Mission Beach

The pics above were taken from our caravan park (another Big 4) in South Mission Beach.  While the park itself has been cleaned up beautifully, the sites on one side of the park back on to what was once a rainforest. This was the view outside our van. In fact it was right behind our van. How sad, its just smashed and I guess they plan to leave it that way and let nature regenerate the vegetation. Sinora Mission Beach, we hope you're in better shape next time we visit.

Up early this morning for a run along the beach. And what a view.  It was beautiful looking out across the Coral Sea to Dunk and Bedarra Islands.   The caravan park is directly across the road from South Mission Beach and almost begs you to get your shoes on and do something.  And there were plenty doing exactly that.  Back to the caravan and the Gremlins were surfacing and trying to escape.  The playground was calling and Zachie was desperate to sneak away, which he managed on more than one occasion. Arghhh.  First stop today the monthly “Monster Markets”, which were pretty good for country markets.  Fresh fruit and veg particularly avocados bananas and pineapples, seafood, hippie things, home made clothes, baby stuff, hand carved wooden furniture.  Rotary were working hard flipping burgers and a couple of stalls were selling Asian goodies.  We all had a home made cannoli from a Sicilian lady from Innisfail filling them on the spot.  They were yum but Rick kindly said mine are better. The kids washed it down with delicious banana smoothie and Zachies belly was bulging over his pants.  Boy can that kid eat, and it shows.  We headed off to Tully 20 minutes down the road for lunch.  Tully took the full force of the cyclone and the houses were belted.  Many still had tarps and loads had new roofs.  Some were completely stripped out by the wind and a couple of streets were just decimated.  It was painful to see and I felt uncomfortable taking photos and video footage.  The town itself is pretty uneventful and there were lots of dodgy people hanging around, so we decided to eat lunch in the car on the way to Innisfail.  Innisfail snakes along a wide river, which a local said is home to many croc’s.  It was pretty along the waterfront and had the odd watering hole to settle in at including a sweet old boat doing lunch that looked popular with the locals. The kids had a play in the playground and scooter along the foreshore.  We drove through the main street and CBD area.  All good.  Back home via Mission Beach for a walk along the beach.  Its just lovely and there were lots of people soaking up the sun including a few guys hooning along in blowcarts.  Maxie was in awe. We stopped at the Surf Club just at the end of our street for a beer.  We were the only ones there sadly.  So back to the park for a play and to chill out.  The kids made some new friends and we struggled to get them inside for dinner.  Home made sushi for them and divine prawn and scallop pasta for us when the kids were asleep.  A great day. 

Mission Beach

The trip to Mission Beach was pretty bleak.  Bleak because it was raining and bleak from the destruction of Yasi.  It is evident EVERYWHERE. We drove through Cardwell which is a tiny town right on the edge of the ocean.  The main highway snakes along the waters edge with a narrow beach and what's left of the palm trees on one side and buildings on the other including a school, a few shops and some houses.  Most had sustained some form of damage and 80% of the trees have been affected.  We didn't go into Tully as you pretty much bypass it and we will go across tomorrow.  The Mission Beach area is spread out with a 15 minute drive between north and south mission beach, with little beaches in between. We booked into the Big 4 at South Mission Beach and the park was smashed.  They have photos in the reception and they are gob smacking.  Total carnage.  Its right on the beach and took the full force of the storm.  It overlooks Dunk Island and the Bedarra Family Islands which are closed indefinitely.  Apparently they both have been decimated.  Bedarra had an exclusive resort for over 15 year olds only.  Fancy and expensive.  Dunk was a little more affordable and catered to all ages.  I hear the owner doesn't have the cash to fix them and they are up for sale, although this could be a tall tale for all I know.  The houses along the waterfront at South Mission are again pretty affected and the gorgeous Elandra Resort is open but still repairing rooms.  We had a little visit and fantasized about staying.  Just gorgeous, too bad we had the kids. They we so badly behaved I wished I was back at Wallaman Falls. Over to Mission Beach and it was pretty uneventful.  The town is only just getting back on its feet and apparently the caravan park reopened only three weeks ago. Needless to say, it was packed to capacity and is a beautiful park at that.  We ate dinner at a pizza shop that only opened on Wednesday.  The choices of eateries were limited with a tavern (more like a cafe), the pizza joint and one other seafood restaurant in the main drag open for business.  The kids were out of control, so we decided to quite while we were still sane and left the tavern for drinks tomorrow.

