Parked up at Sarina

     We have decided to take a break for some time and have settled at Campwin beach east of Sarina. Will be spending the next year here, deciding what we will do.
     Campwin beach is a lovely quiet beach side village with friendly locals, white sand beachs to walk the puppies on each day, less than 10 minutes from Sarina which has everything that one would need.

     Spending my time unpacking Dilligaf and seeing the sights around the area.

Boat ramp at Freshwater point

              While we were waiting for the real estate to grant us the privilege of renting one of their  properties, we were lucky enough to meet a local that said we could park up at his place out towards Armstrong beach, he has a few acres and plenty of room to put us up for as long as we needed.
     We ventured out there on Wednesday 2nd. I drove to Freshwater point to have a look, as it was only up the road a bit, nothing much there but residential area, the view from the boat ramp toward the south was outstanding.

     To cut a long story short we finally secured the house we are now in at Campwin beach on Friday 4th. It is unfurnished and we have gathered a few essentials over the last couple of weeks.

Campwin beach - low tide

Campwin beach - high tide

                                                    On the 14th the spectacle of the super moon, when the moon was the closest to earth since 1948, saw some really big tide movement, from less than half a metre up to 6 metres. The local beach at Campwin was something to see with the contrasting tides as the photo's show.

Marine life at Low tide Campwin beach

 

     At the lowest tide there was a veritable marine garden to behold, just like diving on a reef - without the water. This photo shows only a small sample of what was actually there to be seen, I was pleasantly amazed at the sight.

Turtle tracks on Sarina beach

     Sarina beach and Campwin beach are among the few beaches along this coast which host Marine Turtles from November, to lay thier eggs. A huge effort on their behalf, to drag themselves up the beach and lay the eggs at the highest point they can get above high tide then drag themselves back to the water, leaving the eggs to look after themselves until they hatch.   Walking the beach on Wednesday 16th, early morning, we found these tracks of a turtle as it made it's way up the beach and back to the water. Each drag mark is nearly three feet wide with the flipper marks on each side of the drag mark. The turtle never laid this time, hopefully she will try again.

Sun setting on coal ships at Hay Point

   

     While I was at the lookout trying to get some photo's of the super moon on the 14th, the ships waiting to get in to Hay Point were lit up by setting sun, they stood out like beacons on the horizon, jewels on the ocean!

Sunset from lookout at Campwin

Then as the sun went down this glorious scene begged to be photographed - lovely!!

     Will blog again when I have anything interesting to blog about.  Cheers 'til then.

15th to 31st October - going south

                     Saturday 15th

 Townsville port early Sat. morn

    The Townsville air show was a blast!!  Although we started out parked a bit far away, we moved a closer and saw most of the display.
     the picture left is the view over the ocean from where we first parked up on Port road.


      We spent the weekend and the first few days of the week at Currajong, doing a bit of shopping and catching with a few friends before departing on Thursday 20th, making our way south.

                     Friday 21st
     We got as far as Homehill yesterday spending the night at the comfort stop, it is a well set up stop-over with laundry, showers etc. I made use of the laundry while there.
    

Jim enjoying a drink on the verandah

     Traveling on today we had breakfast at a rest area south of Bowen and lunch at Bloomsbury, making about 240 km this morning. Refueled Dilligaf at the servo here and continued to the Leap Hotel about 20km north of Mackay. The hotel here has a camp area free to use,  just have a beer or something at the pub. We had a takeaway dinner and a drink or two, as the picture of Jim here shows.
             
                         Saturday 22nd

The Leap mountain

     The hotel and few residences (most of whom (I think) would commute to Mackay to work) rests in the hollow of hills and mountain's. The morning was pretty cool with a heavy dew on the ground. We walked to the base of this hill this morning before leaving for Sarina fairly early.

Shadows on the beach at Cape Palmerston

Once in town we had to wait for the real estate to open, we are looking at establishing a new home base.  We went on to Cape Palmerston Holiday park by mid morning on Saturday for the weekend. The beach is lovely and we enjoyed a walk and a splash.

Sunset at Cape Palmerston

          The sunset was very colourful with our bus in the fore.




                             Monday 24th

Marion creek - low tide

Marion creek - high tide

     We ventured to Notch Point road to find a quiet camp spot on the bank of Marion creek. I was amazed see the water rushing up the creek as the tide came in, it went from a sand filled stream to a wide and pretty river, the tides vary by about 5 mtrs, huge movement in my book, never seen the like. I tried my luck at fishing on the high tide resulting in one whiting. GREAT!
    The two photo's of the creek show a little of what I saw between the high and low of the tides.
     We stayed here until Thursday then ventured in to Sarina.

