We've been out on the Quick Cat II today and had a whale of a time ..... sorry couldn't resist! The bus picked us up outside the campsite today at 12.30 (the only other time was 6.30am and even we don't get up at that time!). The bus took us down to the Harbour and we boarded the Catamarran. We went straight to the top deck (there was three decks in total). There was about 50 people on board. We set sail and boy was it windy on top ... we were a bit wind swept and I was freezing, even though it is about 30 degrees during the day.It took about 40 minutes before we could see the splash of whales playing in the distance. The skipper took us straight over and we sat and watched a mother and her calf splashing around, diving, jumping and sticking their tails up in the air..... it was awesome! We just bobbed around and watched them for ages. We were joined by two more a little later and the captain followed them while we watched from a distance. They came closer and started breaching out of the water, it was then that you really got an idea of how huge they are, even the calfs are massive! We were still on the top deck at this point and decided to go down and watch from there .... easier said than done !! We were all over the place, it was so choppy. We eventually got down to the lower deck and watched a bit more, trying to catch them on camera "performing" for us. The skipper then decided to take us out further, it was there we caught up with another 3 whales. They really are huge and I was waiting for one to pop up by the boat ... I really would have shit myself ! (Claire) The more whales we saw the bigger the display was ... it was awesome.
Time just went so quickly and the skipper said that it was time to head back to shore, we'd been out for 3 hours. Even the sail back you could see the whales in the distance. We are so pleased we got to see them this time around, we really enjoyed it and we know it's something we'll never forget ! We'll pop a couple of pics on but we'll probably bore you with all of them when we're back in the UK.
Next stop ......... not sure yet but we're heading for Cairns (about 1600 kms from here) so wherever the car takes us tomorrow. We've been recommended some stops on the way so we'll check em out and let you know.
We stopped off at Mackay, supposedly the campsite was a short walk from beaches and shops but it took us ages to find it. We practically drove all day, counting roadkill on the way and arrived at a shabby campsite. It was a large field right next to a busy road and the ground was like concrete. We bent most of our pegs trying to put the tent in .... not funny !! We were originally going to stay for 2 nights but soon changed our minds, we were out of there at 7.30 in the morning and heading away .... well trying too, there was nothing signposted so we ended up getting lost trying to get out of the place !
We drove for an hour and a bit and stayed at Airlie Beach (wonderful!!). It was just like we remembered from last time and we even stayed at the same campsite. We planned to sort a few things out with our flights and chill by the pool for a couple of days. Decided to treat ourselves (after the dissappointment of Mackay!) and got some beers and a bottle of Bundaberg Rum. We sat in the camp kitchen all night having hot dogs and drinks.... it was great! We met some nice people and shared our experiences until bed time (10pm! Wow, that's a late one for us!). Down by the pool is a massive spider sitting in its web, it's about the size of an adult hand, huge. Apparently it's a bird eating spider... cool!
We also found out the campsite guy had found a snake behind the fridge a couple of days ago !!!! Not cool!! Oh and we got attacked by a giant cricket when trying to get our water out the fridge .... Claire had to hide behind a towel and get the water in the end ..... very horrible ! Apart from all that we love the place .... happy memories ... good times !!
So now we're just sitting in the Camp Kitchen drinking Tooheys and planning our next drive tomorrow. Thinking Bowen with a few beach stops in between. The plan is to stay at Townsville though, which is about 300 kms away ... should be there by lunch time ish. We're just going to spend the rest of the day chilling and eating.
We made it to Townsville in good time, as Bowen didn't look that impressive and ended up staying at another Top Tourist Campsite about 7kms from the city. We passed the campsite we stayed at last time but said we would have a change. We managed to get a shady spot and pitched the tent. We had some lunch then went for a drive into the city. The town was really nice and very quiet. We had a walk down by the Strand beach front and walked from start to finish. It was really dusty so we couldn't make out Magnetic Island just over the water. We passed the Lagoon and there were plenty of people swimming. There was warnings on the beach about not swimming in the ocean because of the Jellyfish. Later back at the campsite we had tea, played cards and ate doughnuts, oooohh doughnuts, mmmmm mmmmm!! We realised while enjoying the delicious doughnuts that our campsite is right by a major road with huge trucks roaring by at regular intervals but it's ok because you can't really hear them over the noise of the jets and helicopters taking off from the airport next door. Oh and when getting into the tent Ben noticed a Cane Toad sitting by the doorway, he was gone by morning but we don't know where? Plus, once in bed we also came to the conclusion that we are next to a train line. All that considered we slept pretty well actually!
