May 28th & 29th, 2012- Harbour Lights Caravan Park- Bowen

Monday morning we were up early and heading south again to Bowen. The roads were busy and lots of road construction. We stopped at Ayr for a quick break along the way. Countryside has changed a bit from the rainforest to more conventional Aussie Bushland. We arrived in Bowen late in the morning and got setup at Harbour Lights Caravan Park. We got a drive through site but it is one of the smallest sites we have had. It was windy so we didn't put up the awning but if we had it might touch the caravan beside us. Fairly basis facilities although it is opposite the Harbour. Unfortunately there is a strong southerly wind blowing in off the water.

After lunch we did a drive around Bowen to explore. Lots of nice beaches and parkland again although the beaches aren't up to the standard of the West Coast. We did a number of stops and small walks at Rose Bay, Queens Beach, Grays Beach, and Horeshoe Bay. Got some nice pictures before heading back into town for some shopping.

We entertained Carol for the Voice after dinner, while Stephen walked down to the Pub to watch Monday Night Football.

Tuesday was windy and cloudy. We are over the bad weather already. We did a walk down to the Visitor Centre along the beach and almost got blown away by the wind. We met a nice older gentleman, who was a volunteer at the Visitor Centre, who told us all about the Australia Movie Set which was filmed in Bowen 5 years ago.

The rest of the day was spent hibernating in our caravans. Sandra did a bit of laundry and cleaning while I did some computer work with photos and the Blog. Sandra and I took a quick drive up to Flagstaff Hill in the afternoon when the sun broke through for a few minutes. Good views and the water is more the blue colour we have been expecting.

We have decided to move on in the morning as the weather is predicted to get worse here; but really don't know if it will get any better wherever we go.

May 26th & 27th, 2012- Rowes Bay Caravan Park-Townsville

Saturday morning we packed up and headed South for Townsville. The weather was still gloomy but no heavy rain which was good. Travelled through a bit of road construction on the way near Ingham and the traffic was noticeably busier once we got closer to Townsville. We are not enjoying the East Coast traffic compared to the Outback and the West Coast.

We found Rowes Bay Caravan Park with little difficulty and got set up on a couple of very nice sites. Really good size sites with green grass and concrete pads. Amenities were spotless and staff very friendly.

After lunch we went for a drive with the Ransleys along the Strand which is a beautiful waterfront strip in Townsville. Lots of green space and parks in Townsville and quite an attractive city. It is bigger than we expected.

Once finished at the waterfront we climbed up Castle Hill to view Townsville from a number of lookouts. Very steep climb but surprising number of walkers/joggers climbing the hill. We drove up and did a number of short walks at the top to about 4 different lookout points. Great views although the weather definitely hampered them today. Magnetic Island is prominent in the views as is just off the coast.

Sunday morning came out sunny so we headed out again. Took in the downtown markets in the morning which were quite busy but not up to the Darwin or dare I say Maitland standards. We picked up some fresh veggies and fruit which are abundant and reasonable at all the markets in Far North Queensland.

Next stop was the Queen's Garden which is a beautiful park located in downtown Townsville. Beautiful variety of rainforest, palms, gum trees, flowers, and birdlife. We got some nice photos of the various trees, flowers, and butterflies. Also got a few of us having fun climbing some of the larger trees.

We did a bit of shopping at Woolies before heading back to the campground for lunch. We dropped Stephen off at a mates place after lunch; while Carol, Sandra, and I went to Reef HQ. This is the local aquarium featuring the Coral Reef and it's inhabitants. We were rather disappointed as much of it was being renovated with no warnings or discounts being offered to the public. We did get some good pictures; and the fish & coral that we did see were still amazing. Also got to see the Turtle Hospital where they try to rehabilitate injured turtles to be released into the wild. Certainly not of the same calibre of the Perth Aquarium we visited.

