Not Before Time

I hope everyone had a great Easter break. I believe the weather was really good everywhere for a change

Here in Townsville the weather has been superb and from what I’ve heard it’ll continue to be like this for the next few months. Bliss!

We’ve moved to Magnetic Gateway Holiday Village, and it’s a lovely park, lots of grass, and a creek with fish I’m now working, (at the park) and David will find something soon I’m sure, as soon as he starts looking I think he’s enjoying having a few weeks off.

There are possums and heaps of birds in the park, and the hibiscus shrubs are flowering again after taking a beating from cyclone Yasi.

On Good Friday we went for a drive to suss out some of the fishing spots around town. We found a few areas, and even put a line in at a couple of spots but didn’t have any luck, but we weren’t alone, everyone we spoke to said they hadn’t gotten a bite all day. I think the fish heard it was Good Friday and went into hiding! However, not to worry as we had the brilliant idea of heading to the Strand for fish and chips for dinner and sitting on the beach. And it must have been a really good idea, cause a few thousand other people thought of it too!

The queue to the fish and chip shop was long, and we heard there was at least an hour wait for our order. However, it didn’t take quite that long and it was actually fun talking to others who were waiting for their orders. It was a beautiful night too which made it easy. Would have been a different thing if it was somewhere cold and miserable! As it was we had a great night, and really enjoyed sitting on the grass eating our fish and chips, watching the crowds

On Easter Sunday we went for a drive to Lucinda, just north of Ingham, the plan again being to catch some fish. And we did, 4 actually, and 1 sea snake (no pictures unfortunately, I got too excited at catching something and forgot to pick up the camera!) but the fish were under legal size so we sent them back. I’d never caught a sea snake before either, and wasn’t sure how to go about cutting it off but one of the other anglers saw what I’d caught and came over with his cutters. He said he’d caught a few of them in his fishing life. Apparently, although most sea snakes are very shy and not aggressive, but their bite is extremely venomous, and I figured that if I’d been caught with a hook through my lip I’d be looking to bite someone! There are anti venoms for them, but you need to act quickly. He also went back to the sea!

While I forgot to take fish photos, here are some shots from the bay at Lucinda and the southern end of Hinchinbrook Island – it’s really lovely.

On Anzac Day we went for a drive to Ross River Dam and then explored some of the surrounding area, just outside of Townsville. This area has a huge variety of wild life. Below are some photos I took in just 1 day!

I’m joining the photography club and the bird observer’s group while we’re here. I’ve been to a couple of meetings and have really enjoyed them. Now I need to get out on some field days

The weather was really good last Wednesday, so we decided to give job hunting a miss for a day and go for a drive. We didn’t have any real destination in mind, just headed towards Ingham. About 60mks north of Townsville we saw a sign for Paluma Range National Park so headed in that direction. What a beautiful place. We just loved it and will head back again soon.

The national park was named after HMS Paluma and was a tin mining area in the late 1800’s. There are numerous walks and waterfalls in the park and some spectacular views from the road and established lookouts.

The Paluma Road and the bridge over Little Crystal Creek was built by the Main Roads Commission during the 1930’s depression, and the 1930’s was the era that came to mind as soon as I saw Little Crystal Creek waterfall – to me it just had that sort of feel about it.

Further up the range, not far from Paluma Village, we went to McClelland’s Lookout which was named after the Main Roads Commission overseer during the building of the road and bridge. From the lookout you get beautiful views of Halifax Bay and the Palm Island group. It used to be the site of the US Army’s radar station during the Second World War. Now it’s a lovely picnic spot with gas barbecues and picnic tables. It’s also a good starting point for some of the walks. Unfortunately when we were there it was really hazy, so it’s difficult to see the islands in the photos I took.

Cylone Yasi has had a big impact on the range, especially up the top, near Paluma Village. When we stopped at the Rainforest Inn for a coffee, we were told that a huge amount of work had already been done in the area. Apparently you couldn’t walk from one end of the village to the other because of all the trees and debris blocking the road. The army and locals spent quite a while cleaning up. Within the forest there are still a lot of trees damaged, but because of the density, they have fallen onto other trees so aren’t quite uprooted. Not sure if they’ll survive or not, but I guess that’s up to mother nature to sort out.

As you go further up in to the range you move from the eucalypt forest to rainforest. The rainforest is home to the Cassowary which is a stunning looking bird, and one of the largest to be found in Australia. Unfortunately none of them decided to pop out of the bush so I could take a photo. Probably a good thing, I think I’d have dropped my camera in shock if one had We didn’t see much bird or wildlife at all the day we were there. Just some cattle ambling their way along the road.

It’s a gorgeous part of the country and I think we’ll be heading back there soon to see more of it.

I also had my first 4wd lesson in the Suzy – the road is so corrugated and rutted in some places we put it into 4wd for me to have a practice. I’ve never driven in 4wd mode before so it was a good opportunity to get a feel for it in the little truck. There was a fair bit of water over the road too in places so I was able to practice that as well. Had a lot of fun

We went out for a drive to find somewhere for dinner one night last week and at one point ended up near the yacht club. It was a beautiful balmy night, although cloudy, with the water being very still. I only had my phone with me so the photos aren’t quite as sharp as I’d like, but I think (hope) this is an indication of some of the lovely nights we’ll get up here.

We haven’t had any rain for a few days, and the sun’s been out quite a bit so hopefully the wet season is on the way out and the beautiful one day, perfect the next slogan will become a reality. We’re so looking forward to it, like everyone else, we are so fed up with all the rain.

These little Bush Stone-curlew chicks have been running around the park lately – the parent (not sure if it’s the mother or father) is usually nearby but is more skittish than the chicks and difficult to photograph. You can get a bit closer to the little ones. They are very cute – until they wake you up at night with their rather eerie wailing call. Then you don’t find them so cute

The first two photos are at night, the other two were taken early morning. The chicks are about 30cm high I guess, and they’ll eventually grow to about 55-60cm, so they are quite a tall bird. They’re usually found in open grassy woodlands, golf courses and parks and gardens. Not sure why they’re in the caravan park, I would have thought there were too many people around for them as they are normally quite shy and secretive.

Townsville has many parks and gardens, and one of the first places I wanted to check out was the Town Common, a nature reserve a few kilometres north of the town which becomes a wetlands area during the wet season.

We went for a drive the other day to see if we could find it so I would know how to get there by myself later on. It’s a great area for bird watching, with brolgas, magpie geese, various birds of prey, finches, wrens etc. There are a number of hides set up so you can watch the birds without disturbing them. Even though it was the wrong time of the day for many birds to be out, there were still quite a few and I managed to get a couple of photos of a pair of Brolgas – admittedly not very good photos, I couldn’t get close enough, but hey, it’s the first time I’ve managed to even get close enough to see them in the wild so I’m happy with them

I also managed to get a couple of photo of a falcon, thanks to David’s sharp eyes. He’s great to take along as a lookout. Hmmm, maybe I should hire him out to birdwatchers!

I’m really looking forward to the end of the wet season so I can get out and see some more! It’s actually teeming down as I’m typing this post