Week 9

Sunday

Lawn Bowls (social) again for both of us. Nola's team won the day and won back their entrance fees.

For the record, my team led for the first twenty ends, only to 'crumble' under pressure in the last end to force a draw (Grrrr)

One last look at Shute Harbour before we leave the Airlie Beach area on Tuesday morning

 

Shute Harbour

 

Wednesday

 

Arrived in Townsville after an unexpected stopover (don't ask) at Brandon.

 

A quick trip to the city for supplies and lunch at the 'Cowboys' Leagues Club (sorry Wayne & Kevin)

 

 

 

'Go the Cowboys'

 

Thursday

 

Lawn Bowls again, this time at Thuringowa City Bowls Club. Only a small club with two synthetic (carpet) greens but very nice setup.

'Money Back' for the winners (Roger's team) who won by a 'comfortable' twenty two points.



 

Friday

 

Into Townsville early for a good look around town including the Maritime Museum and Townsville Marina

 

Castle Hill and Townsville Marina

 

The views from Castle Hill were amazing;

 

 View from Castle Hill

 

Saturday

 

Up early for a day trip to Magnetic Island

 

Sealink Ferry from Townsville takes just 25 minutes and only $16.00 return (Seniors discount of course)

 

 

Sealink Ferry

Magnetic Island has a proper bus system running, so we were able to 'hop-on' & 'hop-off' on a daily bus pass.

 

We had coffee at Horseshoe Bay after a long walk on the beach

 



Horseshoe Bay

 I found a Jeep for my mate John 

 

Lunch at Picnic Bay Hotel (Fisherman's Basket)

 

 

Picnic Bay Jetty

 



 

 



Week 8

Sunday

Our friendly Information Centre recommended a day trip to Eungella ('yungella') which is about 70kms west of Mackay.

After travelling through 50kms of sugar cane (that's a lot of sugar)

 

                       Cane Harvesting has just started

 



we had a steep climb up to Eungella National Park

Pioneer Valley from Eungella N.P.

 

Just 6kms down the road we found Broken River which is a natural platypus habitat. No platypuses seen today, but we did see a huge one metre long freshwater eel;

 

 

Huge Freshwater Eel

 

On the way back to Mackay we decided to eat our lunch at Iluka (Town )Beach.

The good news was we only had to share the entire beach with one other family.

The bad news was, the tide was out and the water was over a kilometre away!

 

Iluka Beach

 

Monday

Lawn Bowls at Nth Mackay Bowls Club again (gee their venue is amazing) and Nola and I had a win against the bowls organiser for the day and his partner, but missed out on the 'lucky draw' (free meal).

Tuesday

'On The Road Again' after our week at Mackay. Airlie Beach is just 150 kms up the track so we arrive around 11:00am to book into Flametree Tourist Village. Set in about 6 acres tropical gardens between Shute Harbor and Airlie Beach.

Unfortunately Airlie Beach is going through major road works in the shopping precinct and it's
A REAL MESS

 

 Main Street, Airlie Beach

 

Thursday

After a rainy night  we decided to check out Cedar Falls near Conway National Park. Amazing

 

Cedar Falls

Friday

 

 

We decided to walk around to Abel Point Marina from Airlie Beach (and back) which is approx. 3kms. This was an easy walk even for us, with only one hill to climb.

 



 

Airlie Beach

 



Blue Lagoon Swimming Pools

 



 

Abel Point Marina and Sunken Yacht (Venus of Portsmouth) from Jan 2013

Abel Point Marina

 



 

Our site at Flame Tree Van Park

 

Saturday

 

Airlie Beach Weekly Markets opened for business at 7:00 am, but we didn't get there until 7:30 am

The coconut palms are dropping some fruit, so the local council called in the 'Chain Saw Boys';
 



 

Coconut Harvesting . . . with a 'Chain Saw'



On Saturday night we went onto Skype to talk to Jake, Ella & Keira which was really special. Whilst we were talking to Ella and Jake, little Keira was trying to press every button on the keyboard!

Apparently after we logged off, Keira was still saying . . . . . 'More Nanna'

 

Skype Session with our Grandkids

Week 7

Sunday (Mothers Day)

We started off with a 3km walk (we don't do jogging these days) along the Emu Park Beach

Emu Park Beach

 



Another day of lawn bowls. This time we played at Emu Park Bowls Club, just near our caravan park.

Nola teamed up with our good friend Brian Lawrence and were successful in picking up $10 each for Runners Up for the day. (I also won our match, but . . . no cigar)

Being Mothers Day, Roger and the guy in the next caravan site (Ron) decided to shout the ladies to dinner at the local Chinese Restaurant (yummy)

Monday

We hit the road around 9:00am (no hurry) and headed north again.

