Can you believe it, we’ve been on the road for 11 weeks, almost 3 months now and it’s been fun, I’m learning something new every day and even more about myself – I think I am starting to wind down from work and trying to relax more – for us Townsville has been more of a restful place, we’ve had haircuts, I’ve cleaned cupboards and sorted stuff out, Mr C did a few minor repairs with no nagging – all is good in the Costin’s world. It has rained a few days but on the whole it’s been good weather, but still humid for me.

It felt like we had been in Cairns far longer than three weeks – our packing up went well, and we watched the video twice about getting the awning down – we must be slow learners, but we did it without any arguments. The drive to Townsville was interesting, there was not much traffic on the road, and I had to get use to towing the caravan again.

Our first stop was a small town called Tully a quaint place; it has the highest rainfall in Australia. They have this large yellow gumboot that stands 7.8 meters tall – this represents the highest rainfall. I climbed the boot from the inside, and they have photos to represent all the floods they have had, it was a great read – I didn’t take photos as I thought it would spoil the surprise for people who want to go to Tully and climb the boot. As I was walking all the shops were closed, I stopped and asked someone, it was a public holiday, and we didn’t know…….different states different holidays.

We passed acres and acres of plantations, mangos, banana and sugar – it was funny to see banana trees with plastic bags attached, Mr C said they are to stop the birds, I haven’t had time to fact check him. We stopped to see the Australian Sugar Heritage Centre, an interesting place giving a good history – Queensland seems to have had checkered past in relation to paying low wages & poor treatment for coloured labourers (South Sea Islanders, Blacks, Asians) through the 1800s and 90s. It was also during this time there was great debate surrounding discrimination, equality and human rights – also these people were considered ‘undesirable’ migrants, I must say I was surprised to read this, and also adds to the all-White Australia policy – entrenched racism, it kind of explains some Qld political views. What a back breaking job it would have been to harvest the cane back in the day, now it seems more automated. It has been interesting seeing the cane being transported via train – it must be a major industry here in Qld providing work for thousands of people and income for the state.

We had lunch at Innisvale only a pitstop as we had previously been through this lovely little town- subway quick, easy and somewhat healthy.

We went to Mission beach (without the caravan) for the day when we were based in Cairns. It was a great day out. I was so pleased we didn’t take the van as it was a very narrow winding road – we kept looking for Cassowaries, but sadly did not see any. I had a nice long walk along the beach, contemplated a swim because Surf Living Saving present. On the way back going through the town of Innisvale we spotted and interesting old church that was in need of repair, with a very long unusual name (yes it was Catholic, see picture below). We also took a detour to Etty Bay south of Innisvale looking for the elusive Cassowary and all I saw was the sign saying, “Be CassoWary”. The drive was beautiful, and Etty Bay was peaceful and alluring, even Mr C managed to dip his feet in the ocean…. a rarity for him. A few days after we visited Mission beach a crocodile was spotted there – lucky escape for me!

We stayed two nights in Ingham {which for some reason is also confused with Hinchinbrook} – behind the Tourist Information Centre, cost $15 a night, you have to be fully self-contained and no wasting grey water on the ground. I was so pleased with myself; I reversed the van without too much bother – getting better at this. There is a beautiful wetland next to us – with purple flowering lilies and all different kinds of birds – the tourist information centre had mini bird guides of which I bought one for $6 and its great; Mr C has used it already – can’t believe we are turning into bird watchers and it’s a fun thing we do together. It was now late afternoon so not much time for sightseeing. That evening, we researched Hinchinbrook Island and decided against going across – it’s mainly walking trails and I didn’t fancy doing them alone so gave it a miss – we thought we would do Magnetic Island instead.

The tourist centre person gave me a map of the Tyto wetlands and pointed out all the areas that crocodiles have recently been spotted – George lives here, Lucy is here – I looked and said, “where shall I walk” – she pointed out three areas not to go on the map….. all set – I get on my bike to ride around, tell Mr C if I’m not back by dark, he better come looking. As I’m riding, I can’t tell which part of the map is what, so I just rode. The path was grassed, and the water is about 5′ from the path so as I’m cycling, I am thinking that pretty close, what if there is a croc… I’ll just pedal faster. I met a French couple walking and we all stopped near a sign that said – crocodile seen in the last 7 days here – I was a bit nervous, they laughed and carried on walking – I continued to ride and stopped to watch the birds and take photos – I must have been gone about an hour and I was now worried I would get lost, so turned around and cycled the same way – this way I knew I would get back before dark – thankfully I didn’t see George or Lucy. Sometimes it is hard to know how real the crocodile problem is in Qld, because I would think they wouldn’t let people in the wetlands.

