Day 10 - Townsville

Well the day started with a picturesque sunrise in the Woodland caravan park in which we had an over night stay. 

After setup last night Katie took to the laundry pile that had been building (washers and dryers were the main reason for staying in a caravan park before our boat trip with Andi and Gem).  Dad took to the BBQ for a very exciting sausages and bread for dinner.

One thing we noted was the temperature, a barmy 24 degrees around 5 ish dropping to around 11 or so overnight, very comfortable. 

The plan for the day was to take Charlie into town to have his free tyre service followed by a relaxby the   rock pool down on Townsville's strand till we catch up with the dam in the arvo. All went well with a few fun times had trying to find a place to leave the trailer/fridge whilst that was being done.  Next we popped into the shops to find a totem tennis bat/set (unsuccessfully, yep Andi's face is still a bit long...we'll try again in Cairns). Fun was had navigating a 10 metre be vehicle/trailer combination in a tiny carpark!

The promised swimming pool. Tough stuff for the middle of winter.

After the swim, the time for the our super exciting departure to meet Andi and Gem on Paws had arrived.  Pulling into the marina the boys were really excited, even to the point that they left us unpacking and locking up the chariots and made their own way to the marina gates in anticipation. 

Paws in all her glory! Looks fantastic hey!

The next hour or so flew by as Uncle Andi gave them a full debrief of how the yatch works in minute detail, and they were engrossed all the way.  The run through led into journal writing whilst Stu and Uncle Andi did the shopping for the next three days.  Very brave of the girls to leave us to our own devices ... We didn't do to badly I do say myself, only a few extra comforts purchased (with the girls in mind of course).

After a lovely BBQ dinner, the boys in bed (and soundly asleep) we caught up with JR, Ashlea and Emily in Brisbane to celebrate the news of a house purchase in Scarborough! Well done!  We also had a good chat to Big Stu, around a range of topics from general catchup to the 12 volt adapter to the Pap smear machine!  We retired for the evening with a big day planned, heading over to Magnetic Island for a few days in Horse Shoe Bay.  Maybe a while till we back in service to post the next blog updates.

Cheers for now.

Day 9 - Theresa Creek Dam to Townsville

Well we got up early and the pack up went really well, departing dead on 8:30am.  It was a long 507 km trip ahead for the day, a big one in the boys language.  When we popped into the information centre at Emerald the lady Max noted that there was nothing between Clemont and Charteres Towers, and on that she was dead right! Not a lot but red bitumin, long straight roads and an awful lot of rather  skinny looking cattle following by a lot of dead looking road kill.  It is really quite depressing to see just the shear numbers of roos that get wiped out on the road, it keeps the crow population growing constantly I am sure!  One bonus of this is that you get to see quite a few raptors up close. Today we saw today a wedge tail, sea eagle and two many kites and buzzards to mention.  They becoming like LBJ's or Little Brown Jobs for those birds that you can never identifiy, except they are rather large!

We arrived at Charters Towers and I must say that it was a little underwhelming.  The lady at the information centre was very helpful, to the point of not listening to our queries (where's the closet: toilet, supermarket and park) but we r now in possession of numerous brochures of the town! We still need to remember shopping hours are not the same - Woolies doesn't even open on a Sunday!

Now I thought bats slept during the day. Not in the CT. The trees in the park for lunch were absolutely covered with them! What a noise, and what a a lot of shit!

The run into Townsville was unventful, pulling up at about 5ish. Everyone enjoyed the temperature, finally an evening where we are still in shorts! Weare looking forward to a warmer night's sleep!

Day 8 - Theresa Creek Dam

Well we decided to hang around here and do the run up to Townsville in one hit.  The boys were happy to trade a full day of playing with a full day of driving instead of half and half.  We'll see how they go tomorrow after the 5th hour ....

The day started out with a fairly thick fog that was being particularly stubborn and didn't lift till mid morning.  It opened up to a clear day, the temps warmed up.  The playground packed with kids and boys got into it.

During the day we did a range of activities around camp from badminton, bike riding, footy, swimming and of course, relaxing. We also discovered a few things that we forgot to pack, including the bats for totem tennis!!! The pole, new ball (and a spare) were there but no bats!

The view from our deck chairs at camp ... 

It's an early start tomorrow so we'll be attempting to leave early to make it to Townsville for dinner. We are getting better at the pack up: we start strong, seem to lag a bit and then realising the time, get it together again!