We felt we'd seen most of what Townsville had to offer so we took a drive the next day across to Charters Towers, a town about 130km inland which was founded due to gold. It's like stepping back in time, we really liked all the old buildings and stories about the miners and local council! We picked up some leaflets at the tourist info and decided to do one of the walks around town. Claire acted as the tour guide reading the information about all the sights along the walk. The town hasn't changed that much since the 1880's, we saw the Post Office, Stock Exchange building, Town Hall, Police Station and we took a look around the old ambulance centre. We had a guy walk around with us talking about the different items and relics in the centre. There was even an ambulance there from 1943 and it was still working .... although the battery was dead so the guy couldn't sound the siren for us ..... we did ask!! Everything was so old and some of the equipment looked quite scary. The guy had lived in the town for over 35 years and had some stories about that too, saying when they found gold the town had 138 pubs ..... the towns tiny and they had that many pubs!! He was talking about one of the pubs had a boxing ring in the back for anyone who had a bit too much drink and got a bit mouthy.
So now we're just sitting in the Camp Kitchen drinking Tooheys and planning our next drive tomorrow. Thinking Bowen with a few beach stops in between. The plan is to stay at Townsville though, which is about 300 kms away ... should be there by lunch time ish. We're just going to spend the rest of the day chilling and eating.
We made it to Townsville in good time, as Bowen didn't look that impressive and ended up staying at another Top Tourist Campsite about 7kms from the city. We passed the campsite we stayed at last time but said we would have a change. We managed to get a shady spot and pitched the tent. We had some lunch then went for a drive into the city. The town was really nice and very quiet. We had a walk down by the Strand beach front and walked from start to finish. It was really dusty so we couldn't make out Magnetic Island just over the water. We passed the Lagoon and there were plenty of people swimming. There was warnings on the beach about not swimming in the ocean because of the Jellyfish. Later back at the campsite we had tea, played cards and ate doughnuts, oooohh doughnuts, mmmmm mmmmm!! We realised while enjoying the delicious doughnuts that our campsite is right by a major road with huge trucks roaring by at regular intervals but it's ok because you can't really hear them over the noise of the jets and helicopters taking off from the airport next door. Oh and when getting into the tent Ben noticed a Cane Toad sitting by the doorway, he was gone by morning but we don't know where? Plus, once in bed we also came to the conclusion that we are next to a train line. All that considered we slept pretty well actually!
We felt we'd seen most of what Townsville had to offer so we took a drive the next day across to Charters Towers, a town about 130km inland which was founded due to gold. It's like stepping back in time, we really liked all the old buildings and stories about the miners and local council! We picked up some leaflets at the tourist info and decided to do one of the walks around town. Claire acted as the tour guide reading the information about all the sights along the walk. The town hasn't changed that much since the 1880's, we saw the Post Office, Stock Exchange building, Town Hall, Police Station and we took a look around the old ambulance centre. We had a guy walk around with us talking about the different items and relics in the centre. There was even an ambulance there from 1943 and it was still working .... although the battery was dead so the guy couldn't sound the siren for us ..... we did ask!! Everything was so old and some of the equipment looked quite scary. The guy had lived in the town for over 35 years and had some stories about that too, saying when they found gold the town had 138 pubs ..... the towns tiny and they had that many pubs!! He was talking about one of the pubs had a boxing ring in the back for anyone who had a bit too much drink and got a bit mouthy.
We got back from Charters Towers and headed straight into Townsville, we noticed there was a Quantas Flight Centre so called in. Our flying home day is now officially the 28th May, with us landing in London on the 29th ...... booooooooooo !! It's our last night in Townsville tonight and we're driving to Cairns tomorrow, we can't wait to get back there. Should be there about lunchtime ish and we're planning to stay there a week and soak up some sun and prepare Gracie B for the gruelling journey ahead of her.
Ok, so we made it to Cairns, we had a good journey and boy it's hot!! We arrived and had some lunch before an afternoon of chilling by the pool and topping up our tans! (Yes, it's a hard life!) Today we're looking for a garage to get Gracie B serviced at, want her to have fresh oil and filter etc before we head over to the West, plus it keeps our warranty valid if we get it serviced by a garage. We'll let you know what happens there.
Thanks for reading the latest about our adventure, more to come soon.
Love to everyone
Ben and Claire x x x
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