Cairns to Townsville

Tuesday, 1 September 2015

Starting to look bare

Quiet contemplation

Looking for a stone

Basket fern - and probably a big snake

Comparing notes with James

Comparing notes with the Cardwell Angel

Cardwell beach, complete with crocodiles

Pavement design at Cardwell

Hinchinbrook Island

Tyto Wetlands at Ingham

Enjoying the breeze

Large skink

Jacana and water lily

More wetlands

Water bird

Water lilies

We are now on our way south!

Yesterday morning, after helping fold up the shade cloth and the floor, I decided that another reflexology session would be most beneficial, so the morning was spent enjoying the massaging fingers of a very nice young lady.  Feeling all relaxed, I stopped at the supermarket to make some last minute purchases, only to have the relaxed feeling replaced by high stress levels when my card was declined twice when trying to use the housekeeping account!  Someone else’s stress levels rose once I returned to the caravan, until it was realised that he had paid last week’s accounts from the housekeeping account.  Packing up was virtually completed before we went for a walk to feed the fish one last time and enjoy the beauty of Freshwater Creek; a large Ulysses butterfly came right down to us, just to add to the delight.  We then joined James and Maureen for a farewell afternoon tea.

This morning, we seemed to be super organised, said our goodbyes to the necessary people, hitched up and were on the road before 8.20 am.  We had a short stop at Innisfail to change drivers (and listen to the foul mouthed, whinging truckies) before continuing south to Cardwell, where we stopped for a walk along the foreshore with its views across to Hinchinbrook Island.  We changed drivers again and our lunch stop was at the Tyto Wetlands in Ingham.  We have never stopped here before and enjoyed a climb to the top of the lookout tower (much cooler up there in the breeze!) and a stroll along the boardwalk.  The area was very dry, so the lakes were down a little, but there were still plenty of lovely waterlilies in flower and some birdlife.  The day was very hot – over 30 degrees – and we reached Townsville about 2.30 pm.  Once again, we are staying overnight at the Walkabout Palms, which is a convenient spot to depart from tomorrow for Charters Towers.  We were surprised to discover two couples (Neville and Jan, Neville and Dee) we have come to know at Cairns, were both within two sites of us, so afternoon coffee and socialising were quickly provided.