Townsville to Bowen - August 2014

We left Billabong Sanctuary mid afternoon and decided that we would drive until we had enough and hopefully find a free camp somewhere along the way. We ended up at a free camp in Home Hill for the night where just on dusk we got to watch a sugar cane field being burnt. We were a fair distance away but it was still a pretty impressive thing to see and hear.

There was loads of rain predicted all along the east coast, there was no way we were going to avoid it so we tried to pick a spot that was supposed to get the least amount of rain. We decided on Bowen which was were parts of the movie 'Australia' was filmed. We stayed at a nice little caravan park next to the beach with a huge pool, which the kids made a beeline for as soon as we set up, but like all the other pools we have been in it was freezing! 

The kids and I spent a bit of time doing school work and doing some experiments.

School work at the beach - Sight word stomp!!

Surprisingly our plan worked and Bowen didn't get as much rain as a lot of other places nearby. I think we had 2 nights and 1 day so it wasn't too bad. And what did we do on a rainy day in Bowen, we watched Australia of course. It was interesting to see where they made the movie even though there is nothing left expect a empty paddock, the kids found it a bit hard to comprehend though. Cabin fever started to set in after lunch so we headed to the library for a change of scenery. 

The next day we went to nearby Horseshoe Bay to find a couple of Geocache's that took us on a great little walk that we all enjoyed despite the drizzling rain. We had to practically force the kids (mainly Lucy) to actually come with us but by the end of the walk they didn't want to stop, luckily there was another trail that was slightly longer, the rain had cleared and the sun made an appearance.

Horseshoe Bay

The kids had a great time at Bowen, I think they enjoyed just having a couple of days to play with their toys. They made friends with an older lady who actually had family that lived in West Wyalong - its such a small world!

Billabong Sanctuary in more detail - August 2014

Billabong Sanctuary is a great little place, just south of Townsville, its only small but it has lots of talks and its pretty interactive for the kids. The kids got a bag of feed each to feed the kangaroos, ducks and 1 very friendly emu that wander around the park. There were also some very game Magpie Geese that if you weren't careful would try and grab the bag of feed out of your hand. Lucy is a bit scared of ducks and other birds so there were many times during the day that she needed to be rescued from hungry ducks!
First up we went and saw the cassowary which Chloe was able to feed through the cage. Lucy wasn't quite game enough to give it a go.

Next we saw the most adorable wombat, he had been at the sanctuary from a baby and was very tame and more like a domestic pet. There were lots of Koala's with a few that were actually awake and walking around! 

Scared of a duck but was the first one to line up to hold the crocodile

This was such a great day, the kids got to feed and touch so many different animals and the talks were all really interesting. Lucy stood listening to the crocodile talk so intently but she now of course is extremely worried about going near any water incase there is a crocodile lurking. 

Lucy's favourite part of the day was the snow white barn owl, and Chloe's was of course the part where she had a rainbow lorikeet on her shoulder. 

  

Billabong Sanctuary - A post by Chloe - August 2014

Happy Birthday Pa. xxxxx (Chloe wrote this on your birthday Dad, I've just been a bit slack and hadn't posted it)

I patted a koala.

The baby koala is very clever and its name is Puzzle

I had a rainbow bird on my shoulder.

I saw a Mummy kangaroo have a baby kangaroo in its pouch. 

We had a turtle race and the turtle on our side was named Solomon and our turtle won. 

We saw the zoo keepers feed the crocodile. The crocodiles ate chicken.

Tolga to Townsville - August 2014

The next few days were pretty uneventful. We left Rocky Creek and headed across to Ingham and back down to Tully. After we set up and had some lunch we went back to Mission Beach to catch up with our friends again. It was so good to see them again even though it had only been a week since we left it felt a lot longer. It was so tempting to stay here another week but the weather was not looking good with rain forecast for all the next week. And sure enough the next day in Tully it rained steadily all day long. Lucy did a fair bit of school work, the kids and I hung out at the library for a bit, while Brad bought a new fishing rod and that was about it for the day. I think the highlight may have been the scones and pikelets we made for afternoon tea!

It was still raining the next day as we drove towards Rollingstone, the rain stopped not far out of Tully and the sun came out but it was very windy and we were glad that we didn't have far to go. Brad was very keen to try out his new fishing rod so once we were set up at Rollingstone we headed to Balgal Beach which has a great inlet perfect for fishing. A few weeks ago when we were here we had a lovely time on the beach, it was a different place today with the wind so strong the waves were crazy and it was so cold on the beach, but around the corner at the inlet was protected from the wind so it was actually quite hot. We were entertained by a turtle that hung around in front of us the whole time popping its head up every so often. Then we had a visit from a small string ray that just sat at the edge of the water so close to us! They both made up for the fact that we didn't catch any fish.

