Cloncurry to Winton To Ilfracombe to Tambo,& Charleville

Back again, I'm trying to catch up.
After leaving Cloncurry, we drove to McKinlay & the "Walkabout" pub, where Crocadile Dundee was made. It was a good little pub, but was disappointing due to the poor response from the publican.At lunchtime that day, we stopped at another pub in Kynuna, that was called "The Blue Heeler Hotel". The atmosphere there was great. Our next stop was at Winton, where we stayed for 4 weeks, whilst I worked for the local electrician.Avril voulenteered at the hospital during this time. We really felt like we were part of the community, & almost felt sorry to leave. The next stop was at Ilfracombe, where we stayed for two nights. Whilst there, we spent time in Longreach, & the Stockman's Hall of Fame. We had one day & night in a little town called Tambo, & we saw Lawn for the first time in 2 months. Now, we are in Charleville, & will be leaving here on Sunday morning. I will post some photos very soon.
Love to you all,
Avril & Doug. XXXXXXX

Mareeba to Cloncurry

It's been a long time since I wrote, so here goes. When we left Mareeba, we travelled through the Atherton tablelands to a little place called Mount Surprise. This was a nice little town that was near the Larva Tubes & near some gem-fields. We spent 2 nights in the caravan park that was called, "Bedrock". The showers were called Fred & Wilma. After that we stayed at a tiny place called Greenvale. There, the caravan park shop was, the local grocer, greengrocer, hardware, & electrical shop. From there we went to Charters Towers, where we stayed for a week. Driving on some of these roads takes some getting used to. First, the bitumin is only a strip the width of one vehicle, then there's the cattle that roam where-ever they like. There are no fences. Then theres the road-trains. These monsters are about 53 metres long, & when fully loaded, take about 5 ks to get up to speed, & about the same to stop. When you see one comming toward you, you slow down & get right off the bitumin strip & leave it to them. If they have to go on the dirt, they spray you with stones as they go past. I've learned the value of the CB radio out here,The road trains warn you that they are comming, & tell you how many more to expect. It certainally makes for safer travelling. We had a great week in Charters Towers, & had a good look around the area. One day we went to a place called "Ravenshoe", The buildings were fantastic. You will see some of them in the previous lot of photos that I posted. On our way to Ravenshoe, we went through a ghost town withall the houses & the pub all broken down. On our way back, we went to have a better look at th pub, only to find it open trading. To open it they removed a section of galv iron, & there it was. Another one of the photos, shows a flood marker by the Burdican River. Look at the flood levels. After Charters Towers we headed west, inland, & travelled through Hughenden,(1 night) Julia Creek, (2-nights & Avril's birthday) , Cloncurry (3 nights). At Cloncurry, we went to the "John Flynn" place & spent hours there.
I'll write another blog within a few day to bring you up to date with our progress .
Love to you all,
Doug & Avril. XXXXXX

Charters Towers to Julia Creek

Mareeba to Greenvale

Mission Beach to Cairns,Cairns to Cooktown, to Mareeba

Hello everybody,
We stayed at Mission Beach for another 3 days, before driving to Cairns. We stayed in Cairns for a week at a place called "Crystal Cascades". It's named after a waterfall & river nearby. We had an enjoyable time in Cairns, & whilst there, we went to Mossman & Port Douglas. That was a loverly day out. We also went on a trip on the Scenic Railway to a town called Karunda, which is in a rainforest. Had a loverly time there, & came back to Cairns on the "Sky Rail". Both the railway & skyrail were fantastic. The scenery was indescribable. We left Cairns last Friday, & drove to a beachside caravan park at Wonga Beach. It is a good place to stay to see Cape Tribulation, & The Daintree rain forest area. From there, we left the caravan & drove to Cooktown, & stayed overnight in the Cooktown Hotel. It was cheap & clean & noisy at night, but the beds were comfortable. Back to Wonga Beach for 2 more nights before we left the coast & headed inland to Mareeba in the Atherton Tablelands. We are staying at the Rodeo Grounds at the huge cost of $12.00 per night. It's not a bad atmosphere here & the amenities are clean but basic.
Love to you all,
Avril & Doug
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Skyrail, Scenic Railway, Cooktown, Cooktown

