With a couple of weeks to go before we can get into the Dingo Beach house we have been filling the gap in the Queensland Coast that we have not yet visited. From Midge Point we travelled down through Mackay as far as Clairview Beach, which turned out to be a very pleasant old-style caravan park, full of rainbow lorikeets. They are noisy but beautiful. At this point on the coast the tide goes out a long way and we found it out when we went down onto the beach -- much too far to walk out for a swim. This was probably a good thing as we learned later one is not advised to swim there due to the risk of crocodiles coming into the sea from the nearby creeks.

The Bruce Highway south through Rockhampton is a very boring road. The country is flat and uninteresting and we realise now what a drive it was for Derek and family to come up to Dingo Beach. Rockhampton has some interesting old colonial buildings but otherwise is a fairly seedy-looking place, so we passed through and took the coastal tourist route to Yeppoon. By now into school holidays, caravan parks were pretty full but we did find a space just to find that our gas bottles were both empty. This suggested a leak as they are never both empty at the same time and sure enough there was a smell that there should not have been. No gas available until next morning so the microwave came in handy.

Derek had told us many times we must visit the Town of 1770 and its neighbour Agnes Water. Again we were lucky to get a space as they are real family holiday resorts but we understood pretty quickly why he was so adamant that we see these places. 1770 in particular is a real little gem of a place, so-called because Captain Cook landed there in 1770 in the course of his explorations. Knowing that Derek and family were only a few hours away in Noosa, we put our second and third nights in Agnes Water on hold and took a couple of days to get down there to join them. There is a new member of the family, Jelly, a Great Dane/Labrador cross, that we had to meet and it was Dylan's birthday on the 21st also. Two good reasons to go out of our way to join them for a very short time. We had found and fixed the root of the gas problem (a missing o-ring on the connector) so that was a relief.

Jessie and Jelly

Derek and Jelly playing wicket keepers in a game of beach cricket. Dylan also ready for a catch.

The assembled younger generation at Happy Hour at the Winnebago.

Three nights to fill before coming back to Agnes Water and we decided to try Hervey Bay, the ideal place in September for whale-watching (humpbacks) and for doing a day tour to Fraser Island. The half-day whale trip was stunning. We saw mums teaching their calves how to breach and dive, then were entertained for ages by a young female which was quite simply showing off. It was fascinating. Fraser island the next day was also fun if quite different. Fraser Island is all sand. Only serious 4WDs are allowed to go there and we quickly saw why. The "roads" are just tracks in deep sand until one reaches the beach where at least the sand is firm. 75-Mile Beach is amazing and at times like a motorway although the speed limit is only 80. We saw the wreck of a once-grand ship, grounded on the beach during a storm in 1935 when it was being towed to Japan as scrap. It has survived the salt and sand as well as being used as target practice for one of the special forces during the war. Of 250 bombs dropped only two hit their target and the stern of the ship is mostly missing! Lake McKenzie provided the opportunity for a cool swim after a walk in a patch of rainforest. All in all a great day trip.

Our tour bus

Lake McKenzie

Now back in Agnes Water we are appreciating the beach while we still can. From here on, probably until we get to Broome in W.A. the beaches are to look at only. We are approaching the stinger season, to add to the crocs. We aim to be in Dingo Beach in four days' time.

Catching up again in Townsville

We had assumed that Tim and Bec with the kids would be well on their way south so were not expecting them to walk in to Winnebago when we were back to pick up the van. However, they had decided to upgrade their vehicle, which is no longer suitable for travelling long-term with two young children and had gone the whole hog and bought a Longreach -- a beautiful Winnebago model, but rather larger than what they had and therefore the whole deal hinged on Tim passing his MR (medium rigid) licence to allow him to drive it. This is the next stage up from our LR (light rigid). We spent quite some time with them as they booked into the caravan park we were staying in and we agonised with them. What if he didn't pass and had already bought it? Should they buy it anyway and get someone to accompany them further south where he could take the test again? We could only listen and sympathise with their quandary and put in our tuppence-worth where we thought it might help. Anyway, Tim sat his test yesterday and passed, so all the agonising is over and we are so happy for them. We are hoping we will meet up one last time before they go south and we go back up north.