Yes, she is playing in a pile of ash...

It was Lucy's turn to get sick, so we spent another lazy day, while Lucy slept all day. Chloe and I spent a bit of time down at the creek feeding the fish and cute little turtles bread.

Sorry for the dodgy photo - only had my phone on me

Lucy was back to normal the next morning but now it was Brads turn. We got to Townsville pretty early but they let us book in anyway, after we set up (in the same site we were at last time) Brad crashed in a big way and spent the majority of the day in bed. The kids were super excited because the friends they met here last time were still here, it was a very cute reunion!! I spent the day catching up on all the washing, it does actually take all day to do a weeks worth of washing, because I use a little pink twin tub that I love because it saves me spending $4-$5 a load at caravan park washing machines, but it does take a bit longer because its so small, which is not really a problem because time is not really a big issue at the moment!

We originally only booked in for 2 nights at Townsville, but because Brad was so sick and we were waiting on some mail we ended up staying 5 nights. The kids were thrilled with this plan and once again spent every moment that they could with their friends.

While the kids played and Brad slept I spent a couple of days, doing housework and catching up on the blog and trying to catch up on the mammoth task of going through all the videos and photos we have taken and start turning it into a DVD for ourselves.

Lucy received some mail from her teacher at Dubbo School of Distance Education and was thrilled to receive an award - I think the smile says it all!!

On our last day Brad was feeling slightly better so we dragged the kids away from the park and went for a walk around Kissing Point. It was a beautiful day and Townsville has done such a brilliant job with this area making it so accessible and really informative. This area had a huge role in the first world war. 

We spotted so many turtles along this walk

Such a calm and beautiful day!!

A little bit of history 

The kids were very sad to be leaving their friends once again, but as we were heading to the Billabong Sanctuary this sweetened the blow slightly. We really hope to catch up with these lovely people again soon!!

Saying goodbye to friends xx

Mareeba to Tolga - August 2014

After a very bad night with Chloe she woke up feeling almost normal again and it was time for us to leave Mareeba and head to the next destination a massive 22km away!! We stayed at the Rocky Creek War Memorial Park a few kms out of Tolga. Lucy did a couple of hours of school work then we went for a drive to Lake Tinaroo where the kids found a pretty awesome park. 

We wandered around Atherton for awhile, Chloe spotted a Dominoes and decided she wanted pizza, which was the first time she had asked for food in 2 days, but it wasn't open until later that afternoon, so we headed to the Herberton Historic Village. Chloe lost interest pretty quickly but I think that she was just too tired. Lucy was horrified when we told her what the canes in the classrooms where used for! 

A wanted poster made from a 120 year old printing press

It was a great way to spend a couple of hours, Brad & I probably could have stayed longer but the kids had had enough. We went back to the bus, stopping at Atherton along the way to pick up pizza for dinner. Chloe then ate 2 days worth of food in one meal!

There are so many waterfalls in this area and that is what we had planned for the next day. Chloe was much better but she woke up grumpy and was not happy about spending the day looking at waterfalls. Before we hit the waterfalls we stopped in at the curtain fig tree. I had seen photos of this tree but it is much more impressive in real life!

We stopped at 5 or 6 different waterfalls and each one was so different and beautiful in its own way. The first one was Malanda Falls which would be an awesome swimming spot in summer.

The next 3 were off the main road on a loop called waterfall circuit. It was quite strange you would be driving along passing farms and then out of nowhere would be this little pocket of rainforest with a waterfall in the middle of it. At each one of these stops we had to fight with Chloe to get her out of the car and start the walk (they were all really short ones) but once she got going she forgot she didn't want to be doing it and enjoyed herself. 

Millaa Millaa Falls - This one was my favourite so far

Zillie Falls

Elinjaa Falls

None of these falls had a long enough walk for Lucy, so we drove a bit further to Henrietta Creek, which is the start of a 2.2 km walk to Nandroya Falls. Finally Chloe left her grumpy pants in the car and started off at her usual pace - a run.

A quick drink to cool down

And then we got to Nandroya Falls - WOW! Thats about all I can say about it, the photos definitely do not capture the beauty of this spot and I can't describe it except to say it was stunning.

The walk back was at a pretty slow pace, but we eventually made it back to the car, there were a few more waterfalls around the area, but we decided to call it a day and headed back to the bus.