Rockhampton to Cairns

Rockhampton to Airlie Beach – Tuesday 12 July 2011

We woke to a very cold 3deg in Rocky, so it was up and on the road by 8:30am for a long trip to Airlie Beach, just over 500k, the weather slowly warmed up and by lunch time it was a nice 20deg.  The road out of Rocky north is one of the roughest we have been in, it is similar to the Pacific Hwy north of Kempsey, we took our time and most things in the van stayed in place.

Stopped for fuel and lunch at Mackay then on the Airlie Beach arriving about 4:00pm. We stayed at the Big 4 Whitsunday Adventure Caravan Park, very nice park, lots of green grass and 2 other ACT cars in the park.  We caught up with one, a couple from Melba, it was nice to chat with somebody from home.

Airlie Beach – Wednesday 13 July 2011

Another warm day ahead and the pleasant surprise was it was a warm night as well, we believed we had finally arrived in the tropics.  The sky was clear and blue, just perfect holiday weather.

We decided to walk the bi-centennial track and boardwalk from Cannonvale to Airlie Beach today, a nice 3.8km each way.   It was a nice walk, it follows the water front past the Marina into Airlie, we stopped for coffee and or course found shops.  Looked through these and also helped out the local economy.  The day in Airlie finished with lunch and beers at the Sailing Club, looking out over the majestic Whitsunday – just perfect.  The day ended with a nice stroll back to the Whitsunday Adventure park

Coffee @ Airlie Cafe

Walking the Boardwalk

Airlie Beach – Whitsunday Cruise – Thursday 14 July 2011

Up and ready to go early as we were being picked up at 7:45 for our trip on the Voyager II around the Whitsunday.  The cruise was to Hook Island, Whitehaven Beach and Day Dream Island, the weather was perfect so a good day was ahead

Hook Island

We cruised out of Airlie Marina about 9 am across to Hook Island, here we had a cruise on a glassed bottom boat to check out the coral and feed the fish, after this we walked across the island to go snorkelling.  After Hook Island we headed for Whitehaven Beach, the last time we were here was 4 year ago when we sailed the Whitsundays, the beach is still as good as ever and a nice place to spend a couple of hours.  The trip back to Airlie was via Day Dream Island, where we had a nice walk around, we arrived back in Airlie about 5pm. 

Relaxed on Hook Island



Voyager II on Whitsunday



Ken & Friend



Airlie Beach to Townsville – Friday 15 July 2011

Time to move on again, setting the GPS for Townsville, a fairly ordinary drive around 350k, with good roads. We detoured into Bowen to have a look at the jetty and town made famous by the movie ‘Australia’. It was interesting to see how they transformed the area into something that looked like Darwin and how different it looks in real life. We arrived in Townsville early afternoon and stayed at the Big 4 Woodlands Caravan Park 14km north of Townsville.  Just as we arrived, a big storm that had been threatening for some time hit just as we were setting up.



Bowen Jetty



Australia Movie & Bowen

After set up we went back into Townsville for a look around.  We visited the Tropics Museum and went for a drive up Castle Hill to look out across to Magnet Island, unfortunately the clouds were low and the wind was blowing a gale so it wasn’t all that pleasant, but worth the drive.  Walking the park we found another ACT car so we had a chat, they were from Dunlop and in the area for a couple of months escaping winter, like many others.

Townsville to Cairns – Saturday 16 July 2011

Up and on the road by 9am heading north to the first of our mile stones Cairns.  The weather was cloudy but warm, as we headed up the road.  We soon reached Cardwell and the devastation from Cyclone Yasi soon came back to remind us what happened just 6 months ago in this area.  There were still a number of homes with no roofs and the vegetation was all over the place.  We decided then to detour out to Mission Beach to see the devastation in the area first hand. 




Mission Beach

 

Mission Beach devastatrion

 

Even though the village is back and running , the beach are is a disaster, it is very sad to see beautiful coastal villages and regional towns in such a mess, we soon realised that they are far from back to normal.  We had lunch here at a great little café then headed back on the road to Cairns.



Best Coffee on the Trip So Far!!

Arrived Cains about 4pm at the Big 4 Coconut Village Holiday Resort, and that is what it is.  It would be by far the best Caravan Park we have ever stayed in, a full blown resort with great sites big and plenty of grass with, great staff and amenities.  We are now here for a few days to see the sights.