Summary: Crocs on the riverbank, Australians can drive fast, strolling through the sugar cane fields, sometimes a plan really does come together, reunited with the penguin
Maybe it was the rush to upload three days of photos in one hour (before my time expired), but I forgot to mention that – driving over a sandy creek – we saw a couple crocodiles laying in the sun just off the water on our way to Mackay. Nice little reminder.
Today we really got an early jump on things. The car was full and we had had breakfast (I really like the McCafe) and played on the McPlayground. It was 6:45 and we were ready to roll. So were a few other people. For the first time, my driving the speed limit did not make me one of the fastest people on the road. Either there are no speed cameras between Mackay and Townsville or there is a speeding amnesty on the morning of Good Friday, but people were flying. Maybe it was having the whole family in the car (every car was whole families driving, not individuals, but shouldn’t that make you want to go slower?) or the kind of people who leave at 7am are mission oriented, but this morning was out of character with every other day on the road. It sure wasn’t lack of police presence, because they were out in force today. At least the fishermen knew the fish were coming.
The drive today was much prettier – more sugar cane, more bananas (now I am sure), more citrus, more beautiful mountains. If you have never seen sugar cane, it looks kind of like corn or wild bamboo. The photos may help. It is really beautiful when the wind is blowing, but maybe it is the fact that it underscores how lush and tropical this area is. Sugar cane fields are the best place to find the Coastal Taipan. Now the Inland Taipan is the deadliest snake in the world, with enough poison to kill a football team. The coastal one is pretty toxic too, but only enough to take out a basketball team. Thing is, the Taipan is pretty shy in general and runs from humans when given a chance. They love sugar cane fields because the dense growth of the cane allows for little varmints to live in there. Taipans eat those varmints. So Alex and I saw a place where the cane field came up to a river and figured we could see up close and personal either a croc or a taipan – or maybe both. So we walked down and Alex almost stepped on this one snake. It was a water python – not poisonous, but not good to step on either. Anyhow, we got down close to the water’s edge and…
Got you. Yes, I am kidding, but this is my last chance to do so. The muddy water and the cane fields are exactly the last places I would go in Northern Queensland. Those “muddy” photos are from the croc-free Sunshine Coast, I did not have time to upload them last night. Here are some others.
Getting on with today, we did drive through another award winning town. I’ve noticed that the superlatives are dwindling a little. The South Australia/ Victoria had the tidiest towns in the country. A couple days ago, we went through the friendliest town in Queensland. Today, we learned that Home Hill is the Cultural Heritage Award winner for Northern Queensland. This is not to say that they are not clean or friendly or competitive on a national or statewide level, just to say that the scope is getting narrower with every town.
Townsville was an excellent stop. Like most every town, the commercial district was closed down. Aside, growing up in the United States, I recall that on Christmas or Thanksgiving everything was closed. Maybe the fuel stop was open, but that was about it. Now, the non-retail businesses close, but it seems that many retailers (restaurants, grocery stores, etc) work shortened hours. Australia is more like the US was in that respect. Everything was working shortened hours or closed altogether today. Ditto for tomorrow. Most everything will be closed altogether on Sunday and Monday. This caused a bit of trouble as we are about out of diapers and we’ll be on a boat, and island, or a reef all day tomorrow. (luckily, the Mobil station mini mart had nappies this evening) Where was I? Townsville! Good looking city center, looks like it would be a great place to spend time. There is also an entertainment area between the city center and the beach. But we spent our time next to the beach. (Next to because nobody goes in the ocean this time of year thanks to the jellyfish) Depressing? Not remotely. They have the greatest magnet for kids ever. First, like every town in Australia they have a playground next to the water (on “the Strand”). It is bigger, nicer, and more varied than most. But then, they have a water park/ playground right there. Mind you this is free. It is just a nice place for every person who wanders up to kills some time and stay cool. It was packed with kids from teens to Alex’s age. The whole time, it looked like Alex was bracing himself for more water, but he absolutely loved it and did not want to leave. This place was perfect. Any town trying to get people to come back downtown should call the Townsville town council. 
The drive from Townsville to Cairns was absolutely beautiful. The mountains were higher, the jungle lusher, the views better, and the traffic was calmer. It was wonderful. Then things got better. 
