Queensland wandering boots: Day 10 Cairns or Bust

 

By the numbers

1 bus

1 mask

12.1 km

15869 steps

 

The day had come that I would be on the last leg of my journey north as I would be heading to Cairns for the first time since 1987. I ate a quick breakfast just on daylight and then got wandering to wards the bus stop after handing my key in just before the office opened. At least now I know I can do that with my key as I didn’t know before. I was going to leave it in my room. I soon now that I would have to wear a mask on the bus as soon as I walked up as there were other people wearing them. I only put mine on when the driver turned up wearing his. I would have to wear a mask for the entire trip to Cairns.

 

Nearly everyone on the bus was going to Cairns, although one guy was somehow going to Darwin for work in IT. I have no idea if he would have to fly from Cairns, or get the bus as that would be a crazy long trip. The seat where I was had a window covering, when you looked into the bus from the other side it was an advertisement covering the windows all the way to the back. Heading north we headed for our rest stop part way in Cardwell, where we parked outside a servo. The driver told me not to eat the food there as there was better food elsewhere in town. I would have liked to see more of the town especially the bush telegraph building. While I scoffed down my chips, I had a quick wander along the waterfront before returning to the bus. The bus then headed north and through Tully where it was raining and the sugar cane was being processed. We did stop near Mission Beach where people got into the bus and kept on heading north. By the time we reached Cairns the weather was still cloudy. I was wearing long sleeves as I didn’t want to get sunburnt as I had for the last two days. That is the most annoying part knowing you have been burnt, but making sure you don’t get hit any more.

 

Cairns pulled up and it turned out that no one here were wearing masks unlike Townsville where we had to wear a mask each time we entered a shop. Once I was off the bus, I was able to leave the mask off. I keep it in my bag in case I do need it or it is required. Check in app, yes but the mask no where to be seen. I soon learnt how far the hostel was to where I was dropped off by the bus as it was something like a 10 min walk. I walked into the hostel and I do have air con, but I was happy for that. Once I dropped off my stuff, I went to look for the train station, where I booked my train to Karanda with a sky rail journey too. The funny thing is I will be at the Sky rail tomorrow when I end up at the tank museum. From the station in the middle of Cairns to next door where the shopping centre was connected. Apparently I needed cash money for the bus and my banks ATM refused to give me money, like it was empty, and it was inside the bank. I had to find another ATM. Randomly walking out an exit, I headed for the Lagoon area of Cairns, where I found where all the people were. They were either swimming, or sunbaking at the lagoon area. The tide looked to be way out at the water as there were mudflats. Seems the local wildlife ate at the mudflats with migratory birds from far overseas. Turning towards the hostel, I wandered back via the Aquarium as I could tell it was starting to get dark and I didn’t want to get caught out without getting food on the way back. I did bring food back with me, but I was back to the get food whenever, but I shall check out the local Coles to see what they have. My museli bars do go a little way, but not that far.

 

Queensland wandering boots: Day 9 Wandering Townsville

By the numbers

15.23 kms

20190 steps

 

I did plan to take today as an easy day where I did not have to walk very far at all. I did see that Townsville had an old fortification and it was only a 20 or so min walk from where I am staying. I had the idea in my head that I would be back at the motel room within the next hour or so. That plan might not actually have occurred like that as everyone who knows me and read my blogs so far would know I will just end up anywhere. Instead of wearing a cap, today I wore a bucket hat as I knew it would cover my skull even though I was worried about the wind blowing it off.

 

I began walking along The Strand heading north as I had seen the south every other time so far. There were plenty of people walking around and I had that feeling, I usually do that I wanted another coffee. There was a fortification at one end that I wanted to have a good look at, but I found The Strand to be pretty busy and there were different art works all along it and also information panels about UV suntans and more about the stingers that you have to watch out for. I found the lagoon at the end of The Strand just below Kissing Point. I did a lap of the lagoon before stopping for a coffee. I was laughing into my mask when my card didn’t work, but the girl wiped down the machine and then there was the familiar beep. I took my coffee for a short walk before I sat in the shade to drink it, and that included dribbling it down my shirt as well.

