Outback Queensland CFT Trip - Day 15

Friday 21 July Townsville - Sydney

We spent time this morning sitting and chatting until the bags were all loaded. Then Allan drove us on a sightseeing tour along The Strand. There is a lovely long grassed park with lots of beaches and some huge banyan trees.

Out to the airport where checkin was fairly painless and then we waited, having lunch and chatting. I decided to test out one of the massage chairs and found it excellent. I'll have to do that again.

I was home by just after 5pm and Arianne had organised dinner for us both.

Outback Queensland CFT Trip - Day 14

Thursday 20 July - Townsville

Today was a free day in Townsville so Kerrie and I joined most of the others to take the ferry to Magnetic Island.

The trip was only 20 minutes and the weather sunny with a cool breeze. The water was as smooth as glass.

Kerrie, Lucy and I walked to the post office and then had a coffee. We browsed a shop or two then strolled back to the terminal. From there we did the boardwalk and path to the point where we watched the Magnetic Island Rock Wallabies until the ferry arrived to take us back to Townsville.

We had lunch at the ReefHQ aquarium then spent an hour or so wandering around and watching the fish and other reef creatures.

After that I was too pooped to continue with Kerrie so I headed back to the motel buying an ice cream on the way. When I got back I caught up with emails and the blog.

Dinner was enjoyable and a time to say our farewells to others.

Outback Queensland CFT Trip - Day 13

Wednesday 19 July - Moranbah to Townsville

Breakfast was a farce! Kerrie and I ate quickly and just escaped from the dining room as soon as we could. What a disappointment this leg of the journey was - over 1000 km to meet someone who did not turn up!

We headed east to Mackay for morning tea in Queens Park.

We all needed a bit of comic relief so after Leonie read her Old Mother Hubbard story I read an unpolished poem I had written during the trip...

On Boarding the Bus.

The passengers wait with daybags and hats
Cases and walkers all loaded below
The queue forms, all ready to step up flat chat
But wait! There's a few things before we can go...

There's the handwash to spread on every rail
Making climbing a slippery task;
Or to be rubbed in while standing to ponder or chat
So others cannot get past.

There are mountainous steps to be climbed by all
Getting steeper every day
And grunts and groans as passengers fall
As they trip or kneel to pray.

There are all sorts of shapes and sizes
To manoeuvre along the aisle
There's the squash and the squeeze and the knocking of knees
The rear in the face all accepted with grace
Making others laugh and smile.

All those bags people bring on board
Make climbing less elegant
They have to be stashed while making a nest
All are heard to sigh and pant.

Then there's the person who needs to get out
Against the flow of the crowd
Or those who forget their number
And scramble and count out loud.

But friends are made and greeting swapped
And Nancie starts counting us all
Distractions are plenty, she looses count,
But when the numbers agree, John to Allan makes the call
And we're off.

Then north to Bowen where we had lunch at the 3 Sisters cafe. The lunch was fabulous. A quick walk towards town for a bit of exercise then on north again. The countryside is now all crops, mainly sugar cane.

We pulled into our motel in Townsville exhausted from sitting all day for 3 days of long drives. At dinner we celebrated Judy Heath's 80th birthday today!

Outback Queensland CFT Trip - Day 12

Tuesday 18 July - Charters Towers to Moranbah

Well our stay in Charters Towers was rather fleeting and we were on our way by 8am. A quick tour of the town then south on the Gregory Development Road in a heavy fog.

The only wildlife was 3 emus a long way south.

We stopped at Belyando Crossing where Kathy and I had stopped briefly a few years ago.

On then to Clermont for lunch beside a beautiful waterlily lagoon with lush green lawns and pretty pergolas. There were lots of water birds and large tortoises sunning themselves on some logs. The motel we had stayed at supplied our sandwiches for lunch. It was just a lovely place to stop.

A quick tour of the town then on to the road to Moranbah. We called in to the Moranbah airport to drop of David. Quite a grand airport for such a small town. Plenty of money in mining I guess.

On into town for a bit of a tour then to find our motel and settle in for the evening. The traffic into town was non-stop, and seemed to be mostly mining vehicles.

Dinner was a chinese banquet with about 4x as much food as anyone could eat. I think they were catering for miners rather than a bus load of mostly old ladies.

Outback Queensland CFT Trip - Day 11

Monday 17 July - Cloncurry to Charters Towers

Our first stop was Julia Creek for morning tea. It seemed to be a much more interesting stop than Cloncurry with lots of shops and a fantastic tourist information centre. Unfortunately we only had half an hour so we missed the feeding of the dunnarts.

The next town we drove through was Richmond and even it looked more interesting than Cloncurry.

Our lunch stop was at Hughenden in quite a nice park. The motel at Cloncurry had prepared individual boxed lunches for us all.

Onward ever onward through the same scenery until we were near Torrens Creek where we were driving through taller trees as we came to the Great Dividing Range. We stopped for an ice cream but the pub did not stock any and there was nowhere else.

So on again, pulling into the Cattlemen's Motel at Charters Towers. Kerrie and I were quick off our feet, Kerrie to walk to Woollies and I to walk to the park.

Then back to the motel for dinner which took 2 hours to complete!

Outback Queensland CFT Trip - Day 10

Sunday 16 July - Cloncurry

This morning had a relaxed start with a church service at the Anglican church followed by a lazy morning tea.

Lucy and I walked around a few blocks but by then the day had warmed up significantly so we returned to the church to wait for lunch. The lunch was great, with a variety of soups and sandwiches. I especially liked the cream of celery soup.

Allan then took us all back to the motel for a bit of time out. I was able to update the blog and sort photos.

Then it was back in the bus for a drive out west to "Chumvale" station. There we were treated to a tour of the lovely cool garden by Margaret and Tracey.

We enjoyed afternoon tea sitting on the verandah and lawns and were allowed to have a look at Margaret's many beautiful quilts.

On the way back to town Allan was pulled up by the police. It turned out to be Ben who we met at church and he breathalised Allan and checked his log book but in fact this did Allan a favour as he also signed the log book which is apparently significant.

Back at the motel for more lazing before dinner. We also needed to pack ready for our long drive tomorrow.