Day 7 - Canarvon Gorge to Clemont

Last night was interesting going to sleep with the chatting next door of a ex commonwealth spri tee I the '81 games.  We took notes but didn't get his name, something for when we have service.  Nice way to go sleep hearing about so me of the trials and tribulations of athlete back then.

Well after a chilly evening we woke and started with pancakes for breakfast.  Our aim for the day was to get as far north as we could get.  It took a while to pack up while chatting to the guys next door explaining our trip and hearing of their experiences travelling with a family of three kids.  It shows that even back then what we doing is possible without some of the comforts that we have on our travels.

We decided to take some of the back roads to Emerald, the highway scenery doesn't change that much, also a good time to test out the dust worthiness of Ernie (a few spots need some work).  Stopped in Emerald there for lunch and dropped into the info centre.  Love lady Max mentioned that it is a short stop over at Rubyvale for fossicking and then mentioned Teresa Creek Dam as possible place to park for the night.  It's just as long as the highway. 

Well Max was spot on, crossing the Tropic of Capricorn on the way, we stopped for some sapphire fossicking in Rubyvale, at Bobby Dazzler Mine.  Getting a bucket of dirt and sieve with a few instructions we were fossicking like champions. In the end we came out with a couple of green sapphires totalling 16.9 grammes.  It was interesting talking to Fran about how mining has really slipped off here, rents have dropped from $600 / week to $300, with many houses now for rent and businesses moving on.  Made me think how little towns handle the boom and bust times, I am sure it's a real struggle.  They now in the in the process of building the business back up.  Out the back of bobby dazzlers noticed our first pair of Brolga's, rather large birds that didn't mind a photo to two. (Sorry on the other camera)

Today was the first day the temperature went above 20 degrees, 24 exact.  It felt more temperate as well with the humidity starting to increase.  Hope there is more that to come!

Taking the back roads again to the campsite at Theresa Creek Dam the colours and scenery were simply spectacular. 

(To be inserted the picture of storm and rainbow)

 With cattle across the road (as they don't do the fence thing up here) and not a straight section in sight with too many cattle grids to speak of, it meant eyes had to be on the road, no relaxing.

After a drive where you could count the cars on one hand, we pulled into the campsite faced with a sea of trailers and caravans, a little hidden place which is obviuously well known to the locals and gray nomads.  We pulled into a lovely little spot, setup and started cooking tuna casserole "wok style".   Meals were polished off with some to spare for tomorrow.

Having said we wanted to head north early to have to timeout in Townsville we apt hiking that place is nice enough to hang for another day and then make the big 510 ish kilometre trek up north.  Will see the office in the morning to see if they will have us for another day ...

Day 6 - Canarvon Gorge

Well today was the first day we haven't had to pack up and move on.  It was quite relaxing really not having to rush about. We had plans to do a walk or two and Andi had requested a swim! 

It was pretty chilly again overnight and we all ended up in the big bed by morning. Andi was the best sleeper once again and with the assistance of a call to nature throughout the night, we had a dry night too! After a morning tea for Dad, he and Andi headed off for the first of their walks for the day.  Nice 1.2k loop around the campsite.  The place was very picturesque with sunrise on the cliffs bringing out the ocre colours.

Picture of our campsite

After a few running repairs on the compressor, dish cleaning and general tidy up we made our way up the 7km return walk up the gorge to Moss Gardens.  Surprising the boys made it up with only a small amount of "are we they yet" and "how many kilometres to go Dad!".  Griff really enjoyed the gorge walls, taking opportunities to take lots of pictures.  With only one main track and side tracks to see particular gorge features, there were quite a number of walkers (young and old) both on the way there and back.

The Moss Gardens was a pretty speccy little place, with the cliffs getting closer together and the temperature dropping.

 The start of our walk

 Andy powering across the steams

The family at Moss Gardens

Waterfalls abound ...

 Andy doing walking ediquette lessons

 Griffin's interpretation !

We go back just after 1pm with somewhat tired little boys and parents. We thought we might have worn them out but after a quick drink and the promise of a sandwich they were back on their bikes for a few quick laps of the campsite.  During lunch we started some Ross school, with Griff and Andi both choosing to do Maths for today's lesson.  Being in a gorge the sun goes off pretty quick, and although it was warm in the sun, once in the shade it cooled off remarkedly.  So off to the creek for a quick dip for the boys.  It was more like let's walk through the water, even though they claimed they would "swim no matter what the temperature".  Not surprisingly it was pretty chilly, and while they had a ball in the icy water for about 30 or so minutes it was off to the showers to warm up.

The boys "swimming", admittedly it was icy cold ...

