We did our usual breakfast & pack up and empty the tanks , to be on the road by 9:05 . We headed toward Townsville , straight up the Bruce Hwy again .The traffic was pretty good going north , but there were a few truckies who weren't happy with some caravaners coming south , wouldn't get out of the way , wouldn't speed up , just held them up - the UHF radio had to be turned off till they were out of range - they were a tad angry !!!
The road took us through sugar cane again for about half an hour , the countryside then started to dry out and became cattle country again . The countryside was generally flat , with the odd mountain jutting straight up out of the ground - they were predominantly just solid rock - a lot having very little vegetation on them .
There were several dry rivers that we crossed over on the way up - quite strange given that we were only 5 to 10 kms from the coast ?
We drove through to Bowen , and turned west away from town , slowly turning north west - onwards and upwards , we are starting to get to the pointy bit of Queensland!!!! We kept passing through small towns & localities on the way - Merinda , Guthalungra & Inkerman , before arriving at Home Hill , where we stopped for a driver change & loo break . Home Hill really caters for travellers , with a comfort stop - which is a camp kitchen & seating , shower & toilet block - and a laundromat has also sprung up beside it - various travellers were using the facilities - backpackers , caravaners & permanent travellers . Very nice of the local council to provide these facilities - the other side is that money is spent in town , so a lot of people benefit from it .
Lyn started driving , and we negotiated our way out of Home Hill and across the Burdekin River to Ayr . The bridge over the river also carries the train beside the cars , and this bridge is the longest that does this in Queensland .
Countryside just before Burdekin River
Burdekin River Bridge
Burdekin River
About 50 kms up the road , we found Mountain View Lake Caravan Park - we had read a few reports that gave it a good rap , so we gave it a go . Fred , the german owner , gave us the run down on everything , and showed us where to set up . We realised we were still about 50 kms short of Townsville , and should have kept going as it was only 12:15 when we got there - ah well - next time!! We are here for tonight and will move into Townsville tomorrow .
Mt Elliot
We are parked below Mt Elliot - for those of you who don't know - I used to hang glide from Mt Elliot at Corryong - in the opposite direction from where we are at the moment - a bizarre coincidence !!! We have a gum tree beside us that looks like the local possum highway - scratch marks either side of the trunk .
Hopefully we won't get in their way !!
We decided to go for a look at a walk to a swimming hole about 3.5 kms away - Fred told us we could ride our bikes a lot of the way there - so we thought okay , lets do it . Our bikes aren't mountain bikes - more pavement bikes - but we went anyway . The track wasn't the smoothest , but we were going well , through dust , rocks & roots . We missed the track where it deviated , but found it again and continued for about 100m before stopping . There were twiggy shrubs about 600m high and this is where it got interesting , I made it through but Lyn had a small mishap , and fell off , trying to move the end of her handlebars out of the way with her nose !!!! It wasn't funny , but we laughed about it anyway . Don't worry , apart from a bruised ego , and nose , she is okay - no glamour photos for a week or two but . After that we decided to head back .
We commiserated with an ice pack and some cheese & bickies , before a shower & tea . We don't have any tv reception here - not that we are that concerned about tv - all those stations and nothing to watch anyway .
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