Taking what I thought to be an easy set of stairs to the top of Kissing Point, which was part of the Jezzine Barracks area. Turns out these steps were my friendly grade 3 level, but not as bad as the Castle Hill set that I encountered several days ago. Once at the top I came across information about the history of the old colonial fort that wasn’t as beautiful as the Fort Takapuna in Auckland. The fortification were upgraded and used right up to World War 2. The Strand beach area were also part of the landing area for the American equipment including people. There was a dedication to the American service people with a map of the battle of Coral Sea on the ground showing you where the Allies and Japanese forces were coming from. They had some of the old guns from the colonial period too including one that was upgraded, but had to be sent back to England and returned. There were plenty of people walking through this area as it seemed to be well used. Just below the fort were soldier barracks that might not be the originals, but now being used for other purposes like an art gallery. The Queensland Army Museum was just across from me and they were either closed on Mondays, or because of Covid they were permanently closed. I don’t know yet.

 

Deciding to keep walking I walked as far as the Big 4 caravan park around Rose Bay, passing some mud skippers along the way. I stopped to watch them, while finding sand flies, or they found me. Those little guys move fast, but I waited until they came out of hiding. I ended up taking a walk to the local cemetery as it was not very far away from where I was. I didn’t stay in the cemetery for very long although I got some photos and had a look at the historic section that warned me about snakes and goannas. I was trying to stay in the shade for most of the walk, but I think I felt loads better than I might be redder than I was before this morning. It was actually mid afternoon by the timer I returned after getting a cold drink that I could sit back and drink. I decided to chill inside for the rest of the afternoon with my cold non alcoholic drink.

 

Tuesday is my next lift off for my last destination that is Cairns. I am going by bus again and see what happens when I arrive. I do have a plan to book the train for a trip to Karanda and should find out if I need money.

 

Queensland wandering boots: Day 8 Sunny Townsville

By the numbers

16.51 kms

21756 steps

 

Last night I had changed my mind about visiting Magnetic Island as I wanted to experience the Townsville show and that would mean appearing at the cemetery too, which was on the way. I did learn that Monday was show day, so though Sunday might be better. I was still going to have my tour to the quarantine station just up the road that is now part of the national park on the Monday. I made sure I had breakfast before leaving, although I did get distracted in wanting to finish the book I was reading.

 

The route I took was through town tracing the edges of Castle hill towards the outskirts of Townsville. I passed some of the artworks that were on the walls of a few businesses. On the way I stopped at the Townsville train station and it seems to be where they are building the track for the racing next weekend. A train had actually pulled in and was going to head north unless it changed direction somewhere further along the line. I could feed the day getting warmer and cloudless. It was unlike every other day I have been on my trip so far as there has been cloud cover. I was following the map on my phone so knew I was going. The West End cemetery was not very far from the show grounds and once I walked up, I thought the gate was closed meaning that it was not open. The cemetery had been opened around 1868 or there abouts, so I took a walk and kept finding information panels about the cemetery.

 

After wandering around the cemetery for a bit, I headed to the show grounds and found I had to pay for my ticket in cash, which I luckily had on me. I had to wear a mask inside the showgrounds and they even had to do a temperature check too. The temp gun didn’t work at first until the lady had to sort it out and then I was allowed in. I checked out the show bag area and was starting to think that I had seen better at the Ekka in Brisbane. I didn’t mind the mask, but in the heat it was annoying. While I would have liked showbags there was no space and I did not want to carry them around. I wandered around looking at the baby animals and the wood chop. There were some other displays like vehicles, but the whole event did not seem like it was busy, unless that is Monday. I didn’t try the rides and I was there for close to two hours before I left.