                Thursday 27th
    After restocking the larder at  Woolworth's this morning and checking the real estate we drove out to Sarina beach where we had a look at a property, spending a couple of days there. The beach is long and the tide goes out a long way but it is all sand no matter what the tide.

Coal loading terminal at Hay point

                    Saturday 29th
      Drove around the corner to Campwin beach this morning where we had a good view of the coal loading terminal at Hay Point, south of Mackay, and the surrounding seascape. BEAUTIFUL!! I counted 13 ships waiting to get into the wharf to do what they do.

      Later in the afternoon we drove back into Sarina township parking near the sports park for the next couple of days.
               
                         Sunday 30th
     The local showground markets are on today, held on the last Sunday of every month. I took a drive out to have a look, it is a huge market with all sorts of anything that you might want (and some you may not). I only had a quick look as I will take more time when it comes around again next month.

                         Monday 31st
                  Awaiting real estate agents!! 
     October is over! I'll blog again in November.
  

Moving On again 1st to 14th

          Another month - The first few days in October passed with a rush, not much happening.     
     On the 4th we spent the afternoon at Meunga creek, lazing in dappled shade under the huge trees on the banks and having a splash in the water, the weather is hot and humid at present - so a great way to be cool. Couple of photos of Dot and Yip at the creek and a short video of them doing what they like to do.

Dot in the water at Meunga creek

Yip at Meunga creek

                   

Vannessa and the pups in Cardwell

                            


                                    Sunday 9th,
     Taking a walk on the wild side!! well - almost - a short stretch of track through the scrub at Cardwell.

   

                        Monday 10th
                   Last morning in Cardwell
     While walking the dogs this morning along marine parade, as we have been doing for some time, the huge crocodile that frequents the area came to bid us au revoir, nice to catch sight of it before we departed, it swam under the jetty while we watched with everyone else. 

Dilligaf at Bushy Parker Park 

 

 

     We got away early morning, stopping in Ingham on the way through to restock the larder making our way to Rollingstone by midday. A very quite RV park in Bushy Parker park with Rollingstone creek to one side.
The water was beautifully cool and clear and we enjoyed a splash this afternoon.

                     Tuesday 11th
     All of 20km to Bluewater this morning by 9 o'clock. The creek here has considerably less water than when we where last here a month ago, but enough to have a swim with the pup's. Found further down the creek the water has stopped flowing, the need for rain in these parts is evident, there are water restrictions in place. 
     A couple of chickens roaming the camp area, Yip has been keeping a keen eye on them, she would love to have one or both.!!
     We will be here for a couple of nights while we attend to appointments in Townsville,  first one tomorrow and another next Wednesday and the airshow on the weekend, so will just puddle around over the next few days going wherever the fancy takes us.

                      Thursday 13th
     Overcast this morning and a bit humid. To Saunders beach. We were paddling in the sea by 8.45am, the girls had a ball chasing the waves and a couple of small fish in the surf. Will overnight here and make our way to Currajong on Friday to be in the right place for the air show on Saturday.

                Back after the weekend

End of September at Cardwell

                                    Still here!
   Not much happening, the weather is warming up, must be almost time to head south!

     A lovely day spent at Murray Falls  about 40km north west from Cardwell on Tuesday 27th. Gail came for the ride along with Dot and Yip of course. It was a bit crowded due the school holidays at present but there was room for us and the water was cool and clear, ducked in for a splash a few times. Some photo's of the day-

Vannessa + Yip at the bottom of Murray falls

 May not be able to see it here, but-
             If you look closely behind me over the top of my right shoulder there is a very tiny man standing on the cliff face!! a trick?? I don't know, it was there when I downloaded it to the computer.  (Do-Da-Do-Da - Whew!  -  weird!!)

Murray falls gorge

     

Murray Falls Queensland

What ever! the day was splendid.