St Lawrence Rodeo Ground (free camp) was highly recommended, so we made sure we got there just after lunch . . . making sure we had a pick of the good sites.

St Lawrence Rodeo Grounds

 

Tuesday

 

After a 'chilly' night (around 17 deg Cel) we a awoke to find we had more visitors during the night.

 

You couldn't even walk your dogs without all the local mob watching you!
 

 

'It's Rude to Stare'

We arrived at Mackay and booked into the Andergrove Caravan Park for a week  . . . as we plan to check the five (5) bowling clubs in the area.

 





 

Nice level palmed site at Mackay :)

 

Wednesday

 

We hit the tourist trail early and found the Mackay Harbour, beaches and a nice wholesale seafood shop where we stocked up on some local produce. After dropping of our seafood we found the best 'undercover' bowling greens we've seen so far;

 

 

 

This RV was called 'Fawlty Tours'

 

 

 

North Mackay Bowls Club . . . . WOW

 



 

Northern Beaches looking south towards Mackay Marina

 

 

Thursday

 

Lawn Bowls at Nth Mackay (we ended up winning by just one point) and then we treated ourselves to a Mud Crab and Prawn Salad . . . . . . . . Yummy.



 

 

 

Mud Crabs for the Grey Nomads tonight

 

 Friday / Saturday

 

More bowls on Friday, but Nola & I got 'cleaned up' by a couple of bowlers from Marian Bowls Club.

 

On Saturday we went to the Mackay Home - Caravan & Camping Show. At just $8.00 entry fee for Seniors, with FREE parking it was a pleasant change from Adelaide normally charges!

 

 





Week 6

Sunday

We drove to Rockhampton for 'another' game of bowls.

Whilst we were there Kelvin Kerkow turned up to promote and demonstrate the Aero bowls which was really good.

 

Kelvin Kerkow

For the record 'my' team won the triples competition, but again . . . no cigars (this club just draws out a lucky number at the end of the day, for a Money Jackpot)

Monday

Today we planned on leaving Emu Park for a couple of days free-camping, as we head northwards again.

WRONG . . . as we were packing up, we found water on the floor again, but this time it wasn't the pipework.

I was pretty sure what it was but our local RV Repairer . .  Moti (he trades as 'The Full Moti') confirmed our worst fears . . it was a leaking hot water tank.

 

Although the tank had a brand new sacrificial anode fitted when we bought the caravan 18 months ago, it may not have one fitted since 2008 when the caravan was built???

The Queensland economy has certainly had a boost since the Bradley's crossed the border

We've had a fair bit of rain here today (13mm), so it's probably best we are stranded in such a nice place :)

As the rain eased this afternoon, we both had a 'woolly' walk on Emu Park beach for the last time.

 

No . . . it's not Mary Poppins

 

'Holy Batman'

 

Wednesday

 

We're still waiting for the 'slow boat to china' to deliver our new hot water service!!!

  

Every now a then we get reminded we're in Central Queensland, when;

 

 

The Lorikeets come around for an afternoon feed, and;

 



 

 There's a queue in the toilet!

 

 







Thursday . . . . . 'Newsflash'

 

This morning we found where our new Hot Water Service was (the one we ordered on Monday)

 

The 'Good News' is that it's on a truck halfway between Brisbane and Rockhampton, but the 'Bad News' is that the truck has broken down!

 

We're told the truck should be in Rockhampton tonight and the repairer will pick it up Friday morning? (I'll believe that when it happens)

 

Anyway, today a friend of mine Brian (who lives at Emu Park for 6 months of the year) turned up at the caravan park and we're all going out for dinner tomorrow night at the Keppel Bay Sailing Club.

 

Friday

 

Just after midday our 'trusty' RV Repairer (Moti) arrived at the caravan park with an assistant in tow and full of apologies. He said he hadn't had so much trouble with delays, but to be fair it wasn't his fault the carriers truck broke down on it's way to Rockhampton.

 

Any way, the old water heater was pulled out, new one fitted and then fully checked by a licensed gas fitter. Paying the bill was hard to swallow, but we have now have hot water in the caravan again.

 

Friday night we went our for a three course smorgasbord at the Keppel Bay Sailing Club with three of our friends. After that we went back to Brian's home for a cards night.

 

Saturday

 

My friend Brian from Emu Park joined Nola & I for a 'triples' match at Yeppoon Bowls Club.

 

We won our game with 13 ends (won) out of a 21 end match, with 22 shots up, which was enough for us to win the overall competition for the day!!!

 

 

 Bowls Competition Winners  - Roger, Nola & Brian Lawrence