train which was built in Bordeaux France of which Rockhampton had 9 of.

Coffee was served in the  refreshment room along with jam and scones. By this time we had been joined by two other couples who were being entertained by our hosts Bill and Blair.

Beatrice helping out as a porter.

It w.as time for lunch so we made our way back to our home. It still being such a beautiful day we thought we should have a look at the Botanical Gardens and Zoo that everyone said we shouldn't miss. Here we enjoyed a couple of hours strolling amongst the vast gardens, fern houses ,the zoo with its aviaries and a few other exotic animals.

With that we decided to call it a day but not before calling in at the supermarket to pick up a few supplies before heading off for Mackay tomorrow morning.

Rockhampton 1st June 2010

Despite being sandwiched between the Bruce highway and the railway we both slept very well,  though we did have to throw on another blanket to keep us warm. Blue skies and a brilliant sun rise we knew we were in for another beautiful day.
Breakfast outside and then into the car for a drive out to Yeppoon on the coast about 40 kms from Rockie.
Having visited there some years ago we were keen to see how things had changed and changed they had, with many new road upgrades, roundabouts and many more tourist places to stay with upmarket hotels, motels and of course the caravans parks.

We stopped off opposite Yeppoon Main Beach and enjoyed the view of the Keppel Bay Islands just off the coast whilst having our morning coffee. These 15 Islands are registered as National Park and are surrounded by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park .We could imagine how busy it must be here in the height of the summer holidays.


We continued on for seven kms heading south of Yeppoon on the scenic highway to Rosslyn Bay which is the departure point for transfers to Great Keppell Island and the cruising and bare boat charters around the Bay.Here is also the largest Marina in Northern Queensland. Nearby was Double Head one of the many ancient volcanic plugs in this region. There was a bush walk to the summit which we decided against in favour of buying a bag of freshly cooked prawns for our lunch.

We continued our drive on to Emu Park to visit the Singing Ship, built in honour of Captain Cook commemorating his visit to the region in 1770.

Buying a freshly baked baguette we sat in the park and ate our prawns.


The Capricorn Coast and Islands is well worth a visit

www.capricornholidays.com.au

On through Emu Park we headed back to the historic part of Rockhampton  and a walk down East Street. It was interesting to read all the plaques on the current facades depicting the history of the shops and businesses that once traded at that location. It was also great to see that many of the historic buildings were being refurbished and put to new uses as art centres, conference centres etc.                                                                          
                                                                  

Walking down by the Fitzroy River  we had a beer at the Criterion Hotel which boasts as being the first pub in Rockhampton.




Back to the Caravan Park we had a rest and then changed to go out to one of the most well known pubs for its steaks.The Great Western Hotel. This hotel has quite a history however more recently in (2000) a covered rodeo area was built adjoining the hotel and is used for Ute shows,rodeo,stud sales,weddings and wood chops just to name a few.

On Friday nights it features bull riding in the evenings and training sessions were offered to those who would like to participate. Beatrice tried to put my name down for it, however I had to disappoint her as we were scheduled to leave on Thursday.