Day 198
Friday
14 July 2017 – Finished my book Since We Fell by Dennis
Lehane. I found this book really easy to read and kept me wanting more, though
I am a little perplexed with the ending and how the main character pans out. I
am not sure she would have reacted in the way she did, but it was still a page
turner.
Townsville – Little Crystal Creek – Paluma – Balgal Beach
The morning was grey and heavy with possible showers when we
awoke. I was awake early and happy to get back into my book, which has me
wanting more. It won’t take me long and I will have it finished, it is
certainly a read I am enjoying.
We surfaced just after 8am having showers and breakfast
before working out what we would do for the morning.
We threw the things we needed in the car and drove north
about 60km, more than half way back to Ingham, to check out Crystal Creek in
the Paluma National Park. As I am becoming accustomed to, the narrow winding
road made its way up Mount Spec before finally arriving at a car park.
We descended the stairs near the traffic bridge and down to
Little Crystal Creek where a gentle falls was framed by the curved underbelly
of the old, brick bridge above. It was
one of those picture perfect scenes that needed to be captured from the middle
of the creek, which required me to traverse the large boulders and then perch
myself and the camera upon a relatively flat spot. I managed just.
Paul was more interested in watching the cherbin crawling
around on the river sand below the shallow water.
We moved to another part of the creek to take in further
views, but didn’t hang around for long as the rain had started and spoiled ay
chance I had of taking any further half decent photos.
We returned to the car as quickly as we could manage and
then continued the windy ascent to Paluma, all the while watching for passing
traffic along the narrow high road, this included a school bus!
We parked in Paluma to complete a short lookout walk but we
realised as soon as we made it to the clearing there would be nothing to see as
we were engulfed by puffs of white cloud and fine mist.
Cold, we returned to the car, di a drive down the very short
main street that housed noting more than and environmental education camp and
numerous holiday units with a few permanent residents.
Paul turned the Getz and we proceeded to follow the same
road back down the hill. This time the drive made me feel ill with all the
lurching, stopping, toing and froing. We had a close call with a tour bus
coming the over way and were forced up an embankment to allow them through then
we continued on, glad to finally make it back to the A1.
We made our way south, turning in to the Balgal Beach Road
and driving to the coast. We parked near a picnic table and walked out along
the beach where we could see numerous off shore islands. We made our way to the
Rollingstone River then walked along its banks, watching for crocs as we went.
We made our way to the free camp, which was well patronised
by campers and then returned to our car, grabbed our lunch bag and made for the
picnic table to enjoy our lunch as showers on the horizon obscured our view of
the islands we know were there somewhere.
Paul rang Damon to check in and say hi and catch up on
home-related gossip as we watched two great dane pups frolicking on the beach
with their owners. We then began our trek back to the van, stopping briefly to
check out the pineapple farm and wonder at how the pineapples grew.
We got
caught up singing “Moving to the country gonna eat a lot of peaches” when it
came on the radio, both of us noting we hadn’t heard it for years and then
marvelling at how such a crap song ever made it to radio play lists.
We finally made it home just as the rain got heavy. We
relaxed for a while, glad the rain eased off and then stopped and then decided
we should get out and about for the last time in Townsville.
We drove down towards the Bezzine Barracks and the northern
end of The Strand. A house perched on Castle Hill had us wondering if the
owners had great insurance and great faith in the engineering of their home,
perched up on incense stick like legs.
 |
| The pole house is on the right at about the half way mark |
We parked at the old barracks where we
walked around the grounds. Many of the buildings are now used for other
community minded projects and there is a walkway that follows the water. A
botanical garden with numerous sculptures also feeds off the path.
We completed a loop back to the car and then did a wander
around the sea pool which was now full of water before driving further along The
Strand and finding somewhere else to park before walking into town to return to
The Tap Room, a craft beer bar we spied yesterday.
Paul happily sampled a number of the beers they had on tap,
while I enjoyed a hot chocolate. We then decided we would enjoy a few of the
tapas offerings; calamari, fried brie and pork belly. They were all delicious.
When are meals and drinks were done, we made our way back to
the car and ultimately home. I was eager to make sure I had completed my step
goal, so we did a lap of the park as Paul spoke to Ballsy back home and then we
settled in for the night.
First up was deciding on a place to head to in Bowen for
tomorrow. There wasn’t much in the way of free camps, so caravan park it will
be. I also checked out Airlie Beach for our next port of call. Next up was going through the pics and blog
and finally it was off to bed to enjoy my book.
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