We are marking time at the moment until we can get into our Dingo Beach house. It has tenants until the 28th but we feel we really need to see it properly and stay in it even for just a week as we probably want to sell it. That way we can really assess its state and see what needs to be done. It is keeping us late for getting up to the Top End, however. Just today, we got a surprise phone call from Winnebago offering us a new, very sturdy tap, in view of all the bother we have had! They have finally decided to ditch Dometic because of all the problems so many people have had (how many times have we asked ourselves why they didn't do just that?) and although they cannot replace ALL the faulty ones, they consider that we deserve one. It has to be installed by a Winnebago dealer, however, and since they are thin on the ground in this part of Australia we will have to go back to Townsville. It is not a big drama as we have to go back up that way anyway when we leave Dingo Beach. It will be worth it to have no more tap problems but will add another day before we head west.

At the moment we are in a little place called Midge Point, just south of Proserpine. We used to sometimes come down this way when we were at Dingo but we have not seen the caravan park until now. It is really delightful, very close to the beach and full of birds, which of course pleases us. We have no fixed plan of where we will go next.

Magnetic Island

Affectionately known as "Maggie", this is a small island twenty minutes by ferry from Townsville. It has been developed as a holiday resort but it has a certain number of permanent residents. It is also home to the world's largest colony of free-roaming koalas, although a local was telling us that after Yasi many of them died because the eucalyptus trees which provide their diet were stripped of their leaves during the cyclone. It appears Maggie took quite a hit. Although it is quite a distance from the eye of the storm, it is to the south and the winds continue to be very destructive because of the direction in which they are coming. Sand was piled metres deep on one of the beaches and it has taken quite an effort to put the island back in shape. There are many small secluded beaches all around the island. Some are accessible by walking tracks, but for many it is necessary to have a 4WD vehicle. Others again are only accessible from the sea. There is also a large colony of rock wallabies. We were fascinated to see them come to meet a car which they obviously recognised in the car park. It heralded the arrival of an old worthy who seems to have taken it upon himself to come nearly every day to feed the in spite of huge notices telling people not to. He put out bowls of water (Maggie has had no rain for thirteen weeks) and an assortment of fruit, vegetables and dried corn. A huge variety of birds exists on the island. It seems the cockatoos left after Yasi but we did see some black ones so with a bit of luck they will come back. It was interesting to find the place we stayed in 17 years ago. It is undergoing extensive refurbishment and will be very nice when it is finished.

This is Mum and Baby although the baby was difficult to see

Hello! I'm here! This rock wallaby joey did not want to be left out when there was food going.

We did a lot of walking, and a lot of beaching but we also went to the races! Bearing in mind this is North Queensland, it was not your normal horses or dogs that were racing. No, it was cane toads!! We just had to see this. It is organised weekly by an elderly man, a bit of a character, who gives all the proceeds to local charities. He has been doing it for about 20 years now and over that time has donated hundreds of thousand of dollars. It was difficult to believe until we watched how it all happens. He comes with eight toads, all wearing different coloured ribbons, and he "auctions" them. The highest bidder is the owner of that particular toad for the race. People were bidding madly on the things and some paid up to 60 dollars for a toad. Then he would offer up to 150 dollars plus a t-shirt as the prize for the winner. He put them in a container divided into 8 sections on the middle of a large circle painted on the ground. The first toad to cross the circumference of the circle was the winner. It was a riot, especially trying to catch them again. Some of the moved very fast, while others just sat there, much to the disgust of their "owners".

Radical Bay, a beautiful secluded beach which we were able to get to because we hired a 4WD one day

The far end of Horseshoe Bay, also reachable by 4WD

Looking down on Florence Bay from the Forts Walk. There are some old WWII fortifications, built when there was the threat of invasion by Japan and now it makes quite a good and strenuous walk to get up there. This is where one tends to see the koalas.

"What will you bid for my beautiful purple toad?"

Come on, orange toad. Jump!!

The huddle in the middle is not in a hurry to go anywhere.

