does not get better than this

Really busy, popular tourist beach 20 minutes north of Cairns

The plan was to make final preparations before travelling to Cooktown (for 4 days of tourist acitivities, packing the car for The Cape and then putting the van in storage). However the caravan’s (bed) slideout is not operating correctly. As the best place to fix the issue was Cairns, we will now drop the van off at Jayco Cairns tomorrow am (issue can’t be investigated until next week) and then leave it there until we return in approximately 3 weeks.

Barron river and power station…

One night stopover on our way into Cairns… couldn’t resist a swim at the nearby creek (Little Crystal Creek).

We have not visited Townsville before so thought on our way through we would spend a couple of days here. Our very peaceful base was a “free camp” on a mango farm at Majors Creek which is about 30 minutes south of Townsville.

Castle Hill Lookout

The 360 view gave a perspective of Townsville’s size.

Magnetic Island

Well worth the visit which required a ferry crossing with the car. The walk of about 6km up to the fort was the highlight.

Departure from Majors Creek

Never heard of this town but this is where we pulled up for the night… THE Tavern also offers sites for caravans etc. While having a drink we were approached by a local who offered a free rock melon! Could not say no to this generous offer. The guy’s business supplies 100’s of tons to Woolies.

Morning coffee on way further north we stopped and saw this beautiful bird (Alexandrine) as a bonus.

Departed Emerald for Mackay after finally getting the 12v fridge issue resolved (and the rain stopped). What was going to be an overnighter ended up being 8 day stay. A longer journey than usual travelling 430 kms with little sign of recent flooding.

Unbelievable, 2 days without rain so we traveled south 25kms for the morning. The Fairbairn Dam is an earth-filled embankment dam across the Nogoa River, located southwest of Emerald in Central Queensland, Australia. Constructed in 1972 for the primary purpose of irrigation, the impoundment created by the dam serves as one of the major potable water supplies for the region and assists with some flood mitigation. The lake, despite heavy rain falling in it’s catchment, is now only at 21% capacity.

Rubyvale, is approximately 61 kms west of Emerald. Sapphires are mined extensively in the area. The mine tour was interesting.

At the rear of the Emerald Visitor Centre is the world’s largest Van Gogh Sunflower painting. The painting celebrates the Central Highland’s past as a major sunflower producer.