Qld-Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island is 8km and a twenty minute ferry ride from the Townsville harbour. The island has a residential population of 2,000 plus lots of tourists, and is all within World Heritage Marine Park.
The island has some of Queensland’s most picturesque bays and beaches and lots of walking tracks. The huge granite boulders all over the island adds to its’ rugged natural beauty. Mike and I went on two of the walking tracks and saw koalas and rock wallabies which always make it a little more exciting. One of the walks was a 2.8 km Forts Walk which shows the gun placements, amunition bunkers, and the command post from WW2. The other was a 2km walk down to Radical Bay which was absolutely stunning and by the time we got there we were hot, sweaty and the water was a heavenly welcome.
This is a lovely island for a quiet holiday. There are various resorts and apartments for rent. This island seems like a very well kept secret.

Qld-Townsville

What a fantastic place! Castle Hill is a red rock monolith in the heart of the city with panoramic views to Magnetic Island in the east and great mountains to the west. We drove up to the top to see the area, but, for those keen fitness ones amongst us, there are walking tracks.
We stayed at Rowes Bay which is one of the northern coastal suburbs and we could ride our bikes everywhere. Each morning we rode to Palleranda which is a 13k round trip along the beach where you have a view of Magnetic Island the entire way.
Townsville has an area called “The Strand” which is a bike and walk path along the ocean. At one end, there is a huge salt water pool called “the rock pool” and it ends at the marina. Along the strand are restaurants, play areas for children, beach volley ball courts, fishing jetties, water parks, free barbeques and lots of tables and chairs. I wish that Newcastle could have done something similar on our harbour front. This area is magic!!
We played golf one morning and were entertained by the local airforce with their F18 fighters. Rather spectacular!
The old buildings are beautiful, the parks are stunning, the restaurants at Palmer St and Flinders St would satisfy anybody’s desire. We spent some great times with my cousin Steven and his partner, Tracey, which capped off a fun time in the area.
Thanks Townsville, you are one of our favorite destinations, we love you.

Qld-Bowen

Bowen is a small coastal town about a 40 minute drive north of Airlie Beach. “Australia” was filmed here so we enjoyed seeing some of the buildings, like the Grand View Hotel, (which was in the movie), where we had a delicious roast meal.
Bowen is also well known for its beautiful murals and there are 24 displayed on buildings throughout the town. The murals depict the diverse history from the town’s early settlement to present day.
The information centre hosts the “Big Mango”. Bowen mangoes are renowned for their flavour. Unfortunately, they are not in season so we did not get to sample them. Tomatoes, sugar cane, sea salt flats and great sea food all contribute to the local economy.

We spent a morning at Horseshoe Beach, one of the many lovely beaches, where we swam, snorkeled and climbed to the top of the cliff to take in the view. The area is very flat so I enjoyed riding my bike around town. All the streets are extremely wide, lined with trees and the town still has many beautiful old buildings.

Qld-Airlie Beach

My cousin Jeff and his wife Sue were having their 50th birthday, so Mike and I decided to stay in the area for another week, and spend time with my four long lost cousins. Not very hard to do as this area is stunning.The weather has been glorious so we are either, swimming, walking or bike riding every day. Along the Airlie waterfront they have a huge swimming pool, called "the lagoon"which is free and always being used by tourists and locals.Daz, our neighbour in the caravan park, and Mike went out on a fishing charter and came back with enough fish to feed us for a week. They were two very" happy chappy's."
We also had another special day when we went out on my cousins' lovely old 42 foot wooden boat. He has been busy restoring it and it will be fabulous when he has finished.
We cruised to a lovely quiet bay where we swam, walked on the beach and had the crabs for lunch that we had caught in the Prosepine river a couple of days earlier.
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The time here has been very special and I thank my cousin Jeff and his wife Sue so much for their love and hospitality. We will be making sure that we get together on a regular basis from now on. Twenty years between visits is way too long.
While at Airlie we stayed at the Big 4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort. Fantastic! View details in "Our Camping Spots"

Qld - Airlie Beach

This has been a very special part of our holiday. My cousin Jeff lives in this area with his wife Sue and boys Jack and Sam. I haven't seen Jeff for over twenty years so it has been a fantastic reunion.
Jeff and Sue took us out on the Prosepine River to throw out some crab pots and hopefully catch some dinner. We put the pots out and then cruised up stream for a couple of kilometres. We were crocodile spotting and were very lucky to see six of them. They were all between three to four metres long. Apparently this section of the river has the largest number of crocodiles in Queensland and we were out there in a "tinny." We felt like Steve Irwin and the guys from Australia Zoo.

We then spent one day on a Whitsunday cruise. We left from Shutte Harbour and spent the morning on Hamilton island. We rented a golf buggy and toured the island with some friends and enjoyed photographing the island, having coffee and wishing that we were staying for a few days.

That afternoon the boat took us to Whitehaven beach which must be one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The sand is white, extremely fine and squeekes when you walk on it. The water is warm and crystal clear.

Qld - Mackay

After having a wonderful week back in Newcastle visiting family and friends we were looking forward to exploring the Mackay area and were blown away with its’ beauty.

Craig, a friend of ours, has a magnificent home on Keswick Island, which is a 15 minute flight from Mackay airport. Craig flew us over in his own plane and we were treated to two amazing days walking, swimming and driving around the island in their golf buggy ( the main form of island transport ). Everywhere you look the views are breath taking. When flying around the island you can see the coral reefs hugging the shoreline.

Mackay is surrounded by cane fields which makes the area look very lush and green. One day we drove up to Eungella National Park, about a one hour drive west of Mackay in the Clarke Range. We went on several bush walks in the rain forest and were in awe of the massive palms, ferns and trees. From the top of the range at Eungella township there are viewing platforms of the valley below. The view is spectacular and the valley looks like a patchwork quilt. It is now the beginning of sugar cane harvesting in the area. There is a great deal of activity with the cutting and the transporting of the cane by trains and trucks to the many cane factories in the valley.

We loved the area and can certainly understand why it is growing so rapidly.