Photos of Yasi effects tomorrow.

Ingham

Off to Wallaman Falls this morning, an hours west of Ingham and via a scenic route that showed the first signs of the devastation from cyclone Yasi.  Tree after tree was leaning, snapped off or pushed over with very few unaffected in some way.  The drive was quite pretty and all the more interesting because of the buildings that were clearly affected and still unrepaired.  We're not quite sure why a lot of buildings still have tarps on the roof and we can only guess that many didn't have insurance. Sad.  So the climb up to the falls was hair raising and particularly steep.  We passed a nasty black snake about to cross the road in front of us and my heart stopped.  The view at the top was magical and well worth the long climb. Wallaman Falls is the largest waterfall in Australia with a sheer drop of 305m.  It was big.  And blowy and cold and we stayed for all of 10 minutes.  Plus I was convinced the kids would go over the edge so I was more than happy to get back into the car.  Back to Ingham for lunch.  We were expecting restaurants, cafes, clubs, anything that slightly resembled the fine eateries in Griffith, but they must all eat at home.  Apart from Lou's amazing deli and JK's that we had done the day before, there's not much to choose from and we should know, as we painstakingly went into every shop to check them all out.  By the time we made a decision and went back to the only place that did pizzas, they shut their "roller door" down in front of us just as we pulled up at all of 1.40 pm on a Friday afternoon. So we headed out of town to Lucinda to the "best" fish and chip shop in Queensland apparently.  Whatever, we've heard it all before.  We drove past plenty of cane fields, cane trains and again much destruction from the cyclone.  And this is 100km south of the eye of the storm, so we're hanging to see Mission Beach and Tully. Lucinda has the worlds longest jetty, at just under 6km out to sea and is used to load sugar cane on to ships. Very impressive, but again its not working due to Yasi.  And to our delight, the fish and chips were pretty dam good which was amazing given it was the only shop in town, other than the pub, which is also fantastic apparently on weekends. Back via Taylors Beach (blink and you'd miss it) via the Sugar Mill which is also the largest in the southern hemisphere.  Home via another trip to Lou's Deli and this time I did some damage. Mushroom and truffle paste, calabrese spaghetti, mascarpone filled figs, cannolis waiting to be filled with ricotta, and on it goes.  Ah my waistline.  The dinner dilemma turned out to be a success not before a stop at the local RSL which many at the caravan park had talked up considerably.  It was full of grannies (albeit Italian ones), a guy belting out Neil Diamond, the obligatory chook raffle and the clincher, bain maries heating up the meat that was massacred.  Ah not what we were after.  So over to the Tropixx Hotel, that "Lou" from Lou's Deli had recommended.  And it was tops.  Modern cuisine, nice decor and loads of seafood.  Rick had a seafood platter and I had veal masala.  We were the last to leave, the kids were excellent and the place was a hit.  Go Ingham, you've redeemed yourself at the eleventh hour.

