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 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 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.

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.

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

On the way up we stopped at O’Connell River for a night and then 2 nights in Bowen. The day we left Mackay was quite good, at least the rain had stopped for a while, so after setting up the van at O’Connell River we went for a drive to Airlie Beach. We’d been there before when we’d gone out for a drive when in Mackay, but it was pouring down that time, so we thought we’d have another look while it was a reasonable day. I know lots of people like Airlie Beach, but to be honest, we’re not big fans – it’s very touristy. But I can understand that some holiday makers and backpackers would like it – there are a couple of nice beach areas close to rental apartments, take away food places and shops selling souvenirs and beach clothing etc. We prefer places like Cedar Creek Falls, a lovely spot between Proserpine and Airlie Beach, with swimming hole and waterfall – really pretty.

When we got back to the park we went for a walk and checked out the river. I only had my phone with me, so I took a couple of photos of the river using that camera. Everything was a bit wet and muddy and they are still in the process of cleaning up after cyclone Yasi, but I think the park would be a great spot to stay during the dry season. And the fishing is supposed to be great. I did hear however that there are crocs in the river, which may have played a part in me not going right down to the bank to check it out – knowing how clumsy I can be, and how muddy and slippery it was, the thought did cross my mind that I might have ended up going A over T into the water! Not a good thought if there are crocs in it

The rain had stopped when we left for Bowen the next day, and the sun stayed out most of the day. We got there fairly early since it’s only about 80kms from O’Connell River. We stayed at the Coral Coast Beachfront Holiday Park which is right on the beach. We don’t normally stay at big 4 parks because we really aren’t interested in all the facilities they offer, but, as I normally do, I’d looked online at the van parks in the area to make sure we could get in somewhere, and this one seemed like it might be ok, only 1 of 2 that might be able to fit us in. And it was, but only because they weren’t busy. The park is very compact with smaller sites, and in the high season when the park is packed, there’s no way we would have gotten our van in, it’s way too tight. However, the staff are great and took David’s word that he would be able to park up ok, which of course he did We had a lovely couple of days there, and we really like Bowen so will head back down there at some stage for a long weekend.

We’ve heard the fishing is excellent there, but unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to get the rods out, so will make sure we do next time we’re there.

I forgot to put a post up about the cyclone, and that’s probably partly because it didn’t affect us much and it to me it somehow seemed wrong posting about how we breezed through it when so many other places have had so much damage done and people have lost so much. However, we were evacuated from the park where we’ve been staying, so decided to head over to Theresa Creek Dam, about 320km south west of Mackay, near Clermont. We thought since we had to pack everything up, we might as well stay for a few days, so made sure we filled the water tanks and took plenty of fuel with us for the generator.

Theresa Creek is lovely, and since this is the quiet time of the year there, we had the place pretty much to ourselves apart from 3 or 4 other families or couples from Mackay and Townsville escaping the cyclone. A number of people from the park here went to Clermont, about 20kms from Theresa Creek Dam, so the park there was really busy, but I think people wanted the mod cons, electricity and so on. We were really glad we went to the dam, it was pretty, and quiet and relaxing. We spent the days walking, reading, and fishing. We heard the Redclaw (think big yabbies with a red claw) was good eating, so we put in a net and managed to get a heap of them which we boiled up and enjoyed with just vinegar and salt and pepper. Beautiful!

Apparently the dam gets very busy on the weekends with ski boats, jet ski’s, family bbqs and picnics, and I imagine it would get pretty noisy, but during the week it was really peaceful. The only noisy bit was the dawn chorus with the birds, but that’s not hard to put up with. There were heaps of birds there – rainbow lorikeets (who would eat from your hand), noisy miners, blue eyed honeyeaters, apostle birds, magpies, magpie larks etc, and they are obviously used to people as they didn’t show any sign of concern at us being around them. We were set up under a tree so had a lot of them around us all the time. We’ll be making sure we’ll get back there again.

With all the rain we’ve had recently the trees and shrubs have taken a beating, so there aren’t many flowers around like there usually are. There aren’t many people around either, a lot of the seasonal workers have left because the sugar season is over or because the rain has effectively put an end to the jobs they had. It’s nice and quiet though.

This photo of a ginger plant is from one of the permanent residents’ garden, she has quite a few of them, all in this gorgeous colour. I didn’t realise until I saw the shot on the computer, but this plant also has its own residents – bugs and a moth :-}

I love how dandelions look when you photograph them up close, they catch the light and shine like mini chandeliers.

This young magpie was funny, he walked right up to me and just stopped in the middle of the path – not sure if he was trying to stop me from walking on or if he was looking for food – since he’s been around for a while he’s very used to people, and I would suspect that some of the residents have been feeding him.

The willy wagtail was following Pete, the maintenance guy, around while he was mowing the lawns. The birds have learned that mowing or whipper snipping means fresh bugs! David was whipper snipping around the van the other day and one was following him around too – they get very close to the cutting bit.

There are lots of green frogs around, particularly in the amenities block – this little guy was quite comfortable – in the toilet bowl! He was only a little one, the other day I was surprised by his big brother who leapt off the cistern onto the floor at my feet. Sorry, I didn’t have the camera with me for that shot

This leaf is from a clump in the garden bed outside the camp kitchen, not sure what it’s called, but the veins are a beautiful colour

I was sitting outside having a coffee after my walk, and there was a slight breeze blowing the palm tree fronds around a bit. I like the look of the trellis pattern when one frond moved in front of the other.

I’m not sure what this shrub is called, I’m having trouble finding someone who knows the name of it and I can’t find it on the internet which is really odd because they are everywhere up here, the foliage is similar to an agapanthus, and the flower is really lovely, the petals are almost transluscent.

David is back at work after the Christmas break, but I’m still looking and not having much luck. People don’t seem to get back to you up here, and I think with what’s been happening with the weather in the area it might be even more difficult to find something – we’ll give it another month and then decide what we are going to do. David’s been very lucky with work, the trucks aren’t getting up here due to the flooding at Rockhampton so there’s not much to do and the company has been sending a lot of their drivers home early or telling them not to come in until late in the day, at least David has been able to work his normal hours. Hopefully things will start getting back to normal for everyone soon.