 

The walk back to town meant my plans were constantly changing as I first wanted to walk the 40 mins extra to the RAAF base, which turned into a walk to another nearby cemetery, the next change went to the end of The Strand where an old fort was. The last change ended up going back to the motel as I was feeling the draining effects of the constant sun. I didn’t realise it would get so hot up this way and once I made it back to the room I was feeling pretty exhausted and I did not have much in the way of water left. I ended up having a sleep for an hour with the aircon going in the room. I hadn’t realised that I had gotten sunburnt, so I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon inside and in the shade as I didn’t want to get burnt any more.

 

I was doing some research into what bus service I needed to catch and found because of the public holiday there was no public transport to where I wanted to go and I did not want to walk 2 hours one way and then return walk would be another 2 hours. I know where I want to head to tomorrow even if its an alternate plan to what I had. I wasn’t planning on the Townsville show day, but I will make do. Probably shouldn’t be spending the whole day in the sun with the sunburn I received today.

 

Queensland wandering boots: Day 7 Wandering Townsville

 

 

By the numbers

1 museum

1 bloody tough walk up a hill

15.29 kms

20783 steps

Active time 214 / 60 mins

 

The morning started with two coffees and toast as I was in a motel that had a toaster and microwave. The best part is I have a fridge, so I don’t have to head out to the restaurants for a feed. Once I was warmed up and ready to move as I had a date with a museum on the first day after Townsville exited lockdown. The night before it sounded as though every man and their dog was out driving as I could hear cars when I went outside. Once I left to visit the Museum of Tropical Queensland, I had around 40 mins to make the 10 min walk. That ended up with me getting distracted while walking along The Strand that takes you along the waterfront in Townsville. By the time I got undistracted I had 10 mins to end up at the museum.

 

By the time I arrived the museum had not opened yet and would be the first time after Lockdown had began that it would be open. Also it had been closed for several years and had only just reopened in the last month or so. I wanted to see one particular exhibit and that was about the HMS Pandora. This ship had been tasked to capture the HMS Bounty after the mutiny. This was the exact same ship that William Bligh had been thrown off. The Pandora had captured some of the Mutineers and placed them in a box on deck known as Pandoras Box. The men would suffer from the heat and little air circulation. The ship would strike the Great Barrier Reef and would sink with around 30 people lost. The return journey took a while as they had life boats, but there was a point where some more prisoners were found and thought to be mutineers, but they were escaped convicts from Australia. The wreck had several expeditions to recover artefacts around the 1980s onwards where they found a sextant, bottles, a fireplace, locks from prisoners and even shells the sailors would have sold once they went home, although only part of the wreck has been excavated if that is the right word, and there were parts of the vessel that was found, which proved it to be the HMS Pandora. I did sit and watch the video about one of the journeys. That was the reason for me visiting Townsville.

When I entered the museum, I had a really helpful tour guide tell me about the exhibitions including the Pandora. There was a travelling exhibition of Roman artefacts and displays, although there were some interesting things there, but were mostly reproductions to show examples of what their life would be like from war to entertainment. There were some pottery and other things from the time period. Other displays in the museum included nature, which was from some dinosaur finds in Queensland to the importance of mangroves and even where to find them in Townsville. It wasn’t a huge museum, but I was satisfied with what I had found and I stopped there for coffee while listening to some people who were complaining about coffee to go as they didn’t want to sit down. My coffee as it was bought to the table was filled a little bit too much and I was able to drink it without my mask on as I had to wear a mask in the museum.

 

I decided to go wandering over to where the maritime museum was located in town as I wanted to see what it looked like, but I wasn’t going to visit two museums in one day as I wanted to explore more of Townsville. There was something at the roundabout nearby that I wanted to take a picture of. There was the light of a lighthouse that was in the roundabout near the maritime museum and I ended up doing a blocky as I ended up with lunch, which was a pie and sandwiches. I found a park near the Victoria bridge that I found out was once a swing bridge that was once the main bridge into Townsville that was to be demolished, but had been saved and was now a bridge for pedestrians. I had seen the sign much like the Brisbane sign in Southbank the day before and I thought I was in the wrong area. There was also an information panel about Eddie Mabo and his life, which I didn’t realise he had been a local resident. He was once buried in Townsville, but further research showed his remains had been moved to one of the islands after his headstone was vandalised.

