Day 196
Wednesday
12 July 2017
Ingham – Townsville
On the move again today. We were awake to a cloudy grey day
but it had stopped raining by the time we were out of bed and readying for our
move. With all the things checked off we made tracks just before 9am heading
south about 100km to Townsville. It was an easy drive apart from the wind that
was throwing the van about a fair bit and there were a few bottlenecks where
road works were occurring.
Just after 10am we arrived at our chosen destination, an over
50’s campground. I had found this park in a QLD caravan book and it sounded
right up our street; cheap at $30 a night, large drive thru sites and nothing
to do with children. It certainly was a no bells and whistles park, set on a
rodeo site, they offered showers, toilets, large camp kitchen, power and water,
nothing more which includes internet bum.
Once paid up for three nights, we found our site and settled
in before going off for showers. I prepared our lunch, packing it to take with
us and when Paul returned, we jumped in the car and made our way into town. Our
first stop was a large super GP clinic to make an appointment with a Doc for
Paul for tomorrow. Next was the shop for groceries and when that was finally
complete we drove to “The Strand”, the waterfront strip.
We found a parking spot, grabbed our lunch things and walked
across the road to the grass strip and a picnic table where we enjoyed our
lunch and the view across to Magnetic Island.
A couple of red-tailed, black cockatoos were busy in a tree above us
chasing the fruits it offered. When one dropped to the ground to continue to
feed, I was off like lightning to capture him on film. He didn’t seem
particularly concerned that I was nearby. His plumage was really beautiful.
We put the lunch things back in the car and proceeded to
walk “The Strand”. It was lovely out in the sun and we enjoyed the walk,
passing the many cafes along the path and the art.
We stopped at the fishing jetty to check on the success of
the fishermen and admire the view it provided of the city, the beaches and the
monolith, Castle Hill that dominates the skyline behind the city.
We walked to the sea pool, a man-made ocean pool that is
supposedly the size of ten Olympic pool though it didn’t look it. The pool was
in the process of being filled as it was maintenance day. When it is full, it
takes the pumps three hours to completely change the water.
We continued our walk up to Kissing Point, a strategic
military point for WWI. There was a lot of paraphernalia in relation to the war
and the usual cannons poised to strike at incoming hostiles.
We made our way back along the path, stopping to watch three
painters strung on long lines down the side of a high rise building as they
used rollers to paint the building orange.
We also made a stop at the “Bazza
and Shazza” art installation, bronze chairs for a man with a beer and bottle
opener and a woman wearing a corset and heels.
The wind had picked up considerably and Paul was concerned
we had left our awning out and windows open, so it was back to the car and to
the van, a 30min drive. He was relieved to find it all in one piece when we
finally made it back.
We spent the afternoon relaxing with our books, as the happy
hour cranked up in the kitchen in readiness for the state of origin match.
I did a lap of the park, to wake myself up and put steps on the
board, before I returned to get dinner ready and then eat. The evening was
quite, as had become the custom, with us reading and surfing the net as the
Ipod played.
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