           September is almost gone, there will be some movement from us next month.  I 'll let you know when something happens.
                  Catch all in October

15th to 23rd Back to Cardwell

              Wednesday 15th
    Today we departed Sarina, a beautiful  part of the country, We both like the area and the weather has been lovely. We got away fairly early  hoping to make Merinda again where we stopped on the way down.
      We did well until a bit south of Proserpine we had a blow out,  just what we needed
-NOT-!!! Ahh well, such is the life on the road, not a nice way to depart with our cash. To continue on - A bit north of Proserpine we had to stop again, this time for a roadside Queensland Transport check, breath test and licence etc, which Jim passed with flying colours.  All good and we arrived at our first destination early afternoon.

               Friday 16th 
     Homehill today.  The cowboys rugby game on tonight which Jim watched at one of the local hotels.  Easy going day.

               Saturday 17th
     Stopped in Townsville on our way through to purchase some more meat for the dogs, then on to Bluewater for a spell. Took the pups for a swim in the Bluewater creek, lovely cool clear water, I ducked in myself for a splash, very nice.
     Moved on to Rollingstone late in the afternoon to park up outside the hotel. A great walk to Bushy Parker Park with the dogs and a swim in the creek.

Rollingstone creek at Bushy Parker Park

Dot+Yip at Rollingstone

    


Dot and Yip had fun in the water, the creek is pretty, great place to camp if it were allowed.

                            Sunday 18th
      Some more driving practice for me this morning. We left Rollingstone early with me in the drivers seat, all went well and Jim took over again north of the Cardwell range. On to Gail's residence where we hitched the trailer back to the bus and resumed our spot at Landsdown street where we will be for the next couple of weeks or so.

                           Friday 23rd
      The weather is warming up! Jim has been busy over the last few days doing some maintenance, oil change, replaced the fuel filters and one thing and another. I have been busy taking it easy. FEW!!! life is tough you know!!
                 That's it for now, catch up soon.

September 5th to 14th - Sarina to see My brother

                Monday 5th
     We moved our rig to Gail's place to un-hitch the Trailer from the bus so we can travel to Sarina and back without the car or trailer, not going to be needing them on this trip. We are on our way tomorrow to catch up with my little brother, whom I haven't seen for about four years, looking forward to catching up with him and his partner Virginia.

                Tuesday 6th

Yip and Dot at Balgal beach  6.9.16

     Made our way to Ingham first up this morning to attend to some business and do a larder restock.  Only traveled as far as Balgal Beach by lunch time. We camped the night at the R.V.camp, spending the afternoon relaxing and taking the pup's for a walk on the beach. They had a ball running and exploring.
This photo and video tell the story of their antics.

                       Wednesday 7th

Sunrise at Balgal beach

     It is a beautiful sunny day today, walking the beach this morning resulted in another sunrise photo opportunity, as in this picture.
  Left Balgal beach mid morning with me as the chief pilot. Heading for Townsville and our good friends Gill and Steve.      
     I really need more driving practise, I did not feel particularly relaxed and only drove a few kilometers to Yabulu roadhouse. Jim resumed the drivers chair and took us comfortably to Boundary road, south Townsville, where we stocked up with dog meat from Supreme Pet Meats, they specialise in kangaroo meat, which our puppies love.
      On to the new boat ramp parking area to park over night. A lovely 2 or 3 hours catching up with gill and Steve in the afternoon. Tried my luck fishing off one of the pontoons without any result catch wise, but it was good fun.
             
                                    Thursday 8th

Port access road bridge Townsville

Sun up on another great day.
     Left the port area early to beat the business traffic to make Jim's appointment in Ross River Road, which is at 9.30 am. A bit early but we found a park and had a coffee 'til it was time. 
     Nearly lunch time by the time we were ready to head south. Refueled the bus in Ayr and traveled on to Home hill early afternoon. the Homehill comfort stop is in the middle of town and has all that one needs, hot showers, toilets, laundromat and a camp kitchen if needed. I made use of the laundry facilities. Visited the shops to catch up on some goodies I wanted and took it easy 'till dinner.             Time to rest for the night and be ready for another day tomorrow.

                          Friday 9th
     Bit of moisture this morning with light drizzle rain, cleared to a nice day later in the morning. From Homehill to just north of Bowen today, parked behind the Merinda hotel, The footy is on tonight so here we are 'till Saturday.

                           Saturday 10th
     It's a beautiful day today. We made our way into Bowen to avail ourselves of some fresh fish from the fishermans co-op shop. Got some fresh prawns and fish fillets.We parked up for a while and I took some pictures of our stay.