We took an unplanned scenic drive through Townsville trying to find a Dan Murphy's and picking up Stephen in the afternoon. Townsville roads are typical Australian with lots of strange intersections and twisty roads. We had Carol's Navman and ourselves in convulsions. I was certainly ready for a drink when we finally made it back to the campground. Townsville has been a pleasant surprise in its size and that it is really a very nice city with lots of well kept parkland. Well worth a visit.

May 21st-25th, 2012- Cardwell Beachcomber Caravan Park-Cardwell

After another wet and very windy night we decided to change our plans and move on. Not much sleep as the caravan was rocking with the wind gusts. Forecast is for more rain and stronger winds. We packed up in a light rain and headed south. We had originally planned on going to Forrest Beach which is on the coast near Ingham but we were concerned that we would still be battered by the Easterly winds. We decided to stop in Cardwell as we hoped it would be a bit sheltered as it sits behind Hinchinbrook Island. We had also heard good things about the caravan park in Cardwell.

We pulled into the Beachcomber Caravan Park late in the morning after a good but short trip down the highway from Tully. The park was lovely and we got set up before having some lunch. We did another nice walk down the beach here to the Visitor Centre. Another nice Visitor Centre that doubles as a tourist attraction featuring the Rainforest and Hinchinbrook Island. We booked a tour to Hinchinbrook Island for Tuesday morning. We enjoyed another lovely fish dinner courtesy of our generous friends in Karumba.

We enjoyed a good sleep as the park was very quiet and the caravan was much more sheltered from the wind. We were up early and off to Port Hinchinbrook to join our cruise to the island. Hinchinbrook Island is all a National Park and is the largest island park in Australia. Only hikers have access to the Island to complete a four day trek beginning at Cardwell and ending at Lucinda near Ingham. Our cruise was basically the shuttle boat for the hikers to begin or end their walk. We had two young ladies starting the walk on our cruise.

The trip over was a bit rough as we crossed the channel but smoothed out once we rounded the southern tip of the island. We were lucky that the sun was out and there was quite a bit of blue sky. The clouds were clinging to Mount Barren which is the 3rd tallest peak in Australia. Much of the boat trip was in the estuaries of the island. Beautiful Mangrove lined channels with mountains rising in the background. Once we docked we enjoyed a 600m walk through the mangroves on a boardwalk to the beach on the eastern side. We had a nice walk down the beach before returning to the boat for the return trip. Quite cloudy by the time we returned to Cardwell.

We did a bit of a driving tour of the Marina area at Port Hinchinbrook. A lot of new houses and moorings here as was another hard hit area in Cyclone Yasi. This is where all the pictures of the damaged yachts piled up in ruin were taken. Beautiful houses and fairly reasonably priced from what we could see. I imagine the insurance premiums must be sky high and our boat captain told us many places are not insured anymore.

After lunch we took a drive out to Murray Falls. Was a very nice drive through lush green forest but again lots of signs of damage from the cyclone. Large areas of trees were snapped off at different heights making them look like broken match sticks. Once we got to the Falls we did a short walk on a boardwalk to the base of the falls. Not the largest falls we have seen but lots of water flowing over them.

We decided to do another walk that took us up through the rainforest to a viewpoint looking down at the top of the falls. This was a nice walk through very dense rainforest. Quite a steep climb and was very humid. I was drenched by the time we reached the top. Got some photos before returning the 1km back to the base. We had a walk around the swimming holes at the bottom cooling our feet off. There is a beautiful campground with lots of room for caravans located here. Sandra and I would have returned for a couple of days if the weather had been better.

Wednesday the weather continued to worsen with no sign of improvement before Saturday. The Ransleys checked in before lunch and we all spent the day with cleaning tasks. We hosted the Ransleys for Game 1 of Origin. Good game although the result could have been better.