After showers it was back to camp for the oldies to start dinner and the boys to continue riding around, they are really taking to bikes and enjoy racing each other around the loop of the camp.  Andi's riding has improved remarkedly. While he comes back to camp with a few more scratches on each loop, he's got a lovely grin on his face and a story to tell about how he got them. Apparently rocks and trees get in his way!

After dinner, the day's energetic activities were taking their toll, with the boys in bed by 7pm. Andi in particular hit the pillow half asleep.  Mum and Dad stayed awake for a little longer planning the days route ahead.  It seems strange that we will be meeting Uncle Chris in Cairns in less than 7 days.  We have three days ahead of us before we meet up with Andi and Gem for some time on Paws. 

Night all.

Day 5 - Roma to Canarvon gorge

Well the day started with quite the frost, a chilly night that had Stu sleeping between Katie and Griff on the big bed as he wasn't able to keep blankets on long enough to reduce the chill.  The quote from Stu was it felt like sleeping in a vice, teach me right for being warm blooded and the secondary heater for the tent. We talked through the night saying that we must make a big deal of Andi's night as he pretty much stayed wrapped the whole night. Unfortunately though he woke up saturated (warm blooded like his Dad). Being so warm also meant finding a laundromat at 7.300am in the morning to make sure we got everything dry for this evening!

It was a glorious crisp morning, not a cloud in the sky and not a breath of wind, and that is how it stayed all day. The boys continued the exploration of showgrounds on their bikes. Andi has progressed so much in just a few short days - trying to stand up now! Griff is Mr Harry Casual cruising around, sometimes even pedalling backwards. 

We filled up Ernie's water tanks with water as Roma's water doesn't seem so bad and we need some for the days ahead.  Once packed we headed into town to catch the big Roma attraction, the Big Rig. A display and information about the history of oil and gas exploration in the region.  Very informative and the boys liked the displays, Andi particularly taken by the seismic and gravity display, very interactive.  I learnt a few things as well, puts things into perspective even appropriate for back at work as well!

We had a quick lunch and play before heading off for Canarvon Gorge, a short 242 kms north.  Had a good trip up. We had a nice conversation with some grey nomads in a couple of caravans over the UHF. They were heading to Cooktown. We told them about Canarvon Gorge as they'd never heard of it before! We wished them on their way and headed off the major road to the gorge.  It was our first dirt road of the trip.

Arriving at close to 4pm everyone got out and commenced the set up. With everyone pitching in Ernie went up really well (and fast).  The campsite is just perfect and facilities are quite surreal, reminded me of a safari style, raised high and all wood.  

Picture of our campsite for the next couple days

We'll see how the boys (and Katie) feel about going for a short walk or two tomorrow.  Hopefully not to chilly tonight.

Day 3 - Brisbane and Roma

Well we got Brisbane and settled down with family for a relaxing meal and a few quite ones.  Didn't last long after the day 2 drive, it always seems a long 5 or so hours for the trip into Brissie.  

The next morning we out to take Ernie into trackabout headquarters for a few repairs and a GVM upgrade, yes we can carry 2 ton!!! A set of 12" brakes and 2 ton bearings and we are good to go.  I made it all the way to factory without much assistance from Mr Google, I must say that I find Brisbane drivers very courteous, that or they scared a a tourist truck!

This morning set off for our next stop Roma.  It's amazing how the country side changes so dramatically in such a short period, from the hills around Toowoomba through to the plains on the other side.  Lot of similarities between this area and our previous travels around the Mildura district.

One thing that keeps you entertained is the massive industry presence.  On the road, it's an endless line of trucks in all shapes and forms, many carrying mining or cattle style rigs.  We stopped in Dalby for lunch and the lovely ladies at the information centre informed me that the town has grown very quickly in the last few years.  Now that CSG is established! the workers have moved out of the motels into the camps.  At least you can get a room now she said!

Will insert picture of boys in Dalby park when I get it for the other camera.

We arrived in Roma about 4:30pm, a rather long day in the car, hopefully not too many of those on the way.  We stayed at the Roma Showgrounds which was a very clean and well organised setup.  Just took a unpowered site so it was only $12 for the night...the boys were able to ride their bikes around the joint, and I briefly spoke to Bob, the nice next door neighbour about his and our plans...the start of many conversations and it turns out it always pays to be pleasant as we had to call on Bob for a few things during the course of the evening as we couldn't find our ball pump attachment for when Andi just had to play footy nor did we think to throw the crowbar up into the tree to get said ball when it got stuck!

In for a chilly one tonight, predicted to be -1 so will be rugging everyone up and hoping for the best!