 

Before I crossed the bridge a local random guy started having a chat with me and asking how I was. I told him I was chilling as I had only just gotten into town the day before. I didn’t know who he was so all I was doing was chilling. Crossing the Victoria Bridge I had been contemplating walking up Castle Hill via a track called Goat Track. Following my map, I headed to the track as I was thinking it would be a pretty easy walk. Turns out I had miscalculated in the trail going up the hill. Goat Track was a grade 3 track where the stair became much worse going up. An elderly man passed me twice as he went up and down, several other locals did the same as I was huffing and puffing thanking my lucky starts that the afternoon heat was not within the middle of summer. I had to stop several times as I knew I wasn’t very fit anymore. I nearly turned back several times, but once I found the road, I was actually not very far from the summit of Castle Hill. The strange thing was the headstone for Captain Robert Towns whom the town was named after was just in the carpark. It had been moved from his Sydney grave. Looking around some of the lookouts, I came across an old pill box that would have been from World War 2. It was starting to become late and I wanted to walk back down the hill following the road. The road was easier than the tracks as they all seemed to be grade three. I was going down hill, but the road was sloping and windy around the hill. This meant more people were walking up this way as it was a shared route for vehicles and pedestrians. Maybe next time I wont struggle by following something called a Goat Track.

 

The walk was actually much easier as I walked back to the hotel as I was now hot and sweating not wanting to have stinky sweaty clothes in my room, hoping that I could use the washing machine I had found the day before. I walked through the botanic gardens, although there wasn’t much there and a wedding was happening, so I wanted to avoid that. I ended up having a shower once I returned and the washing was on. By the time I hung it out it was dark, but the clothes were dry by the time 9pm came around. Damp spots on two pairs of shorts, but everything else was dry, so Townsville helps with something and I was not expecting dry clothes at night.

 

Queensland wandering boots: Day 6 To Townsville

 

By the numbers

1 bus

6.63 kms

8718 steps

The morning did seem to be clear when I got up and moving, although I was up before my alarm went off as I tried sleeping in. I wanted breakfast with coffee and visited one of the places where I knew I could get something quick and easy, which was Maccas. I had a coffee so that was something to wake me up and get the engine running for the day. The plan was actually to catch the bus into the great unknown that was Townsville. I didn’t know what was going to happen on arrival as everything was in lockdown in that area. I did watch the press conference and it said the lockdown in Townsville would be lifted that night, which made me happy even if I had only 4 hours of it once I arrived.

 

Making sure I was ready and had everything packed including a full water bottle so that I wouldn’t need to worry too much. I was keeping an eye on the weather as I could see the clouds moving in and I didn’t want to get wet at all. I put the key through the mail slot and the funny thing was it fell under the door and outside, so I pushed it back inside. The weather was getting worse as I walked to the stop and could feel the rain trying to start. Around 5 mins at the stop and the heavens did open, so I was lucky there. I even found I could look at my bus coming into town live with a location shown on the map. There were not many people on the bus and few going into Townsville. We were told once we set foot in the city we would have to wear a mask. The first stop was just up the road at a servo where we could get food. I looked and there wasn’t anything there I was interested in.

 

The journey north included conga lines of caravans with Victorian number plates, road works all the way up, but at least the traffic was moving. I was looking at the different towns like Bowen’s big Mango and the town itself seemed to have heaps of space especially on the streets. There were no huge issues on the trip up and Twitter provided me with a name to the bus. It was the rainforest dog. At least now I know the vehicles have names and I was watching the scenery go by as you could see sugar cane, cane trailers and more towns like Ayr. Though I was getting excited when I went into Townsville and the city looked very quiet. Along the way I found where I wanted to be tomorrow as the museum was going to be open the day after lockdown. I soon found just how hot Townsville could be especially when wearing a mask. It was uncomfortable, but I soon made my way to the motel. I was able to check in and then it was time to wait out the lockdown, although I did look up the rules and that did include exercise and getting essentials. That was what I did do as I thought it would be easier and cheaper to have a few meals at the room since I had a microwave and a fridge with a freezer. I didn’t know where anything was apart from Maccas and I could have my morning toast, which was boring, but who cares.