Ingham

On to cane country, and Italian cane country at that.  Ingham is an hours north of Townsville and supposedly has 60% Italian heritage. The drive was rather boring and the cane farms are starting to really dominate the landscape.  I say that and I really didn't see much of the landscape as I had my head buried in my lap attempting to sleep off another hangover. Our friends from Port Hedland are a very bad influence and I'm glad we left town this morning just to have a break from the frolicking.  The socialising continued until the wee hours of the morning and regretfully I stayed till nearly the end, even if I did fall asleep in the chair. Rick again stumbled home at 3am. Arghh, he didn't look well this morning. So we farwelled the Levey's again although this time, I seemed to be looking considerably worse than Tammy.  So over to Ingham, and we feel quite at home as the town has a definite Italian feel and could be mistaken for Leeton (a small town 50km from Griffith).  We cased the main street and soon sniffed out JK's Deli, a fabulous deli serving authentic coffee's, small goods and panini rolls for lunch.  Across the road to the best Deli I think I we've ever been in and we were beside ourselves. Rick was even more impressed when the owner said he knew his neighbour (the Bonacorsi's originally from Ingahm) really well, as did another lady that I spoke to in the children's clothing shop in town. So we stocked up on olives and treats. Got to love a great deli. I think its as good as anything in Haberfield, maybe even better.  So we took a walk through the main street which was nothing to mention. We headed out to the Cemetery which may seem morbid, but we had heard it was amazing.  And it was, with many of our dearly departed farewelled in extremely well tiled mosaic'd palaces.  Most had names that sounded Italian with slight differences to those in Griffith although Rick did see a Vardanega, Barabaro, Cavallaro, Olivero, Patane and Zappalla. It was quite fascinating and the kids seemed surprisingly interested as well.  Back into town and then home for an early dinner.  We were all pretty ready for bed after such a late night the night before, so it was baked beans and mushroom on toast.   The local Italian fare will just have to wait until tomorrow.

Townsville

Our last day in Townsville and it was another near perfect day with a top of 26 degrees.  Rick had some book work to finish up with his BAS due this week, so I took the kids down to the strand for ride on their bikes and some morning tea.  Maxie's doing so well on his bike and is ready to ditch the training wheels.  Scarlett is still balancing too much on hers so I think she's a good month or so away from freedom yet.  Anyway morning tea became ice cream and of course the kids were pretty chuffed.  Back home with rolls and party pies from Brumby's Bakery for lunch and we caught up with Chris and Tammy briefly and agreed to meet at the strand for an early BBQ dinner.  So Rick headed out for some early afternoon chores with Max and Scarlett at the caravan shop and Bunnings, and I tried to get Mr Zachie off to sleep which took a lot longer than expected.  Anyway we caught up with the Levey's around 4.30 PM and settled in for a nice dinner and a few drinks just between the waterpark and playground.  The kids had a ball and played till they could stand no more.  The boys cooked up some gourmet beef burgers complete with pesto sauce, caramelised balsamic onions that I had done earlier, rocket and other yummy treats.  It was delicious, along with the cheese platter, fresh prawns and antipasto that Tammy pretty much provided (I think they like their food as much as we do).  Yum yum, but I so need to diet.  Back home to the caravan park and we put the kids to bed and headed across to the Levey's for a night cap.  Problem was we didn't stop at one and after some considerable dribble and falling asleep in my chair I finally stumbled home in the wee hours of the morning alone as Ricky boy was still firing on all cylinders.   Let's see how he pull's up in the morning.

Townsville

Another warm day in Townsville and I am getting desperate to stay out of the sun.  We decided not to head to Magnetic Island as we've heard Dunk is a better option, and just up the road.  So out to the native wildlife park where you can get up close and personal with wombats, kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles, and some deadly snakes.  It was pretty good but the guide added his personal touch too often and it very annoying (putting it politely).  Sadly it detracted from the experience for many along with the VERY dusty setting.  Home to hose everyone down and I got ready for a ride along the strand with the kids.  As we were leaving we ran into our friends from Port Hedland and it seems they secured a spot on the other side of the park.  They slept in a truck stop last night, which Tammy said was OK.  I'm not sure I would have been so stoic.  Anyway we were very happy to be reunited and the kids thought it was pretty cool.  Poor Chris (dad) has gastro and didn't surface, but Tammy was happy to socialise and join us for a few early impromptu beers. So much for that walk and effort to exercise. I think Rick was sad that his drinking buddy was out of action and is hopeful of a speedy recovery tomorrow. We took the kids for a visit to the playground and scooter around the park.  Crumbed chicken for dinner, a book and early to bed for the kids, a first since we've been away.