Mission Beach to Cairns, Cairns, Cairns, Lake Placid

Magnetic Island, Townsville, Ingham & Mission Beach

Hello everybody,
Last Saturday, we went to Magnetic Island, & had a great day. It started with a ferry trip to the island, & then a 3-hour tour in a mini-bus. The tour was most imformative & a lot of fun. We had morning tea at the Magnetic Island Resort, which was beautiful, & the tour ended at Horseshoe Bay, where we had lunch at a beachfront pub. Later in the day, we swam & sunned ourselves on the beach, before heading back to the ferry for our trip back to Townsville. On the Sunday, we spent the afternoon at "The Rock Pool" on the foreshore of Townsville. We left Townsville on Tuesday morning a travelled to Ingham, about 100K. On the way we stopped at the "Frosty Mango" for morning tea of cheesecake & half frozen fruit juice. Whilst in Ingham, we went to see the Wallaman Falls, & national park. The views were superb, & we saw a lot of Kangaroos, Wallabys, Cows all over the road, & Camels. We also went to a beach that looked beautiful, but the sign said don't swim with the crocadiles. Later, we went to look around the Italian Cemetary. It was very interesting & well maintained. On Thursday morning, we drove to Mission Beach, & booked into the most expensive caravan park that Iv'e ever been in. This was because it was the only one with any vacancies. It is however, beautiful, & just across the road from the beach, & within wakling distance of the pubs & cafes. We will be staying for about 4 days & will probabely leave on Monday morning. Yesterday, we spent a few hours on the beach, & swimming, & I got a little bit sunburnt, but I will be going for a swim later today.By the end of next week, we expect to be in Cairnes.
The photos are as follows : Rock Pool - Townsville
Wallaman Falls - near Ingham
Italian Cemetary - Ingham
Mission Beach at Dawn - (Paradise)
Magnetic Island Resort
Old Folk having lunch on Magnetic Island
Magnetic Island
Rock Pool - Townsvtalian Cemetary - near Ingham

Love to you all,
Avril & Doug
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Townsville, Ingham, Mission Beach

Magnetic Island & Rock Pool Townsville

Sunday 20th of July 2008

Hi all,
During the last 2 weeks, we were at Yeppoon, then 2 days in Mackay, 2 days in Bowen, then on to Townsville, where we have been for the last week. You will have seen the previous photos. they are the park emu at Yeppoon, Avril on the beach at Bowen, Overlooking Townsville from a mountain, The "Red Hat Ladies" at a seafood cafe in Townsville, Magnetic Island taken from Castle Hill, right in the CBD. And the last few we took at a wild life park just outside Townsville. We have had good weather most of this last 2 weeks, average temperature has been about 24 degrees, with the last 4 days at 26-27 degrees. The ute & caravan are going well. No problems at all. Avril has a sore neck & is going to the Massage man tomorrow morning.This week, we will go to Magnetic Island for a day, & check out some of the national parks. Yestreday we went to the wildlife park & has a great day. On the way home, we went to Ross River & the Ross River Dam which supplies all of Townsville's water. When we were in Mackay, we stayed at a very average caravan park. The upside was that we had friends staying there, so we had a couple of enjoyable evenings. The town of Mackay was quite nice but nothing startling. Bowen was a loverly old fashioned town with 7 caravan parks. The only one that we could get into, was worse than Mackay, & the neighbourhood (inside the park ) left a lot to be desired. We couldn't get into any other park until August, so we moved on to Townsville.We are staying at a 7th Day Adventist convention centre, that has a caravan park section. It's centrally located, and is cheap, & has a lot of space & not very busy.We will do another post soon,
Love you all,
& missing you,
Avril & Doug
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Where wev'e been in the last 2 weeks

Yeppoon, near Rockhampton

July - week1

On Monday, we left Rainbow Waters & travelled toward Gladstone. On the way, we had a look around Maryborough, the birth place of "Mary Poppins". In the early afternoon, we were heading for 1770, & got lost & ended up in a little place called Ironbank. This town was about 3 houses & a pub that also served as a general store. We decided to ask for directions & have a drink there. When we walked into the pub, I said hello to some locals & they just stared at me. Then I asked the publican for a drink & he grunted, & got the drinks.. My mind drifted to the film, "Deliverance". After some effort on my part, the publican became quite helpful & gave us directions. Well, we got out of there alive & ended up in Gladstone at about 5.00pm. At the second caravan park, we got a site, & booked in for 2 nights. We had a look around Gladstone on Tuesday, & headed to Rockhampton on Wednesday morning.We couldn't get a site in Rockhampton, so we continued to Yeppoon. After 4 caravan parks, we found one that could take us. We booked in for 9 nights, & will leave here next Friday. On Thursday we went into Rockhampton & had an enjoyable day doing what tourists do.This caravan park is good. It has a big outdoor screen & shows films each night. There was also a singer entertainer here on Saturday night. He was good value. I'll post some pictures in the next day or so. Love to you all, Avril & Doug. XXXXXX

Rainbow Beach

Our first posting

We have now been on the road for about 8 weeks, & we are really beginning to get used to our new life. At present, we are staying at a place in Queensland, called "Rainbow Beach". This is very near "Frazer Island", which is the largest sand island in the world. The other day, we went to "Frazer Island" in a Toyota Landcruiser, & had a fabulous day. Whilst there, we walked in a rain foest, saw a dingo on the beach, Had lunch next to a large fresh-water lake, & drove through lots of sand & deep water at times. We will have been here for 9 days when we leave here on Monday morning, & head north toward Rockhampton. I will post some pictures soon, when I learn how to.

Our love to all of you,
Avril & Doug.
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