Jim and Dilligaf at Bowen

Dilligaf at Flagstaff Hill, Bowen

Whitsunday Islands from
Bowen

Decided we will go all the way to Sarina today and called the Van park to make sure they could accommodate us a couple days early, no  problem! I did another stint of driving and feel a whole lot more comfortable this time. We arrived at the Sarina Palms Caravan Village early afternoon, checked in and set up camp. 


 Went for a walk to town and found this statue, bit ugly but there it was. Back to camp and a relaxing evening.

Cane toad statue mid town Sarina

                       Sunday 11th
     Took a tour of the Sarina Sugar Shed today! very interesting to learn the ins and outs of how the sugar mill works, it is a mini version of the real thing. The best part was the tasting of the products they make, Rum and rum liquor along with various other spirits and sauces, chutneys etc. The Rum liquor was to my liking so I purchased a small bottle. The Rum itself is $99.00 a bottle, I don't like rum that much but Jim does so I bought him a sample 50ml bottle at $12.00. A lovely way to spend my day.      
     The Van park plays host to an odd array of statues - elephants, crocodile, Brolga, emu, giraffe, rhino, an ape and many more. this photo of a rhino beside Dilligaf was fun, and Jim had a bit of a laugh with a baby elephant. (He's so funny sometimes)

One of the many statues at Sarina van park

 

Ride 'em, Cow-Jim at Sarina

     Took the dogs for a walk later in the after noon and prepared to wait for my brother to arrive sometime tomorrow.

                                    Monday 12th
     Trying to be patient!  Went to the supermarket to get food for dinner, a B.B.Q. and salad, simple.
     finally they arrived at about 8pm. A long day for us all but we sat up burning the midnight oil 'til fairly late anyway.

                         Tuesday 13th
     What a great day!! Spent the day with Karl (my brother) and his partner Ginny, starting the morning looking at photos, a late breakfast, and lots laughter and chatting.

From left-Ginny, Me, Karl and Jim sitting at camp Sarina

Karl+Ginny with the ape at Sarina

 He hired a car,so we took a drive to some of the local beaches, leaving Jim at camp dog sitting. Stopped at the Leagues club for a beer and a game of pool or two then back to the van park for dinner more laughter and gas bagging!!  Another late night but I had a ball.

                            Wednesday 14th
     Coffee and toast for breakfast. Bit sad, they have to go home today, short but sweet get together.
    

Cardwell in August

Sunrise over Hinchinbrook Island Cardwell 11th August 2016

     Not much happening in these parts, walking the beach with Dot and Yip meeting all the locals and tourists. This photo of one of the many beautiful sunrises on the shores of Cardwell.
     The Pup's are having a ball on the beach, digging up ghost crabs and running amok'. No swimming though, Crocodiles inhabit these waters and there has been a large one around for a number of years, it swims the waters on a reasonably regular basis. I had a pretty good sighting of it early in the month, it surfaced 5 or 6  times as I was walking back home from the jetty one morning. (Talk of the town for a few days) It looked fairly large, I must say.
     Jim set the mud crab pots a couple of days in a row with only a couple of undersized ones for his effort, never mind - he managed to get nice and muddy in Meunga creek but decided it wasn't worth the exercise. He also is enjoying our stay here catching up with old mates.
     We will leaving Cardwell early next month for a short time to travel to Sarina. My young brother is going to meet us there for a day or two, looking forward to seeing Him, it's been a year or four.  We will venture back to Cardwell for a time after that.
     We have made a plan (WHAT!! - a plan) yeah! sort of, we want to be in Townsville for an air show mid October, after that we will be at the mercy of our own decision (or IN-decision) and decide which way is next. (up - down or sideways!! Ha Ha)
     Life is great, it should be compulsory for all to experience this way of living sometime in their allocated time on earth.
           Cheers for now, take of each other 'til next I blog.

Warm days in Cardwell

                                                   Still here, all is good.
     We are property sitting for a friend, can stay as long as we like, so we will do just that.

Deadhorse creek Cardwell

     Had a lovely day mid July when I took a picnic lunch, my friend Gail and the puppies up the back of Cardwell via the scenic drive, to an unusually named water way called  Deadhorse creek. There ain't no dead horses as far as I know, but a beautiful stream running through native scrub. The puppies had a ball. The water was a bit cool for me to swim in so we just had a feed and relaxed in the quiet for an hour or two.
     This photo of the creek shows the swimming hole and a small water fall, just perfect!

    August has arrived already. The nights are a bit cool but the days are fantastic.  just taking each day as it comes will make a move when we are ready. Chow for now.