Townsville

Well I write from paradise, or as I often say, "so it seems".  We managed to relocate to Rowes Bay Caravan Park and they had two spots available, one for us and one for our friends from Port Hedland.  Good work Rick, that bearded charm was useful for something. As we arrived we saw four big caravans leaving and people lining up to take their spots.  We were lucky to secure two of them and happily drove into the park past the other suckers fighting for the scraps.  Paradiso at last.  Hmmh I thought smugly, this is good as I noted the nice vans around us and cleanliness of the park.  And then I stumbled across the park map and guest information booklet, which boldly displayed across the front the park motto "Thieves love the tropics too.  Lock it or loose it". Ah ha, what have we done.  And then we met the neighbour who was tinkering under his mobile workshop, which Max immediately honed in on. It was love at first sight and he was mesmerized. So the neighbour "Eric" who's wife works in the park as a cleaner, has been living here for seven months and informs us that "town common" an aboriginal settlement is just behind said paradiso.  Apparently the natives are very active in the early hours of the morning and he has often chased young "black fellas" out of the park and his annex.  Thankfully we dont have one of those. So we have chained the kids bikes to the caravan (for the first time), not unpacked anything outside and are battening down the hatches tonight. I am scared already. So we headed off to the Aquarium which is home to a turtle hospital.  It was great and the kids loved it.  We took a tour of the hospital and a huge green turtle kept popping his head out of the water right near Scarlett and I.  It was so cute and one of those special moments.  Lunch at the aquarium and then home to drop Rick off to do some book work.  I took Scarlett and Max back to the waterpark for a play which ended promptly when Scarlett took a stack and cut her leg.  On to get some groceries and Barbie band aids and the day was done.  As for our lovely friends from Port Hedland, they called the caravan park and supposedly confirmed their late arrival this afternoon.  It seems they arrived back on the mainland today not yesterday as we thought, and were greeted with a caravan disaster as the fridge had not been working for the past 10 days and everything was rotten.  So after cleaning up the mess and airing the van, they got away late, hence their late arrival.  I put dinner on thinking it would be a nice thing for them to arrive to, only to be called and told reception have given away their spot.  Apologies for the language, but what assholes.  So as I write they are desperately trying to find anywhere to stay the night and so far its looking very dismal. Rick went down to reception to plead their case and they said they will try to accommodate them in the morning.  So sadly I have more bolognese than we can eat in a month.  Speaking of, I'd better get to making dinner.

Townsville

A new day with all the promise of a brighter end than yesterday, or so we thought.  We were supposed to be relocating to Rowes Bay Caravan Park, right near the city, the strand and the only park on the water which happens to overlook Magnetic Island.  It was the first park we attempted to get into two days ago. To recap, the lady on reception needed a good lesson in customer service and rudely declared that they don't take bookings. Walk in's only and she pretty much pushed me out the door.  So you can imagine my surprise when Ricky boy told me he had secured a booking for both us and our Port Hedland friends for the next three nights, starting tonight.  So we eagerly got up early this morning and headed to the markets for a quick whip around before moving to paradise. The markets were fair, not so big, but they had a lovely charm. We treated the kids to some fab cupcakes from a black New Yorker.  She was "dark" with very white teeth and boy did she smile.  She was gorgeous and a long way from home to be flogging cup cakes.  We picked up some home made crostoli and melting moments from "Maria", an Italian mumma from Ayr who had clearly been busy baking. Some vegies and a coffee later, we headed back to the caravan park to pack and get organised.  And so began the disaster.  Upon arrival we discovered there was no booking, and we had paid a deposit and booked elsewhere.  Where?  We weren't sure.  So we searched through Rick's phone and found the number with the kids screaming and near killing each other in the background. Stressful. We soon realised which park it was and headed off, very disappointed and gee that sea beamed at us as we sadly turned away.  On to the caravan park behind McDonalds, Sizzler and KFC which they proudly boasted in their advertising.  We paid, drove in and parked in the last site that happened to back onto the road that led into all three car parks.  Ah I don't think so.  So after consultation, we left but not before backing the caravan out of the park.  Arghh.  Where to next?  We called and booked into another Big 4, this time 15km north of Townsville, but a local riding past stopped and told us the area was dodgy.  So we went back to Rowes Bay to see if they suddenly had some availability.  Again, no luck and we were over it.  We "discussed" it further and decided it was best to go with the devil you know than the one you don't, so we're back at the original Big 4.  And they welcomed us with a smile. They certainly have the best customer service we've had second to Bundaberg (also a Big 4).  So here we are, camped behind the truck stop.  Rick's gone to Bunnings.  I've put a DVD on for the kids and we are hanging out.  I couldn't do another day of sun (dare I say that with all the rain down south) and am happy to stay put, although Rick will try Rowes Bay again tomorrow.  Hopefully the day will end better, as we are heading out for dinner. Stay tuned til tomorrow.