Thursday saw the four of load in the car for some touring. Not much luck as we weren't really successful in seeing anything. First attempt was the Cardwall Forest Drive which was advertised in our town map. After travelling a number of dirt roads with no signs and not discovering any of the 4 highlighted attractions we gave up and headed back to town. We decided to go back out to Murray Falls to show the Ransleys but discovered the highway north was closed because of a serious car accident.

We made a quick decision to head south to Ingham to view the Wallaman Falls which are the highest in Australia. We travelled the 50km South to Ingham before taking a very winding 45km trip out to Wallaman Falls. We parked the car upon arrival and walked over to the viewpoint only to discover you could not see a thing. Heavy cloud and rain obscured the view completely. I have a lovely picture of our view of the falls below. I must say they sounded impressive!

We weren't exactly a happy bunch as we wound our way slowly back to Ingham in the rain. Highlight of the day was finding a Chinese Restaurant that did Gluten Free for lunch in Ingham. Delicious! We did a bit of shopping at Woolies in Ingham before heading back to Cardwell. Had an easy tea and an early night as the rain continued. We had planned on moving on but may sit it out another day or two as the rain is expected to continue unabated until Saturday. As this is the first serious rain we have experienced in over a year I guess we shouldn't complain to much.

Friday was another wet, wet day. We did some cleaning and catch up with computer etc. Will be glad for clear weather and a change of scenery. Cardwell is beautiful but not so much when you are trapped inside the caravan by the rain.

May 19th & 20th, 2012- Hull Heads Campsite

Saturday morning we bid our adieu to Cairns and the Ransleys as we headed south. The Ransleys will catch up in a day or two after Brett, Jacque, and Adam headed home. We left around 10AM and had a bit of trouble getting out of Cairns so we pulled into Tully before lunch. We stopped in at the Visitor Centre as we didn't know whether the campsite at Hull Head could accommodate large vans. We decided to give it a try because the lady at the Visitor Centre said there was a caravan site there as well.

We made short drive to Hull Head and discovered the campsite at the Coast Guard office had lots of space and a beautiful location. We joined 3 or 4 other vans and set up between the Hull River Estuary and the Ocean. Beautiful location!

We did a nice walk along the beach soaking in the sun and the views. This was near the epicentre of Cyclone Yasi last year and signs of the damage were everywhere. Lots of construction and missing properties. Amazing how much has been rebuilt in a year though and how resilient the people are. Apparently a 6 Metre wall of water swept across the peninsula during the storm. I can't even fathom this as even a couple of metres would have flooded the place by my estimation. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon enjoying the sun and reading books.

We had rain during the night and the wind has picked up. The wind is coming directly from the East and we are fairly exposed. Put up the awning in the middle of the night and finally got some sleep. The morning was overcast with brief periods of sunshine. We decided to do a tour of the region. First stop was Tully Heads which was just down the road from where we were staying. Another small community that suffered greatly during Cyclone Yasi.

Next stop was Tully and the Giant Gumboot. Tully is officially the wettest town in Australia with about 4.5 Metres of rainfall each year. The Gumboot indicates the the 1950 record of 7.9 Meters. That's a lot of water. Almost an inch a day by my calculations.

We tried to find Alligator Nest but had no luck because of road closures. We continued on a did a nice drive to Bingal Bay and Mission Beach. Beautiful lush green hills and rugged coast line. The beaches and coastline are not that attractive at the moment because the water is dirty and there is a lot of debris. I don't know if this is the normal situation or because of the strong winds and/or Yasi damage. Mission Beach is a very touristy place with a great view of Dunk Island. We stopped in at the local markets and had a quick lunch at a cafe before continuing on with our tour. We completed the loop through Mission Beach South and back to the highway.

On our return journey we tried Alligator Nest from a different approach and did eventually find it. A nice quiet picnic spot where 3 creeks meet to form a larger one. Swimming hole looked nice but not warm enough today. We returned home to Hull Head in the early afternoon. We enjoyed another nice walk on the beach before dinner. We think we might stay one more night as is a very beautiful location and reasonably priced at $13/night.