July 2008 Australia.

NORTH COAST

The outback meets the tropics on Queensland's North Coast. Townsville, the state second largest city, is a cheerful and fresh place, with a relaxed waterfront cafe scene and an affable population. Off shore sits exquisite and accessabile Magnetic Island with unpopulated beaches and excellent bushwalking.

As Darren went home on the 7th of July till the 30th of July to spend the schoolholidays with Christopher in New Zealand i made the most of my time in Townsville and explored all of it (or most) by bike and foot.

The weather was overall good however some rainy days were VERY wet as you will see from one of the photo's

In answer to your question! it is a Mango the huge orange blob outside the visitor centre.It welcomes visitors to Bowen, which is a thriving fruit and vegetable centre.

Most travellers stop in Bowen for seasonal work but Bowen has much more on offer. Darren is standing next to a huge rock, on one of our many hikes in and around Bowen.The sunset from here was spectacular.

Horseshoe Bay in Bowen one of the easiest and closest access points to the reef direct of the beach. We rented a mask, snorkel and some flippers from the campground in which we were staying and had a ball exploring the world under water for hours.

And so were the sunrises.

See what i mean, Townsville after a good downpour!.

Townsville, on a sunny day is a lot better. A sweeping waterfront esplanade, excellent beaches, bald hill in the background and lots of activities in and around town.

Always safe swimming within nets to keep the stingers and sharks out and surfpatrol on watch.

Magnetic Island or "Maggie" as seen from Townsville shore, exactly 8,5 kilomteres away.Half the Island is national park and a haven for animals. Bird life bursts out of the bush and it is the largest natural Koala sanctuary in Queensland.

PP

My new pet ,a baby crocodile, approx. 6 years old

Birds, Birds and more Birds, around 800 species of bitrds are found around Australia that is just under 10 percent of all those in the world. This is a red tailed Black Cockatoo which comes in groups and makes heaps of noise.

To learn something new and meet some people,I took up golf.,had a few lessons and joined a group of ladies who played twice a week just a couple of km. from the campground I was staying in. good fun

Sue, who i met through learning how to play golf, and I at the Townsville races (horses)a big event for the Town and it felt and looked like the whole of town had taken the day off and was at the races. We placed a few bets and drank a few wines and had a great day out.

Darren was home from New Zealand just in time, for my birthday which we celebrated in Townsville with a nice dinner at a restaurant overlooking the ocean with Sue and her hubby Ray.

From Townsville we will be heading as far North as we can go on tarsealed roads before we will make a beeline andf head inland towards Alice Springs.

Before this we will be meeting Henk and Alice somewhere up North as they are on a holiday in Port Douglas at the moment.

July 2008 Australia.

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