2013
DAY 46
Paronella Park to Mission Beach
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| Wongaling Beach |
We set off in very humid weather and headed towards Mission Beach but found the caravan parks were full so kept driving on a few more kms. and found Dunk Island View Caravan Park which had a few sites available. This park was great but had suffered badly from the cyclone damage the previous year so the trees had been damaged and the park looked a bit bare, although they had replanted but they were still quite small. The Laundry Block was brand new and so I was able to do some washing and it was great to have lovely clean washing machines.
After doing the washing, we headed off to do some grocery shopping and then back to the van to relax and enjoy the surroundings.
The next day was Father's Day so we went to the local restaurant which was right next door to the caravan park and had lovely views of Dunk Island. Before lunch we strolled around the Market at Mission Beach. After lunch we walked along the beach but it was getting a bit too windy so back to the van.
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| Mission Beach markets |
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| Dunk Island from Wongaling Beach |
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| Sign for Cassowarries but we didn't see any |
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| A bit too windy for walking on the beach |
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| Storm brewing |
We decided to stay another day here at the caravan park. Ron was not feeling well and so another rest day would be good. We think he probably had dehydrated so today we just sat around making sure to keep the fluids up.
Next morning we were both feeling better for the extra day's rest and packed up and headed to Townsville where we had booked our Toyota in for new tyres.
Our next stop was Tully where we were able to vote.
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| Tully sugar mill |
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| Tully |
Our next stop was the town of Cardwell, which had also been damaged by the recent cyclone, and the foreshore area was being rebuilt.
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| Foreshore in Cardwell |
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| Cardwell |
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| Cardwell |
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| Strong winds in Cardwell |
After driving through Cardwell we spotted a Bakery and of course we had to stop and buy some goodies, and we were really surprised to find Napoleon Cake, which is one or our favourites and we thought it was a South Aussie cake but they told us that it was one of Cardwell Bakery specialities so I guess they are allowed to have it and we were pleased to be able to get it so far from home.
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| Entrance to Townsville |
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| Roadworks approaching Townsville |
Our next stop was Townsville where we had to get our new tyres, so after negotiating the traffic, which really wasn't too bad but we had not been used to much traffic for the last few weeks, we finally found our way to a caravan park a half hour out of Townsville. The caravan park was closed for lunch, which was a bit of a surprise, so we had to wait to check in, and would have left except we didn't want to go back into the city traffic again, so we waited for them to open up. We later learned that the park was full of permanent residents and only a few sites were available for travellers, so we set ourselves up and looked around the park, it certainly wasn't much of a park but we only needed to stay for 2 nights while we got our new tyres.
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| More traffic than we had seen in a while |
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| Cyclone Shelter in Townsville |
Next morning we drove into Townsville and left our Toyota at the service centre, and found a coffee shop nearby and also a hairdresser so Ron got a hair cut while I had a coffee. We got back to the car and drove long the Strand and had a look around Next morning we drove into Townsville and left our Toyota at the service centre, and found a coffee shop nearby and also a hairdresser so Ron got a hair cut while I had a coffee.
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| The Rebels Bikies Headquarters |
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| Charters Towers main street |
Our next stop was Charters Towers, about 2 hours drive from Townsville, where we stopped for fuel and our first impression was that of a lovely old town with many heritage buildings and so we parked the car and van in a side street and had a look around and stopped for a coffee before setting off again.
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| Charters Towers |
Back on the road again to Clermont and we arrived there about 5.30 pm after a long day of driving.
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| On the road to Clermont |
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| Coal Mine at Clermont |
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| Clermont mural |
Clermont was a gold mining town and in 1861 there was a gold rush but these days copper and coal are mined there.
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| Clermont |
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| Beautiful flowering tree in Clermont |
We left Clermont next morning and passed through the small town of Capella and stopped to look at their War Memorial. It was an amazing work of art.
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| Capella war memorial |
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| Laser cut memorial at Capella |
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Capella |
From Capella we drove onto Emerald and decided to stay the night as I needed to do some laundry and a break for Ron as well.
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| Entrance to Emerald |
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| Emerald |
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| Emerald |
We had a nice walk around the park in Emerald and it was very interesting with a large mosaic of an easel and mosaics on the pathway too.
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| The Big Easel in Emerald |
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| Lovely park in Emerald with mosaic pathway |
Next morning we left Emerald and continued on through Springsure, Rolleston and Injune. We started looking for an overnight stop and about 15km out from Roma we decided to stop in a rest area where another van had stopped. We had a chat to the other couple there and they had the same idea as we did - they would only stay if another van pulled up - so we were all happy to stay and we had a drink with them and after tea we sat by the campfire and enjoyed a chat with our new neighbours, Robyn and Peter, who had a new van and this was their first trip in it so they were interested in hearing about our adventures. Next morning we said goodbye and headed into Roma for fuel at 156.9 cpl.
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