Townsville

That burning off is playing havoc with my washing and my sanity. We had to hang 4 loads in the caravan which was no easy feat given the space limitations. Not happy Jan. So again we hightailed it out of the park as soon as we could.  Sadly we weren't organised in time and it was too late to catch the ferry across to Magnetic Island before lunch. Disappointed and after a minor meltdown, it was back to the "guide" for more information on what to do in Townsville.  "Riverways" is an amazing complex set alongside the Ross River that snakes through the northern side of the city.  You can cycle, walk, run, whatever for about 20km and it takes you past houses, roads, shops, bars, etc.  So we did the bottom end and it was a good 2 hour walk with the kids on the scooters and Zachie in the pram. Great exercise but boy was it hot. On the way back we stopped at these stunning pools and playground in beautiful shady parklands which are all provided free by the council. There were lifeguards on duty, beautiful amenities, cafes, an amphitheatre, museum. All clean, modern and immaculately kept.  Just unbelievable. About 20 turtles were frolicking in the water just below us on the boardwalk.  The kids were in heaven.  Lunch beckoned and we headed back to the foreshore (The Strand) in town for a BBQ and play in the waterpark as promised.  I know I said it yesterday, but I need to say it again, this place is fabulous.  What is it with Queensland and foreshores.  They certainly know how to build awesome tourist attractions. The walk along the strand is just divine and there's so much going on with people, families, teenagers, oldies, all walking, hanging out, eating, "living". At one end of the stand is the waterpark and the other end, a man made massive rock pool that is 4 times the size of an Olympic pool with a playground, BBQs, seating, cafes, flying fox and loads of grass to perch and people watch.  The pool is saltwater, and the water is taken straight from the sea and pumped out and replaced every three hours.  And its stinger free, which is why I guess they have these facilities because you cant swim in the ocean for a good part of the year. So we threw some bangers on the barbie, the kids had a play in the waterpark and it was a lovely afternoon. There's an incredible hill in the middle of the city, right near the strand, so thought we'd have a look on the way home.  Its only a few metres short of being classified a mountain.  You can drive, run or walk up it, and I was astounded at how many people were doing exactly that.  Its a 2.9km steep climb (and I mean steep) and it was as busy with walkers as I have seen Centennial Park on a weekend.  Incredible.  We drove of course, and the view was beautiful.  Home via a different road this time which took us via the racecourse.  Apparently the Townsville Cup was on today and the ladies were seriously frocked up, some plastered and not looking so glamorous anymore, which I noted to Rick. His response, "I bet you were one the best looking chicks at the races in your younger days, at the beginning of the day (how nice, I thought)....but probably the WORST looking by the end of the day".  Hmmh! That's a big call given the crowds they pull to the Canberra Races. People everywhere were desperate to get home. It was chaos and the shoes were long gone for many including a group of ladies on the highway that Rick tooted like a big devo as we burned past them.  Go Rick. It so reminded me of Paul Burley tooting us girls as he lapped the main street of Griffith in my 'youth'.  Dinner was a disaster.  Roast pork in the webber with all the goodies, but we desecrated the meat, dropped the gravy, Scarlett's plate and some of the dishes over the floor of the caravan.  Grease, grease and more grease, and not enough bench space.  I officially had my first case of cabin fever.  Lots of yelling and a couple of tears later I was glad my evening of hell was over.