Townsville -  Sunny but with a few clouds.  Windy last night.  High 28 Low 19C 

Went for a long walk from Rowes Bay to the town and along The Strand - washing completed & on the line & enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and it is only 8.45am.  How's that?

Townsville is the main town in North Queensland.  It is a busy town with a Defence Force base and also the James Cook University.  The local council is continually upgrading and improving the public areas and at present it is building a new parkland adjacent to the Rock Pool.  The land previously belonged to the Defence Force and the new parkland includes a military museum.  Jacqui will remember walking around this area when we were last there & I am sure she would really appreciate the new boardwalk which is to be built around the point and which I assume will connect Rowes Bay to The Strand.  (not confirmed).




Castle Hill Townsville

 Later we visted the Home Ideas & Leisure Expo.  We wanted to look at some camper-trailers as we are thinking of changing to one for our next trip.  A camper-trailer would give us access to more off-road areas such as National Parks where we cannot take a caravan. 

Our next trip will be either down the centre of Oz or to the Cape York Peninsular in Far North Qld.  Terry reckons for Cape York we only need the car and a tent but I am not convinced about that - I do not fancy sleeping in a tent with all those huge salt-water crocs around!

Rowes Bay

 

 

Strangler Figs

Caravan Park

In the evening we went for dinner at the Cowboys League Club.  Fraternising with the opposition as we support the Brisbane Broncos!  Afterwards we went for coffee at the RSL where a rock n roll band was playing.  A good night out.

The Rock Pool at Night
(this pool has sea water)

OUR RIG

We've had a few enquiries regarding our rig and Terry has put the following information together for those who are interested.......... 

Australian caravans are heavier than European / UK caravans and are also higher off the ground.  They have a much heavier chassis and they weigh in unloaded at approx 2.5 tons compared to the European/UK vans - 1 - 1.5 tons.  Over here the vans are mostly double axel to cope with the harsher road conditons and we also use anti-sway bars between the caravan & the towing vehicle.  See pic  Most vans here are fitted with reverse-cycle air-conditioning / heating which we were glad of in Broome & Darwin.  They also have roll-out awnings fixed to the vans.  Our caravan is a semi-off-roader which means it is even higher of the road than the average van and allows us to travel on dirt roads etc.  We tow with a Mitsubishi Pajero V6 petrol.  We are planning to change to diesel for our next vehicle.

Anti-sway bars on the caravan

 

 

Bike Rack

Caravan

Mitsubishi Pajero