We checked in for two nights. One is free, one is paid. The room types are different, but we’d rather stay in the same room (of course). First thing, they gave us a great room with an even better view than last time (facing the city and the festivities going on this evening on the Esplanade – fire dancing). Second, the manager said that they will give us the absolute premium deluxe suite tomorrow night (nice send-off, eh?). They’ll move our stuff while we’re out. Third, the on-site planner was able to set us up on a wonderful day trip tomorrow to an island and a reef. Availability was expected to be a challenge, but they were able to hook us up. And Alex was free. There will be things for Alex to do in both locations, as he is not exactly an elite swimmer. His favorite movie is Finding Nemo, so we just may find a clown fish. As I mentioned, I filled up the tank and got diapers, averting some challenges on the way home. We had a great dinner on the Esplanade and found the city even better than the first time (about 10 degrees C cooler), thus more lively. There are lots more tourists – mostly Japanese and more than a few Germans. Alex also found the hot tub at this hotel, which he loves. 
Last, and certainly not least, Alex was “reunited” with his Phillip Island penguin Phil. Yes, after disappearing at the Nobbies visitor center in Phillip Island, the folks at Phillip Island’s Info Center were willing to sell and mail another to this Hilton. Alex had seen Phil for about 4 hours and not seen (or spoken of) Phil for almost a month. When he opened the package, that first photo shows him saying “Phil”. Quite cute - quite worth the effort. Yes, he is happy and he does not want to let that thing go.
In summary, things are rolling. Yes, I miss you all, but I really don’t want to leave here. Tomorrow we are on the water. Sunday we’ll do something in the morning (something that does not rely on anyone working) and fly to Sydney in the afternoon. Not wanting to impose on the M&Ms or subject them to Sydney traffic (crossing town four times in 24 hours), we’re staying at the airport. Monday morning we may go into Sydney for a couple hours. It may not be worth it if everything is closed. Then in the afternoon we’ll fly to LA. It will get dark, get light again, and it will still be Monday. Then we’ll fly to San Francisco and land about 3 hours before we left. If you’ve ever had a Monday that seemed to last 41 hours, you know what we are in for.
Maybe it was the rush to upload three days of photos in one hour (before my time expired), but I forgot to mention that – driving over a sandy creek – we saw a couple crocodiles laying in the sun just off the water on our way to Mackay. Nice little reminder.
Today we really got an early jump on things. The car was full and we had had breakfast (I really like the McCafe) and played on the McPlayground. It was 6:45 and we were ready to roll. So were a few other people. For the first time, my driving the speed limit did not make me one of the fastest people on the road. Either there are no speed cameras between Mackay and Townsville or there is a speeding amnesty on the morning of Good Friday, but people were flying. Maybe it was having the whole family in the car (every car was whole families driving, not individuals, but shouldn’t that make you want to go slower?) or the kind of people who leave at 7am are mission oriented, but this morning was out of character with every other day on the road. It sure wasn’t lack of police presence, because they were out in force today. At least the fishermen knew the fish were coming.
The drive today was much prettier – more sugar cane, more bananas (now I am sure), more citrus, more beautiful mountains. If you have never seen sugar cane, it looks kind of like corn or wild bamboo. The photos may help. It is really beautiful when the wind is blowing, but maybe it is the fact that it underscores how lush and tropical this area is. Sugar cane fields are the best place to find the Coastal Taipan. Now the Inland Taipan is the deadliest snake in the world, with enough poison to kill a football team. The coastal one is pretty toxic too, but only enough to take out a basketball team. Thing is, the Taipan is pretty shy in general and runs from humans when given a chance. They love sugar cane fields because the dense growth of the cane allows for little varmints to live in there. Taipans eat those varmints. So Alex and I saw a place where the cane field came up to a river and figured we could see up close and personal either a croc or a taipan – or maybe both. So we walked down and Alex almost stepped on this one snake. It was a water python – not poisonous, but not good to step on either. Anyhow, we got down close to the water’s edge and…
Got you. Yes, I am kidding, but this is my last chance to do so. The muddy water and the cane fields are exactly the last places I would go in Northern Queensland. Those “muddy” photos are from the croc-free Sunshine Coast, I did not have time to upload them last night. Here are some others.
