Thursday 6-6-2013
Charters Towers – Airlie Beach
After leaving the library we went by a
park that I remembered from the previous motorcycle trip. This park's
trees are full of big fruit bats.
We took a few pictures and then went looking for a caravan park that we were told about. We rented a cabin there that had a kitchenette and 2 bedrooms as well as a couch and eating table. This was the best place that we had stayed in yet. The park also had internet in select locations so we did some emails and I did the blog previous to this one. We did not feel like going back to town for supper so we looked at the meager offerings of the camp store. Jeff got a breakfast muffin and some potato chips. I bought a can of chili and some crackers. Gourmet dining! We actually had the tv tuned on watching news and then some long drama about high school girls working as interns in a hospital came on. It was not too good so Jeff went to bed. But then some American fictional FBI show came on and I watched it. Then it was off to bed reading a paperback that I bought from the town library. I also read more of it in the early morning when I could not sleep. Finally the sun came up and we got rolling toward Airlie Beach. We turned off the east bound highway onto the southbound Bruce Highway. We are now in the tropics and into sugar cane country. The sugar cane farmers use their own narrow gauge railroad for hauling sugar cane from one area to another.
We took a few pictures and then went looking for a caravan park that we were told about. We rented a cabin there that had a kitchenette and 2 bedrooms as well as a couch and eating table. This was the best place that we had stayed in yet. The park also had internet in select locations so we did some emails and I did the blog previous to this one. We did not feel like going back to town for supper so we looked at the meager offerings of the camp store. Jeff got a breakfast muffin and some potato chips. I bought a can of chili and some crackers. Gourmet dining! We actually had the tv tuned on watching news and then some long drama about high school girls working as interns in a hospital came on. It was not too good so Jeff went to bed. But then some American fictional FBI show came on and I watched it. Then it was off to bed reading a paperback that I bought from the town library. I also read more of it in the early morning when I could not sleep. Finally the sun came up and we got rolling toward Airlie Beach. We turned off the east bound highway onto the southbound Bruce Highway. We are now in the tropics and into sugar cane country. The sugar cane farmers use their own narrow gauge railroad for hauling sugar cane from one area to another.
In the town of Ayr we passed a cemetery where is appears all
of the graves are above ground. I had seen this before but did not
get a picture. This time I stopped and took this photo.
In Airlie
Beach they were doing major construction on the main street in the
tourist area. We found a parking place right in front of a tour
agency. We booked a tour to the Great Barrier Reef as well as 2
nights in a hotel/hostel/motel/??? It's a private room with a kitchen
area meaning a sink. Pretty minimal. The twin bed were arranged as a
double but housekeeping redid that for us into 2 twins. However there
is only a light bedspread on the beds so I have my sleeping bag on
the bed a it seems like it will be cool tonight. This place is setup
for young people, block walls, no carpeting, the towel holders are
made of heavy duty angle iron. When the young people leave they can
just bring in a fire hose and prepare the room for the next tenant.
Pizza for dinner, then back to the room where we did some maintenance
on Jeff's helmet. Hopefully the night will not be too noisy as this
is a party town and I imagine some of the younger set will want to
continue partying when they return to their rooms.
In Airlie
Beach they were doing major construction on the main street in the
tourist area. We found a parking place right in front of a tour
agency. We booked a tour to the Great Barrier Reef as well as 2
nights in a hotel/hostel/motel/??? It's a private room with a kitchen
area meaning a sink. Pretty minimal. The twin bed were arranged as a
double but housekeeping redid that for us into 2 twins. However there
is only a light bedspread on the beds so I have my sleeping bag on
the bed a it seems like it will be cool tonight. This place is setup
for young people, block walls, no carpeting, the towel holders are
made of heavy duty angle iron. When the young people leave they can
just bring in a fire hose and prepare the room for the next tenant.
Pizza for dinner, then back to the room where we did some maintenance
on Jeff's helmet. Hopefully the night will not be too noisy as this
is a party town and I imagine some of the younger set will want to
continue partying when they return to their rooms.
Friday 6-7-2013
Great Barrier Reef
Well the younger set came to their room
next to ours last night and they did want to party. It was a long
night. They finally quit around 3 AM. Let's just say that I was not
overly quiet when preparing to leave in the morning. After some
confusion as to where the bus stop was for the pickup bus and the bus
being late we were on the bus heading to the tour boat. The boat was
a catamaran and quite fast. We stopped at Hamilton Island for some
more passengers and continued on to the reef. After passing the
Whitsunday Islands we entered what the crew called “The Miracle
Mile”. It is a section that is much rougher water than the rest of
the trip. The crew passed out sea-sickness bag and we enjoyed a white
knuckled, rock & rollin', slammin' and jammin' ride. Yahoo! At
the reef they have a permanent pontoon boat stationed with an opening
to see into the water, a water slide and equipment for snorkeling and
scuba diving. There is also a glass bottomed boat that goes over to
the reef which was my main interest. Linda and I took a trip to the
reef from Cairns on our trip and did not get to see much when
snorkeling. Jeff and I rode the glass bottomed boat 2 times. One of
the crew members had explained to us that the beautiful colored
pictures of the reef that everyone has seen were all photographed at
night and that we would not be seeing those colors. They were right
but it was still very interesting.
Lunch was served on the boat which was my meal for the day. As the tide went out the top of the reef was visible above the water . Finally it was time to turn back. The “Miracle Mile” was not quite as rough as before but people now had food in their tummies and there was considerable more use of the sea sickness bags. We got back after dark and Jeff wanted supper or “evening tea”. We went to the Hogbreath Saloon and he had a steak. I had a glass of wine. I only have 7 more days to lose 10 pounds. In my dreams!! It is Friday night and I am concerned that our yound neighbors will really be feeling their oats tonight. But luckily they were quiet all night. However we did quickly find out that house keeping and replenishment of the coffee packets and tea bags were not part of the service. But then again neither were blankets. Tomorrow we continue south back toward Brisbane.
Lunch was served on the boat which was my meal for the day. As the tide went out the top of the reef was visible above the water . Finally it was time to turn back. The “Miracle Mile” was not quite as rough as before but people now had food in their tummies and there was considerable more use of the sea sickness bags. We got back after dark and Jeff wanted supper or “evening tea”. We went to the Hogbreath Saloon and he had a steak. I had a glass of wine. I only have 7 more days to lose 10 pounds. In my dreams!! It is Friday night and I am concerned that our yound neighbors will really be feeling their oats tonight. But luckily they were quiet all night. However we did quickly find out that house keeping and replenishment of the coffee packets and tea bags were not part of the service. But then again neither were blankets. Tomorrow we continue south back toward Brisbane.
Saturday 6-8-2013
Left Airlie Beach today heading south. We did not intend to go very far but finally rode 450km and are in a nice motel in Rockhampton. We went through an area where there could be Koalas but never saw one.
Left Airlie Beach today heading south. We did not intend to go very far but finally rode 450km and are in a nice motel in Rockhampton. We went through an area where there could be Koalas but never saw one.
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