Cairns to Mackay

Saturday, 2 September 2017

Thanks, James

Cardwell Jetty

Hinchinbrook Island through the smoke

Water lilies at Tyto Wetlands

Eight little ducks went out one day ...

Blacks Beach, Mackay

Yesterday morning was not only very hot and very smoky, it was also time to hitch up and turn the compass in a southerly direction.  Most of the packing had been done on Thursday afternoon, before a last ice cream and farewells to our Crystal friends.

The weather was overcast and smoky until after we had passed Cardwell, although the temperature was still hovering around 27-28 degrees.  Traffic was quite heavy and although we encountered a few roadworks, we weren’t held up at all.  We stopped for over half an hour at the Tyto Wetlands in Ingham for a lunch break and a walk around the wetlands and information centre.  Lots of water lilies in the lakes and a magnificent copper owl in the information centre were well worth stopping for.  Our overnight stop was at the Big4 Walkabout Palms in Townsville, which is a very convenient location on the highway and very close to Laverack Barracks.  The fighter planes were quite restless during the evening with some low level flying.

Today continued to be hot and sunny as we continued further south to Mackay.  It seemed that the whole countryside between Townsville and Mackay is one big canefield!  We also had the misfortune to encounter a decent headwind today, which made the fuel economy look a bit sad and necessitated refuelling at Prosperpine.  Traffic wasn’t as heavy today and apart from a few rough stretches, the road was pretty good.  We are staying overnight at Blacks Beach; we stayed here on the way north and the beach is still just as nice.  It was so good to have a walk along the water’s edge with a cool breeze.