Getting on with today, we did drive through another award winning town. I’ve noticed that the superlatives are dwindling a little. The South Australia/ Victoria had the tidiest towns in the country. A couple days ago, we went through the friendliest town in Queensland. Today, we learned that Home Hill is the Cultural Heritage Award winner for Northern Queensland. This is not to say that they are not clean or friendly or competitive on a national or statewide level, just to say that the scope is getting narrower with every town.
Townsville was an excellent stop. Like most every town, the commercial district was closed down. Aside, growing up in the United States, I recall that on Christmas or Thanksgiving everything was closed. Maybe the fuel stop was open, but that was about it. Now, the non-retail businesses close, but it seems that many retailers (restaurants, grocery stores, etc) work shortened hours. Australia is more like the US was in that respect. Everything was working shortened hours or closed altogether today. Ditto for tomorrow. Most everything will be closed altogether on Sunday and Monday. This caused a bit of trouble as we are about out of diapers and we’ll be on a boat, and island, or a reef all day tomorrow. (luckily, the Mobil station mini mart had nappies this evening) Where was I? Townsville! Good looking city center, looks like it would be a great place to spend time. There is also an entertainment area between the city center and the beach. But we spent our time next to the beach. (Next to because nobody goes in the ocean this time of year thanks to the jellyfish) Depressing? Not remotely. They have the greatest magnet for kids ever. First, like every town in Australia they have a playground next to the water (on “the Strand”). It is bigger, nicer, and more varied than most. But then, they have a water park/ playground right there. Mind you this is free. It is just a nice place for every person who wanders up to kills some time and stay cool. It was packed with kids from teens to Alex’s age. The whole time, it looked like Alex was bracing himself for more water, but he absolutely loved it and did not want to leave. This place was perfect. Any town trying to get people to come back downtown should call the Townsville town council. 
The drive from Townsville to Cairns was absolutely beautiful. The mountains were higher, the jungle lusher, the views better, and the traffic was calmer. It was wonderful. Then things got better. 
We checked in for two nights. One is free, one is paid. The room types are different, but we’d rather stay in the same room (of course). First thing, they gave us a great room with an even better view than last time (facing the city and the festivities going on this evening on the Esplanade – fire dancing). Second, the manager said that they will give us the absolute premium deluxe suite tomorrow night (nice send-off, eh?). They’ll move our stuff while we’re out. Third, the on-site planner was able to set us up on a wonderful day trip tomorrow to an island and a reef. Availability was expected to be a challenge, but they were able to hook us up. And Alex was free. There will be things for Alex to do in both locations, as he is not exactly an elite swimmer. His favorite movie is Finding Nemo, so we just may find a clown fish. As I mentioned, I filled up the tank and got diapers, averting some challenges on the way home. We had a great dinner on the Esplanade and found the city even better than the first time (about 10 degrees C cooler), thus more lively. There are lots more tourists – mostly Japanese and more than a few Germans. Alex also found the hot tub at this hotel, which he loves. 
Last, and certainly not least, Alex was “reunited” with his Phillip Island penguin Phil. 
In summary, things are rolling. Yes, I miss you all, but I really don’t want to leave here. Tomorrow we are on the water. Sunday we’ll do something in the morning (something that does not rely on anyone working) and fly to Sydney in the afternoon. Not wanting to impose on the M&Ms or subject them to Sydney traffic (crossing town four times in 24 hours), we’re staying at the airport. Monday morning we may go into Sydney for a couple hours. It may not be worth it if everything is closed. Then in the afternoon we’ll fly to LA. It will get dark, get light again, and it will still be Monday. Then we’ll fly to San Francisco and land about 3 hours before we left. If you’ve ever had a Monday that seemed to last 41 hours, you know what we are in for. 
2 comments:
As someone who has read all of your posts, I understand your conflicting feelings... it will be great to see you, but I'll miss reading travel updates.
Perhaps you can continue on a new site with nuggets about trips to exotic locals like Union Street and North Beach.
Have been having troubles posting, so do not post this if it is the third version of the same comment....
Loved the story about Alex reuniting with Phil the Phillips Island Penguin. Alex looks so happy to find an old lost friend!
The warerpark looks better than the San Diego Lego version (which you have to pay for).
See you very soon
Post a Comment