We went into town for breakfast at a local cafe and then set off to Wallaman Falls, which are part of the traditional lands of the Warrgamaygan people. The Falls is located within the UNESCO listed Wet Tropics in Girringun National Park, west of Ingham and surrounded by rainforest. The Wallaman Falls plunges 268 meters in a clear single drop it is just spectacular – surprisingly there are no entrance fees to this park. The day was cloudy, looked miserable and at one point it was pissing with rain, I said to Mr C, “I think we should turn back” – but the optimist Mr C said, “let’s just see where that rain goes”, and we continued. We happened across some Brahaman Cows, funny looking cows, these were very healthy-looking cows – there were Mama cows with their calves all very cute – we happened across a mama and calf, it looked like the calf was not very old, I could still see some dried cord attached to the naval – I said to Mr C, “do cows have an umbilical cord, he asked why?- me, “I see some cord attached to the naval” – I then googled it – good ol google and said to Mr C, yes, they do…… Mr C, “nothing goes past a midwife” ain’t that the truth – I might know nothing about cows – but birthing “YES”.

The road was steep, winding and a little scary at times, what’s new! Mr C did the driving. I offered to drive down the mountain and Mr C said “why”, for the experience, I said, knowing full well he just enjoys the thrill of the drive, so why would I spoil his fun – besides, I was just shit stirring, I know he enjoys driving – this was one of those times, you just let the man do the driving – we all know they think they do it best.

The weather had somewhat cleared – as we walked to the lookout, which was thankfully not far, we could hear water gushing – we looked across to see a spectacular single waterfall, thundering to the bottom, it was truly spectacular, and we both went ‘wow’ & ‘wow’. Now you could also do a walk to the bottom of the falls – it was marked as ‘very hard’, ‘very steep’ and the warning read – people have died – needless to say we or I decided against this walk – part of me thought – go for it – however my legs, hips and knees all screamed at me “you stupid fool, we are not doing it, go without us” I was left with no choice but to do the small 2km walk and I was grateful my body did protest. I met several people on the way back from the very steep, very hard walk and they all said it was worth it but couldn’t swim in the water because the rocks were too slippery.

Townsville is a coastal city, and the largest city in the North of Queensland, it’s a bustling city with all the shops I’d expect to see. I had to call into Spotlight and Officeworks just to check out that they are the same as other stores, no surprises they are the same. I do think that Townsville is a very spread-out city. The Strand esplanade with the pier and waterpark is great – and offshore you can see Magnetic Island. The Botanical gardens are worth a visit as is Castle Hill lookout, you can see this hill overlooking Townsville, rather strange really – it’s just short of a mountain and you get a great panoramic view of the city.

We went for the day to Magnetic Island; we did a cheapskate version of the Island. There is an advantage to having a senior’s card – the discount was worthwhile it cost us $43.00 return for two of us, we then caught the local bus that takes you to end of the island at $4.40 return ($8.80) – we had looked at doing tours around the Island at $80 each – this way was really economical (and we could save our money for (Whitsunday Is ). I like travelling by the local bus as it takes you through the suburbs and you get to see how the locals live. We first went to Picnic Bay, it was a delightful bay, a bit cloudy and the sea was a bit rough to rough for snorkelling, I walked along the jetty and then we went and sat in the pub and waited for the bus. The next stop was Horseshoe Bay – this was a bigger bay and the weather had improved – I went for snorkel however the water was murky and I couldn’t see anything, so gave it up and just went for a swim – the water was warm, and I swam between the flags, good the lifesavers were on duty and the stinger nets were insitu – so it was a good swim.

Townsville has been a great place, we have done some tourist stuff, but most importantly we have slept in when the birds have not woken us up early. We’ve played monopoly in the evening (I don’t know why I agreed to play this game as I really dislike it) until I spit the dummy because Mr C plays by different rules, needless to so say we will be sticking to Quirkle, seven seconds and dominos from here on in.

I’ve been pestered by the dreaded mosquito and been bitten alive, I was so desperate I put on so much repellent that when I went to bed, Mr C complained that I stank of citronella, we both laughed – Not sure why the mosquitoes are so bad here – they don’t affect him, he doesn’t have sweet blood like me – I have tried so many solutions, automatic spray, light zapper, talking to them, nothing has worked – I remain the tortured one – covered in Mozie welts and calamine lotion.

We talk to the family regularly and try to catch up with the grandchildren on FaceTime or messenger – I’m really missing home and Kookie – thank goodness for technology at least we can see and talk to family at home. How could I forget, we VOTED early in the referendum – our votes will cancel each other out as we are opposite when it comes to politics, we never discuss it otherwise it turns into an argument; I’m doubtful the YES campaign will win, but hopeful at the same time, that’s all I’m saying about it. We are now heading to Mackay via Airlee Beach – still lots to see and do! keep well, see you for the next chapter.