Blog Day 147 - 149 Fri 30th September - Sun 2nd October 2011

The next three days in Townsville provide us with some much needed time to catch up on this blog. Which is exactly what we do!

On the Friday we pretty much spent the whole day at the house writing the blog and watching movies (Wolf Creek was one of them, not sure that was a good idea!). At 5pm we ventured into the city to a bar called The Cactus Saloon. Here we parked ourselves in the top floor at the roof bar and watched South Africa take on Samoa. The food that was being served looked fantastic however once the game was over we both knew that there was a 10 minute bacon carbonara pasta packet just waiting to be cooked back at the house.

Saturday saw Jamieson nursing a slight hangover and us 2 chilling out waiting for the rugby to start. The first game we wanted to watch today was Australia vs Russia. The game saw Australia tear the Russians apart in the first half, only to be put on the back foot for most of the second half. Once the rugby was over we were all of the opinion that it was far too hot! Even the Aussies in the house were sweating, imagine how we foreigners were feeling! So we did what any person in the right mind would do in a situation such as this. We got our asses down to the beach!

After a couple of hours throwing a ball around in the sea and catching some rays, we made our way back to the house. On route Jamieson decided it was Mango Slushy time and pulled over to what looked like some poor persons caravan. 2 burly gentlemen, wearing cowboy hats and lounging uniform, were sat out on their patio partaking in a light meal and some ice cold beverages whilst cheering on their team in the AFL final (This could also be written as, a couple of hicks, wearing beer stained cowboy hats and equally beer stained clothes, ran their dirty fingers through their sweaty beards and greasy hair whist nursing a couple of cans of 4X larger. The trailer trash furniture they were sitting on looked ready to give way at any moment, and a number of flies were finishing the left over pizza and chips, as the two goons shouted aimlessly at the TV which was showing the AFL final). Let's just say that the Mango Slushy's weren't the best in the area. But the thought was there. Just a tip if Jamieson ever reads this, probably not a place we would choose to take any girls who have fallen for the sex pest charms.

Back at the house we settle down with a few Coronas (mainly to get the taste of Slushy out of our mouths), and watch England only just beat Scotland in the last of their World Cup pool games. Bring on France next weekend! We also say a big thank you to Jamieson for putting us up, in the only way we know how………. by cooking him a curry.

After dinner Jamieson headed over to Kate's (texting girl) for some more pesting. This left the two of us with heavy eyes and full bellies. Sunday saw Jamieson return with Kate (must have gone well) and invite us to Rollingstone Creek for a swim. The water was cold at first but as the sun was so hot again it didn't take long before we were all sat in it! The creek was fairly quiet and for the majority of the time we had the place to ourselves. A few hundred yards away the cars raced up and down on the highway but apart from that it was quite peaceful (and romantic). We lay in the sun to dry off and after about an hour we were all starting to look a little red.

Upon further inspection back at the house we both have very red shoulders and backs. Nothing that a bit of Aloe Vera won't sort out! Jamieson and Dan take a stroll round the shop and come back with enough sausages to feed the whole street, but nowhere near enough bread to turn them all into hotdogs. Needless to say we are firing up the Barbie tonight!

Jackie's sister has come over and in seconds she whips up the most amazing dip to go with some Doritos. A layer of salsa, topped with a layer of sour cream, topped with a layer of grated cheese and chopped spring onion. Simple but amazing! We will defiantly be knocking some of that up in the future.

Due to a daylight savings confusion Jamieson finds himself cooking the BBQ whilst the NRL final is on. This doesn't distract him though as the sausages and steaks turn out pukka! Our first BBQ in Australia DONE! We sit and watch Manly win the rugby and let our food go down. Before too long though thoughts turn to desert. Jackie volunteers to do a Baskins run, and 20minutes later we are all tucking into ice cream. Good shout Jackie!

And that ends our time in Townsville. We were worried before we arrived that we were going to have to make up time fill in time here. This was only because we had allowed ourselves a whole week to travel from Cairns to Airlie Beach, and so many people had told us that there wasn't too much to do in-between. However everything worked out for us and we have Jamieson, Jackie and Jess' hospitality to thank for that. Thanks again guys.