It was a very pleasant interlude and we came back to a van duly serviced and repaired. We are now on our 8th tap in 10 months! The taps are made by Dometic, the camping wing of Electrolux and are just cheap and shoddy. The problem with ours has also been a fault in the water pressure in the van when we hook up to mains water, and the tap just breaks and water leaks into the drawers below. It is a real pain when it happens. We met people in Cairns who were on their 3rd tap so it is not just us.

Yasi country

From Port Douglas it was back to Cairns for a few nights. At last we met up with Rob, a friend of a very good friend of ours in Switzerland. He is a fisherman with his own trawler and the first time we tried to catch up with him he was at sea, then he was in Brisbane but finally, we saw him. Ken, he sends his best wishes to you and Liz. (He has excellent fish and seafood and we made the most of it. He introduced us to a new fish, mahi-mahi. Yum!)

The Atherton Tableland is always a draw for us and we went to Innisfail up and over via Millaa Millaa, making a little detour back to the Mungalli Creek Dairy, which makes the best ever yoghourt. We stocked the fridge and we're getting through it already! This was our third route from the Tableland down to the coast and it was as hair-raising as the others. Isobel's turn to drive but she is a happier driver than a passenger on these roads!

We had an interesting stopover for one night near Innisfail at a place called Paronella Park, which has almost a fairytale history. A Spaniard by the name of Jose Paronella decided he wanted to build castles, in Australia. He came out and made a substantial amount of money by buying cane farms, improving and reselling them. He then went back to Spain to marry the woman he had left there but since he had not communicated with her for eight years, she had married someone else! To save face he married her sister and brought her out to Australia. With his money he built his castles, virtually with his own hands. He must have been quite a romantic, as he included ballrooms, a "lover's lane" a picnic area by a pool which formed at the base of the Mena Creek Falls and also tennis courts (which he made with crushed termite mounds as clay), bowling green, etc. The place eventually fell into disrepair after his death but to cut a long story short it has been bought and is being recreated as it was, and it makes an interesting tourist attraction, well worth a visit.

The castle at night .......

........ and during the day

The beautiful avenue of Kauri Pine trees, which grow very tall and straight

The falls at night .........

........... and during the day

From Innisfail southwards we really began to see the devastation wrought by cyclone Yasi which hit the coast on 3rd February. It was such a huge cyclone the damage to forests was horrendous and there are still properties with no roofs. At Mission Beach, Tully and Cardwell in particular, there are houses under reconstruction, but there are also many just boarded up and abandoned. The locals all have their stories to tell, some inspirational, some just heart-rending. The stoicism of these people is remarkable. The caravan park at South Mission Beach is right at the beach and as we spent the night there it was hard to imagine that night in February when the wrath of nature was let loose. They had a couple of photo albums to help the imagination along. Impressive. One of the shops we went into in Cardwell also had photos on display and it was amazing to see the Bruce Highway, which follows the coast at that point, just demolished. One wonders where the next season's cyclones will come in and hope that the same places don't cop it again. That whole coastline is just so vulnerable.

So here we are in Townsville. We will be incommunicado for a few days as we leave the Winnebago for service and more repairs -- unfortunately several are the same ones -- and while this is happening we will be on Magnetic Island. It is almost 20 years since we were there and we do not expect to recognise too much of it. However, we are assured the koalas are still there -- they live in the wild on Maggi and it is so exciting to see them. It seems there's a mum and baby very visible at the moment. We will have three nights there and when we come back it will be to take the van to Iveco for a new windscreen! We have a crack which just appeared and a large chip which we saw happen when a road train passed in the opposite direction. The driver was driving perfectly correctly but the road had just been resurfaced and there was a lot of loose gravel which his enormous beast threw up at us. Bang! At least it happened before we fixed the crack! The van will also have an oil change, which should see us back to W.A.

Townsville also has provided us with the doctor that Warwick needed -- his turn! Unfortunately it looks as thought the old enemy, Giardia, has struck again. He doesn't seem to be able to get through this part of the world without catching it, and since it was par for the course when we lived in Indonesia, he recognises the symptoms by now. A course of Flagyl should shift it and it is an extra incentive to have a "dry September" as we had decided we would do (alcohol is a strict no-no when one is taking Flagyl). He had a couple of very uncomfortable days but is feeling rather better apart from the constant hunt for toilets!