Further Up

Heading north from Airlie Beach, our first stop was the Whitsunday Gold Coffee Plantation, just up from Proserpine. We asked when the next tour would be, expecting maybe half an hour, and wondering if it would be worth waiting. "Um," the girl replied, "I think we have one on Sunday." Definitely not worth waiting. But we did get to see coffee trees, and the coffee berries (??) on them. George's hunter/gatherer instincts kicked in, and he had to have a taste. The fruit is slightly sweet, but very little flesh. In the centre is the large coffee bean. A few seeds were surreptitiously smuggled away, and he will have an attempt at growing them in a hothouse when we get back.

Next stop was Bowen, home of The Big Mango, and it is really big. The town of Bowen is small, but has a lot of old historical buildings. Some of these buildings are covered with murals telling some of its history. The other advantage of having historic buildings is that this town was chosen for the filming of the movie "Australia." However the movie is actually set in Darwin, so Bowen had to be transformed into Darwin for the filming.

Bowen, and this whole area, is also famous for mud crabs. We found a fisherman's co-op near the marina who had them fresh and cheap, so had to try one. Delicious!

We also checked out the beaches near Bowen. There was one called Horseshoe Bay, which was a very small beach, lined by rocks on either side, with a very small and crowded car park. It was nice, but nothing special. We then made our way back and found a lovely wide open beach next to it, with a completely empty car park. Go figure.

We then moved on to Townsville. This is a big city - the biggest we had seen for a while. Bigger than Bundy, Rocky, and even Mackay. It has suburbs, and even traffic. But it also has an esplanade along the beach, called The Strand, filled with cafes, motels, and restaurants. The beach itself is actually quite nice and we managed to go in for a dip.

Just off Townsville is Magnetic Island, and the next day we caught a ferry across to check it out. Magnetic Island, or Maggie, as the locals call it, is mostly national park of thick lush forest. However it has several bays with lovely beaches and small settlements next to them. There is also a bus that connects them all, and you can get a full day ticket for $7. The buses run every 45 minutes, and are timed exactly with the ferries, so as soon as a ferry arrives, there is a bus waiting. And one dropping people off just before the ferry departs. The system works very well.

So we took a few circuits of the island, checking out each beach - all lovely - and swam in several. The most developed town was called Horseshoe Bay, much nicer than the previous Horseshoe Bay, and we had a lovely lunch there.

Townsville is the point at which the road heads west, but before we set off in that direction we wanted to go a bit further north to check out Mission Beach, which we were told was a "must-do." North of Townsville is a small town called Ingham, famous as the home of the original Pub with No Beer, as made famous by Slim Dusty. A bit further north is Cardwell, home of The Big Crab, and a cafe that serves crab sandwiches and burgers. Again, delicious.

Next up is Tully, the home of The Big Gum Boot (complete with The Big Cane Toad climbing up it.) It is about 8 meters tall, corresponding to the highest rainfall the region had a few years ago. This is ideal for sugar cane growing, the local industry, and explains why there is a cane toad on the boot. There is also a large sugar processing plant, and the whole town is pervaded by the sweet smell of molasses. They do take their gumboots very seriously here, even putting them on the rubbish bins.

Not far from Tully is Mission Beach, and it is really beautiful. We stayed in a council caravan park right on the beach, our van being 2 meters from the sand. It is a glorious beach, with several kilometers of fine sand, and gentle swells. There is also a small but very pleasant little township, with very friendly people. It is all very low key and laid back. Loved it here. This whole area is a cassowary preservation area, so there were signs everywhere to slow down and look out for cassowaries. We found a Big Cassowary at the local shopping centre, and again, cassowaries on the bins.

GeorgeY's bit

Coffee place was good. Ate and drank coffee, then will share some untreated seeds with Jan and some with John. He said he's got a propagator. They had also a nice sulfur crested cockatoo called "Boss", loved a scratch on the head and after becoming friends kept coming down and asking for more.

Kensington Pride is a beautiful mango growing in Bowen. The Big Mango is slightly bigger than the town. We also met the big mud crab at the fisherman co-op. Had a picture of him as a souvenir of how delicious he was.

On the Strand in Townsville we decided to have a coffee from one of the numerous cafes there and while waiting for the coffee to arrive someone called, "G'day George!! "Turns out to be Clyde from GMAC, who is our volunteer running the Air Modeling Club at school. I knew he was heading up there during the holidays, but had not arranged for any further details as I had no idea of how our plans and time frames will be. Nice surprise. And also Trent, his grandson and an ex Greensborough College student, was there, and it was nice to catch up with them both.

Magnetic Island was named by Captain James Cook because he thought its magnetic field had interfered with his compass direction. A claim that has been repeatedly tested, but never been found to be correct, even when measured by the most advanced new technology available today. I have a good explanation. When you are on the Island you are so relaxed and you no longer care which way is bloody north, so that was his best excuse. I am sure some of our year 9 students can come with better ones, being prolific liars.

Tully is a lovely town with historical buildings and a sugar mill that fills the whole place with the sweet aroma of molasses. I wonder if there is any relation to J. J Tully, one of the pioneer land owners of Doncaster Victoria.

Mission Beach is like Magnetic Island, but on the mainland. The water is lovely to swim in, and the food places are relaxed and pleasant. Not over the top but very relaxed. Have to come back later.