Saturday 14 April
On Wednesday I collected the hire car in Cairns in order to travel down to Sydney. I'd ordered a small car but I was given a great big 3 litre Mitsubishi. I was hoping to find someone to share the trip. After one initial enquiry which came to nothing I got another phone call three hours after I'd left Cairns. Never mind, there are advantages to travelling alons The car is now my living room and the little tent I bought for about $50 (22 pounds) is now my bedroom. 
The first stage of my trip to Sydney was to drive south approx. 350kms to Townsville. For a large part of the journey the scenery was large forested mountains and sugar cane fields. Townsville is popular coastal resort for sailing, especially taking trips to Magnetic Island, a large nature reserve. But I've forgone that to keep the journey on schedule. Nevertheless I had an interesting, if short, time in Townsville. I stayed in a cheap camp site on the outskirts of the town which had a fair no. of permanent residents. These may be characterised as the the less 'successful' element of Australian society. After eating dinner in the town I returned to the campsite for my evening cocoa and an early night.
In the camp kitchen I met three Australians called Lauren, Rowan and Dwayne who were preparing a barbeque dinner. Rowan and Lauren are temporary residents. Lauren, in her earley40's described herself as gypsy, never staying anywhere too long but always finding work, most recently as a plasterer, next as house keeper/ accommodation manager to a large construction site accommodation site.
Rowan is a skilled builder who left his home in Perth for a change and moving around, investing in property. I have the impression from this and some earlier encounters it is quite common for single Australians to move around for years. form job to job.
Dwayne is a young man (18) with Aboriginal heritage but living living permanently with his 'pop' (grandfather) of Scottish origin, and an Australian version of Alf Garnett. Dwayne is taking poorly paid work collecting supermarket trolleys and another job, and proud that he's not relying on the benefits system.
We had a good time drinking, eating Lauren's excellent BBQ and salad and discussing the state of Australia, the universe and everything, until Pop arrived and delivered his acidic take on his
grandson and the world in general. After sometime Pop left with Dwayne and we continued to discuss what we had witnessed.
My first night in the tent was successful getting several hours sleep. Next day I packed up and went for made a daylight tour of Townsville. The best views were had from Castle Hill which gives views over the town, nearby military base and sea, including magnetic island.
I then drove on to Airlie Beach approx 400kms south and booked into a campsite on the edge of town for 2 nights. Having got my tent up I went to explore the town and get a haircut. Later I had dinner and tried the pubs and got talking to some friendly locals until midnight. During the night it rained but happily the tent did its job and kept me dry.
On Friday I went on a sailing trip to the Whitsunday Islands, which is part
of the Great Barrier Reef. The yacht, the Ragamuffin, won the Sydney to Hobart race on two occasions in the 80's and several other major races before being retired into tourist trips. It was a mainly sunny but windy day and the boat was skimming along at 45 degree angle with the edge of the deck touching the water. Once we reached Hayman Island I went snorkelling off the beach to see the beautiful coloured coral reefs and fish. It was a great day out. 
Incidentally swimming in Eastern Australia is potentially hazardaous. If its not sharks, snakes or crocodiles there are box jelly fish which can sting and paralyse your nervous system. I do wonder about Austraila some times. To protect yourself from the jelly fish (which are very small and almost invisible) its advisable to wear a stinger suit , although the hands toes and neck are still exposed. I cannot quite work out the level of risk as on the one hand they say don't swim, then they say its Ok if you wear a suit.
Today I have driven about 500kms down to the of Rockhampton as half way stage to my next destination of Fraser Island. Rockhampton is a sizeable town known as the capital of beef because of the importance of the cattle industry in this area. So shortly I'll be trying a steak in the local hotel bar.
The first stage of my trip to Sydney was to drive south approx. 350kms to Townsville. For a large part of the journey the scenery was large forested mountains and sugar cane fields. Townsville is popular coastal resort for sailing, especially taking trips to Magnetic Island, a large nature reserve. But I've forgone that to keep the journey on schedule. Nevertheless I had an interesting, if short, time in Townsville. I stayed in a cheap camp site on the outskirts of the town which had a fair no. of permanent residents. These may be characterised as the the less 'successful' element of Australian society. After eating dinner in the town I returned to the campsite for my evening cocoa and an early night.
In the camp kitchen I met three Australians called Lauren, Rowan and Dwayne who were preparing a barbeque dinner. Rowan and Lauren are temporary residents. Lauren, in her earley40's described herself as gypsy, never staying anywhere too long but always finding work, most recently as a plasterer, next as house keeper/ accommodation manager to a large construction site accommodation site.
Rowan is a skilled builder who left his home in Perth for a change and moving around, investing in property. I have the impression from this and some earlier encounters it is quite common for single Australians to move around for years. form job to job.
Dwayne is a young man (18) with Aboriginal heritage but living living permanently with his 'pop' (grandfather) of Scottish origin, and an Australian version of Alf Garnett. Dwayne is taking poorly paid work collecting supermarket trolleys and another job, and proud that he's not relying on the benefits system.
We had a good time drinking, eating Lauren's excellent BBQ and salad and discussing the state of Australia, the universe and everything, until Pop arrived and delivered his acidic take on his
grandson and the world in general. After sometime Pop left with Dwayne and we continued to discuss what we had witnessed.
My first night in the tent was successful getting several hours sleep. Next day I packed up and went for made a daylight tour of Townsville. The best views were had from Castle Hill which gives views over the town, nearby military base and sea, including magnetic island.
I then drove on to Airlie Beach approx 400kms south and booked into a campsite on the edge of town for 2 nights. Having got my tent up I went to explore the town and get a haircut. Later I had dinner and tried the pubs and got talking to some friendly locals until midnight. During the night it rained but happily the tent did its job and kept me dry.
On Friday I went on a sailing trip to the Whitsunday Islands, which is part
of the Great Barrier Reef. The yacht, the Ragamuffin, won the Sydney to Hobart race on two occasions in the 80's and several other major races before being retired into tourist trips. It was a mainly sunny but windy day and the boat was skimming along at 45 degree angle with the edge of the deck touching the water. Once we reached Hayman Island I went snorkelling off the beach to see the beautiful coloured coral reefs and fish. It was a great day out. 
Incidentally swimming in Eastern Australia is potentially hazardaous. If its not sharks, snakes or crocodiles there are box jelly fish which can sting and paralyse your nervous system. I do wonder about Austraila some times. To protect yourself from the jelly fish (which are very small and almost invisible) its advisable to wear a stinger suit , although the hands toes and neck are still exposed. I cannot quite work out the level of risk as on the one hand they say don't swim, then they say its Ok if you wear a suit.
Today I have driven about 500kms down to the of Rockhampton as half way stage to my next destination of Fraser Island. Rockhampton is a sizeable town known as the capital of beef because of the importance of the cattle industry in this area. So shortly I'll be trying a steak in the local hotel bar.
1 comment:
Left reading up on Eastbourne for our hgolidays to catch up with your travels. don't think there is too much comparison!although the thermomeer reached 24degrees C here today! Have spent ,most of it ecorating the kitchen as we had to have a new CH boiler which means that even Eastbourne is a luxury!
Daian and John
Post a Comment