Friday 12 July
In Seaforth, we say goodbye to Darien and Bill and head off around 8am. The trip north to Townsville is reasonably uneventful, and when we get there, Jen has an appointment to get a jeweller to adjust and engrave Harper’s birthday present and we also manage to get into the battery expert guy who tests our battery and determines it is fine. We buy an additional one anyway, as that had been the plan, and Arno installs it at the workshop. It seems that batteries can go flat any time, even if the power management says it’s full before we go to bed! So much for having faith in that system. Anyway, it sounds like a generator and a petrol jerrycan to fill it, will also go on the shopping list. Pretty high investment, hopefully we will get heaps of return in the near future and never end up without power again…. .
We now move to the caravan park we booked here in Townsville. We really like this town, and even though this park is not where we stayed before, and a bit further from town, we do like it. It’s a nice place, where all sites have an ensuite bathroom for $58/night – and is about a 20 minute bike ride to town. This is quite safe as most roads have bike paths but not really safe after dark with inadequate lighting and traffic. We take an uber to a restaurant in the evening at the Strand and enjoy a lovely few hours near the water, though it is dark.
Saturday 13 July
10 am… As every site in the park was full, we have to move to a different site (in the same caravan park). We then do 4 loads of laundry in our own little washing machine… a definite advantage of being on a powered site! This site is actually much better though only for one more night. It’s a concrete level pad with palm trees on one side and its ensuite bathroom on the other. We back onto a rugby field separated from us by double high barbed wires fence. It’s a lot quieter than our first night which is on the road (behind fencing). It seems many of the caravan sites have had cabins put on the slabs, so there is more accommodation for non campers. Interesting.
Once all the laundry is hanging out, we have our lunch and cycle to town and the Strand where we stop for a snack and drink along the beach. We also stop in at our next (1 night) booked caravan park (where we also camped last year) to find out how early we can access. Friendly people (in line with every single other place we’ve been so far on this trip) advise we can come at 11am which suits great as we’re hoping to then grab the bikes and cycle to the ferry for some time on magnetic island.
On the way back to the van, Arno has a fall on a gravel patch! A lot of blood but thankfully no serious injuries; a badly skimmed knee and hand, bruised rib, and a damaged helmet too, so lucky he wore it. Fortunately all surface damage until night time when in bed he needs painkillers for one of his wrists.
Sunday 14 July
Arno has a good night’s sleep. And after packing up, we head to a 4WD shop and buy a generator, (after finding it may be good for an emergency after using Bill’s in Seaforth) and then move to our next caravan park for the one night . Arno is not yet up to cycling so we decide against going to Magnetic Island unfortunately. We did go there 2 years ago, so it was not a high priority. We do a bit of shopping and enjoy this lovely campsite surrounded by palm trees and grass. This year we pay $75 for a night (it was $65 in June 2023). So not cheap here along the Queensland coast mid-winter, which really is their high season!
We sit down and firm up our schedule for moving on after Townsville Wednesday.
Monday 15 July
Today we move again – back to the previous park! We have an 11am appointment to have our windscreen replaced and on the way we buy a bag to fit over the spare wheel on the back of the caravan. We can store our firewood in there, as its space now has to house the new generator. The windscreen is replaced while we have our lunch in the van. We subsequently return to the caravan park we were Friday/Saturday for another 2 nights. Jen spends a few hours at the nail salon. We sit out in the sun until the sun goes down. It’s not the most beautiful site, very close to the road again, but beggars can’t be choosers, and believe me, we were beggars with all power sites being fully booked. Barbecue bangers and burgers for dinner with coleslaw and roasted cauliflower (YAY, we can use the air fryer – the upside of having site power)
Tuesday 16
After not having to move yet again, we do another load of laundry and hang the bike batteries on power in readiness for a planned ride today. The weather is great and we make our way to the Ross River. Absolutely got to love Townsville: it’s spacious, well laid out with lakes, large parks flanked by safe pathways which continue all through residential areas and along busier roads. Both sides of the winding, wide Ross River are beautifully laid out once again with old shady trees, mostly paved path with ample space for 2 riders side by side. We encounter a few weirs that cater for the river’s water height difference, and several bridges including some well-built pedestrian and bike-friendly bridges. We pass around 3 weirs. We ride through the ‘Palmetum’ a botanical garden of many palm species; reminiscent of a palm jungle and stunningly maintained (photo on this link). We stop for lunch at the ‘Riverview Tavern’ beside the ‘Federation Bridge’. The tavern is newly renovated and the beautiful deck is not quite ready for use, but from behind the glass walls we enjoy the river views.
We cross the Federation Bridge to complete our loop along the opposite side of the river, and return to the van. A most wonderful ride.
As planned already months ago, we take an uber to meet our Tasmanian friends Andrew and Marg for dinner who insist on treating us (Arno has been their technical support person). And this is a wonderful evening; it is so good to see them and we know we will again, some time in the not too distant future.