11th June to start July - Mucking about in Cardwell

That's me at Bedford Creek

             Taking it easy.
   Mid June and winter has finally arrived, the temperature has dropped quite a bit, still having the odd showery day but mostly fine. Spend our days with a bit of fishing, bush walking, and catching up with odds and sods of jobs needing doing.
     A few pictures I have taken.

Casting the net for prawns
(never got any!)

Sunset through a bush fire
smoke haze at Cardwell
The bush fire wasn't a serious fire, only a small amount of scrub that was cleared.

The prawns were not very co-operative and I still haven't heard of anyone getting much of a catch. A few hardy souls are on the beach quite often, but haven't actually seen any fish caught.

Scenery at Stoney Creek
Cardwell

Just a pretty flowering bush
in the scrub at Cardwell

   





   

Stoney creek Cardwell

     The forestry here is in the process of cleaning up and have slashed the fire breaks which have made for some great tracks for the dogs and myself to walk. this one is along side Stoney Creek and is very pretty.

     July here already and the weather is beautiful now, cool overnight and warm and sunny during the day.  It is our intention to be around this area until the winter day's are over, making sure we don't get anywhere near too cold a place until it warms up again.
    Catch you then.

19th May to 11th June NOT much happening

     Not much news since last I blogged except we took a quick visit to Bedford creek, a little north of Cardwell. Awaiting some parts for the trailer which the do-it bloke (who is also the chief pilot) will install when they arrive. In the mean time I am taking it real easy!!

Readying the crab pots 

Camp site at Bedford Creek

We had a ball when out at Bedford, it's a little known place beside the river which is a tributary of the Murray.  The photo right is of our campsite while there and the one on left is of the boss getting the crab pots ready to set.
      We would have liked to stay longer but the weather turned against us and we only had 3 days. Caught a Mud Crab that we cooked and ate while still warm, Mmmm -- not half bad!!
    There were bream about, but a lot of them were under-size. Had a nice meal though, I got a couple and our mate Gail caught more and a nice whiting as well.
     Had a glimpse of a small Crocodile on the first day while fishing, only about a foot long. On the second day Jim saw a larger one briefly when talking to a local who had come out to do some fishing but never caught anything. It was raining fairly heavy by then and we took shelter for most of the day. Dot and Yip are having a ball but must make sure they don't go near the water, don't want them turning into croc s*#t.
     The following day dawned wet. We left about midday to travel as far as Euromo, a small township south of Tully. Only thing there is a pub, post office and - funnily enough - a laundromat. Jim watched the state of Origin footy match at the pub this evening and next day I took the opportunity to wash and dry any wet towels etc. utilising the amenities of the laundromat. All is good.
      Driving back to Cardwell later in morning we are now camped up at Gails place for some time 'til the parts required arrive. Will decide what is next when all is done.
        Catch all later, when something interesting happens to tell.
      Cheers 'til then
   

1st to 19th Time in Cardwell

 
      Whiling away our time catching up with some old friends and acquaintances in Cardwell, doing some maintenance on the bus while also waiting for the new fridge to arrive, after which time we will maybe hit the road again. Time will tell where we go at that time.

Attie creek gorge

     Been checking out some of the sights around the place and have taken a few photo's. Took the puppies up to Attie Creek falls one afternoon. It rained while we were there and it was a bit dark, but the falls are pretty awesome and the gorge down the hill is also great.

Hinchinbrook Island +
Cardwell beach

Walking the southern end of the beach at Cardwell on an overcast day with Hinchinbrook island in the background and a very low tide this day made an unusual picture, a bit cool and dead looking.
     Unfortunately for the locals, the town seems to be struggling to survive, work is about nil and there are a lot of empty houses and flats.

cycad in full fruit 

     The forest behind the town makes a nice walk for us, following the fire breaks around the edge.  This cycad is full of berry's and was quite big nestling in the rocks.

Dot+Yip at Cardwell
forestry creek

We found a little creek with lovely fresh, clean, running water which was deep enough for Dot and Yip to go for a swim and look for fish to catch, they never found any but enjoyed the water.

Cardwell sunset

     The sun comes up each day (as it does!!) and sets again each evening (as it does!!) and this one was well worth taking a photo of, it looked like a huge fire in the west (well -- ? I guess it was!!)

Anyway,   we are having fun.
    I'll catch up again later in the month.