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I note our last part of our travels as relayed to the group ended at Ravenswood .. about 100 km south west of
Townsville. From there we travelled west to Macrossan on the Burdekin River where we stayed the night. Our motorhome was due
for its annual inspection and registration, so it was decided to do this in Charters Towers .. enquires revealed there were
only two organisations certified to do our inspection .. the first told us to come back in 4 days time. With some
reservation, we tried the other, and lo and behold .. it was all finished after a few hours .. had to replace a few blown
light bulbs! It was just up the road to the Transport Department where they relieved me of the necessary registration fee!
Still left time for some shopping and refuelling and found a new place to overnight in Charters Towers.
From there we headed north to the popular Fletchers Creek where we stayed 3 nights. Then further north to the
junction of Herveys Range Road .. which leads back to Townsville. We had heard that that road was now completely sealed so
headed to Keelbottom Creek, which we had heard about. Unfortunately, with the rain, Keelbottom Creek looked decidedly
unsuitable so continued on to find a small solid and level spot adjacent to the road. This area is the, to me, amazingly
extensive (size wise) military training area and where the army had their Blackhawk helicopter crash a few years ago.
On to Townsville again and to find a suitable parking spot near the hospital .. where Sues Specialist has recently
"set up shop". Found something suitable within a short walk to the hospital entrance and stayed the night without incident.
The visit to the "doc" went well and we were glad to get out of the city as soon as possible .. heading north to an old
favourite spot at Bluewater. The camp spots in this shire have designated maximum "lengths of stays" and are normally policed
by the shire. However, word was "season" wasn't yet busy thus no great problem in overstaying. We had 2 nights at Bluewater,
then 2 nights at Toomulla Beach, 3 nights at Balgal Beach, then 4 nights at Rollingstone. We had stayed at all of them on
previous occasions except Balgal Beach which is a small area and normally fills up quickly .. we must have just timed it
nicely to get in and turn our rig around to face out to the entrance. Its a nice spot with views of the offshore islands and
has a good fish (including barramundi) and chip shop.
From there north to Ingham .. did shopping and received a visit from Felix, VK4FUQ. Continued to the boat ramp at
Taylors Beach (had stayed there before) for the night. Checked out Forrest Beach, Dungeness boat ramp and Lucinda before
rejoining the Bruce Highway north to Cardwell. Checked into a Caravan Park there for the annual ham radio get together
between the Townsville Club and the 2 clubs to the north. Good to catch up with some old faces plus meet some new ..
including David, VK4ZDP, who was coming up on our nets. Purchased a DSP speaker to (at that stage, hopefully) improve radio
receive performance.
Next stop was Hull Heads where we met up with Vern, VK4FVC's, mate Bill. Also, talking to the caretaker, who is
involved with the coast guard there, revealed he had an old interest in amateur radio .. so told him about the new
"foundation license" and passed on some contact details .. hopefully, he will persue it.
Next to Tully to do some shopping, then to El Arish and a small parking area quite close to the highway where we
spent the night. Travelling north, we turned west into the "back blocks" at Silkwood. Found the camp spot at Japoonvale ..
nice spot beside large creek, but very wet and boggy. Locals said they had had rain every day for the last 54 days .. back
to Cyclone Larry! Stayed 3 nights there as we had arranged our mail to come to Innisfail and figured we would be there too
soon.
Into Innisfail, where just some mail had arrived. Checked out Mourilyan Harbour .. no camping signs, so proceeded
back through Innisfail to the overnight spot we were aware of at the Palmerston Highway Junction. Back to the Post Office
next morning and, fortunately, the remainder of the mail had arrived.
Back to the Palmerston Highway which we took through to Ravenshoe where we are camped at the old railway Station
Complex.
Note ..
a) this section had taken us from Ravenswood to Ravenshoe .. confusing. This is said to be the highest town in Qld. at
3,000 feet.
b) it rained, almost continuously from Forrest Beach to here at Ravenswood.
c) cyclone damage apparent from Hull Heads through to here at Ravenswood .. a far more extensive area than I envisaged.
Still lots of houses with damaged roofs, tarpaulins on roofs, fallen trees, missing/damaged signs along highways .. more
so on back roads.
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