Seaforth

After leaving paradise at Airlie Beach we continued a little further south to our next destination of Seaforth, it is a little seaside town that we found 2 years ago when we were passing this way. We have now been here for six days and have already spent two days at bowls. The last couple of days have been overcast so not so good for the solar panels to recharge our Battery, and as you are not allowed to use a generator here at the campground looks like my TV & computer days are severely limited. I am currently up in the laundry area where there are a couple of power points so I am making use of the 240V, thought I would also catch up on the blog. Today I had a very nice massage from one of the local bowlers, it was very good value 1hr massage $30 I have booked another one for next Monday. We hope to stay here until about the 11th August then it will be moving south heading for home in September.

Airlie Beach

We arrived here at Airlie Beach on Sunday by 10am, after getting away nice and early from Home Hill. The caravan park that we picked is truly lovely with lush tropical gardens, concrete slab and green grass, the pool area is beautiful it is a lagoon pool and has water slides and spa areas, just a little cool when you first get in but once your body temp drops down it is very refreshing.
Today we had to be at Marina by 7.30am as we were going sailing on an 85ft Catamaran out to Whitehaven Beach and around the Whitsunday Islands. Bazza as usual does not like to rush so he set the alarm for 5.30am just to make sure we had plenty of time to get ready and drive 5 mins down the road to the marina, Denise didn't get out of bed until 6.30am and was still ready on time ! The weather was just great a little early fog but cleared to a beautiful blue sky and very little wind to start with, so we had to motor for a while until the breeze picked up. We arrived at Whitehave Beach a little before 12 and were taken ashore in the tender, where there was a good supply of balls and Frisbee's for the young energetic ones. I had an exhilarating swim in the beautiful clear aqua water while Bazza exercised his eyes feasting on the lush little bodies in their bikinis. The sand on Whitehaven is brilliant white and so very fine, just like course powder, the beach and surroundings are magnificent. While we were relaxing on the beach the crew were preparing a delicious BBQ on board for when we returned, and then we were on our way again heading towards Hook Island where we dropped anchor and again loaded into the tender and taken to the reef where we were able to snorkel and see the coral and beautiful tropical fish. Once again Bazza did not get salty elected to stay on board, with a few other pikers. The wind had picked up nicely for the return trip home so we sailed back at around 11knot's, it was truly an exceptional day out on the water.

Home Hill

Saturday we left Townsville and travelled 100klm to Home Hill, where we decided to spend the night at the Comfort Stop free camp. We had been told how good it is there with very nice toilets and showers but they had neglected to tell us about the many trains that pass through, someone said there had been 8 train overnight! It is very popular with the grey nomads as there was about 30 vans stopped there by dark, we were a couple of tired old Nomads on Sunday.

Just before Aye there was a fisho on the side of the road, so we stopped and brought some prawns, so that kept us busy peeling and eating them. Will have to remember to buy large prawns next time, as these were medium and it was too many to peel.

Townnsville....cont

Well I think someone must have redirected the trucks last night as we had a much better night, or maybe we were just very tired from the night before !

Today we caught the ferry out to Magnetic Island and hired a topless little Henry car to get us around, seeing as Bazza has a dislike for buses. We spent a few hours out at Horseshoe Bay, where we sat on the beach soaking up the sun, and one of us had a swim, it was just beautiful not too cold. We had an enjoyable lunch before motoring back stopping to have a look at some of the other picturesque bays on the island before catching the ferry back from Nelly Bay.

Townsville

Have spent the last couple of days here in Townsville, we are staying at the Magnetic Gateway Caravan Park. When we were allocated our site, I thought how great it was just a few steps to the pool, a large concrete slab and lovely green grass all around, but I did not take in the Bruce Hwy just across from the pool ! The hwy is very busy especially at night with the road trains, was up at 3.30am putting on a CD to camouflage some of the road noise. Had thought we may stay here over the weekend but now think we will move on again, slowly going south towards Mackay.

Today we went for drive up to the lookout on Castle Hill, where you can get a 360 degree view of Townsville and out to Magnetic Island. We also went to the Strand and Rowes Bay, where we went for a nice bike ride on the bike track along the foreshore and was able to ride around the caravan park there, that is very popular as it is right on the beach. They do not take bookings there, you just have to rock up about 8.30 -9am and wait for vans to leave and then they allocate you a site. It was very tight there and not as nice as the one we are at, but it is away from the hwy so would be much quieter.

After going to the local shopping centre and getting a few more supplies it was back to the park, for a lovely refreshing swim and time to do a little reading.

Ravenswood...cont

We decided to stay here another night, so today we hopped on our bikes and went to look at the museum and an antiques shop, we had saved them to give us something to do today. We also stopped at the Imperial Hotel for a shandy and a beer before the short cycle back to the van for lunch and a rest. Tomorrow we move onto Townsville for a few days.

Ravenswood

Arrived here at Ravenswood well before lunch, and found the showground campsite where we will stay tonight only $12 for power and water. There are about 30 other vans and campervans here, some are with a caravan club.
After climbing a very steep path up to the lookout we were able to get a good view of the open cut gold mine and see the pit where giant trucks and machinery once worked. We then went for a well deserved beer & lunch at the Railway Hotel, which is one of only two remaining in the town which boasted forty eight in the gold rush back in 1868. We stopped at the old miner's cottage, and was surprised to find inside many items on display from when it was once occupied. Around the town you can see many old chimney stacks, boilers & mullock heaps from earlier days.