 

I went back to the motel room and sat waiting out the lockdown, although I was watching TV and looking things up online. Once 6pm came about out of curiosity I went for a short walk and the city had come alive with people and cars everywhere. I think I prefer a city that looks alive than one that is dead silent. It was good to see people walking about, but there was a chill in the air. It was on dusk and at least now people are happy to be out and about. Hopefully they wont get a bit too noisy at night. Nearby there is a huge hill in the city that I could try to walk up, but if the heat today is anything like it has been then I might have to rethink that idea. I am I get up to.

 

Queensland wandering boots: Day 5 Airlie Beach chilling

 

By the numbers

11.92kms

15921 steps

 

I had planned on visiting Hamilton Island and was going to head there, but decided I did not want to pay the $60 return ticket. It was something like that and I wanted to get some washing done before I headed off to my next destination tomorrow. With that in mind I thought it would be better to have a nice and relaxing day without having to be anywhere. In fact that turned out to be a great plan. It was actually raining when I went out to get some breakfast and while I sat there eating and watching the rain. I did have a plan to look for a Laundromat as I thought I couldn’t use the one at the hostel until 1pm. I found it in a sad little shopping arcade that was mostly closed shops except for itself and one other store. I am sure I had been in there once before, but I cant remember how much the area has changed.

 

I returned to the hostel and asked if I could use the washing machines early and got told to go ahead, which I did. Not only did I not need to go very far, but I was happy to sit and relax with a book at the hostel without getting wet. Once it was all done, there was another little job that I wanted to complete and that was a haircut. I started with Google maps and one place couldn’t fit me in until midday, another I didn’t want to go near as it was a womans spa, and the final one I came across had nothing going on. I went from entering to getting my hair cut right there. My hair was getting to that point where I really did need a cut and that was another job done. I then took a walk to where the Airlie Creek bush walk was at the top of town. Turns out the trail has four grades that changes and takes an hour to return. I walked to where it started to become rough and turned back as I didn’t know how slippery the surface would get specially on the rocks..

 

Down the hill I went and a quick look in Woolworths, where I found they had hot food like hot chicken chips and even sandwiches. I grabbed a drink and chicken chips before heading to the beach to sit and watch the ocean. There were plenty of people walking about, although not as busy being school holidays, maybe I have missed half the people, or they were stuck elsewhere. I was catching up on the news too and seeing what was happening in the state. Then once I was ready to head back, I headed back to the room and did some packing so I wouldn’t be stuck with rushing to get it all done especially after my bags were spread around. I did go out and buy a magnet and a new shirt with shorts, so I would have extras, but there was one I wanted, but they had no short sleeved ones.

 

After another stop to read my book in the room, I wandered to where the caravan park was, where I had first stayed after getting fired from the job on Hamilton Island. The learning exeperience as to why you don’t take so much gear with you. Not that I knew then I would be a casual that was disposable once my usefulness ended. The caravan park was still at the same location, but under a different name. It did seem to be further out of town, although I do remember it being a fair walk the last time. Pretty sure there wasn’t a Woolworths in Airlie back then either. There wasn’t a cruise terminal either way back when I was staying there as it was only Schute Harbour then. Around the caravan park, I turned back and headed back to Airlie where I found a bookshop on my Map of Googles. I wanted to have a quick look before it closed and had another look around the general area. I looked up the shop to do with the shirt I wanted and found only the long sleeve, so I got that and headed back to my room to read a book. I didn’t buy a book as there was only 10 mins before the shop closed. I read for a little bit before heading out to get some food as I was hungry after having a light lunch.

 

We shall see what tomorrow offers with going to Townsville with what is happening there, so it should be interesting to see what happens. Apparently everything from the weekend onwards will be up and running, so I should be alright with what I want to do.