On Sunday 15 July we departed Black River and headed towards our next destination of Cairns, travelling on the Bruce Hwy and passing through some country side that is renowned for it beauty we spent time stopping and taking it all in. We arrived at our destination in Cairns on Monday afternoon where we set up camp at Meta's sister in laws home at a place called Smithfield. Smithfield is situated approximately 15 Klm. north of the city of Cairns on the Captain Cook Hwy that take you to Port Douglas. We would be staying here for some time to take in all that the Cairns area has to offer us tourists. Over the next 2 weeks we would visit the Botanical Gardens (twice), the city of Cairns several times, Port Douglas,the Atherton Tablelands several times and ride the Skyrail to Kuranda and return on the train. I will document each adventure separately with the addition of photos as best I can.

I will start with 2 photos, taken from the caravan in front of the place we are staying. 

                                                                                                                                            

                                           more from Castle Hill in Townsville

                                            The mouth of the Ross River

                                         All taken from Castle Hill

 Apart from the photo of my Uncle Colin and Aunty Mary, the remainder are taken from Castle Hill of the surrounding areas of Townsville.

              Castle Hill is the backdrop to Townsville and if you look closely you can see a saint painted about a third of the way down to the left. Apparently painted by students, either stupid, brave or intoxicated                           

                                          All still taken walking the Strand

                                           All these photos were taken along The Strand 

                                            An odd couple, sharing a drink.

                                          The root system of a Fig tree

                                          The tip of Magnetic Island in the background.

                                                         and more of The Strand

                                        Just a few pictures for my grandson Cameron.

                                         This is what you call a playground.

After our enforced overnight stay in Homestead, we were allowed to continue on our way, the water had dropped enough for us all to proceed. Following the Flinders Hwy we headed towards Townsville which will be our next stop. It was a convoy of vans along the Hwy. because of the hold up the previous day. The convoy had dissipated by the time we had passed through Charters Towers, betting the truckies were relieved. We arrived at our next destination of Black River early as we had only travelled just over 200 Klm.  Black River being some 23Klm.north of Townsville and where we would stay the next few days. Townsville is where my Uncle Colin and his lovely wife Aunty Mary live and we hadn't seen them in many years. Uncle Colin being my mums younger brother. The next day, Thursday 12 July, we met up with them and over the next 2 days, enjoying lunches and sightseeing we caught up with all that had happened in our lives since we last met. I'm very proud of my Uncle on what he has achieved in his life from where he came from to where he is today and at 80 he looks fighting fit. Meta and I appreciate the time and effort in giving of their time to show us their beautiful city. I hope now you enjoy some of the many photos I have taken of the area.

                                                                 

Sorry not having any footage of the show at Outback Hall of Fame but if we showed you the footage all would be revealed. Anyway back to The Blog.

We pulled out of Longreach early as usual and drove the 180 Klm. to Winton, turned onto the Kennedy Development Road which will bring us out at Hughenden 214 Klm. further on and where we will spend the next couple of days. The Winton, Hughenden and Muttaburra triangle is known as the dinosaur trail and if you are interested in dinosaurs, people who we have spoken to say it is well worth the drive. It is not on our things to do list and because the road conditions to Muttaburra are not too good after a few days of rain we dicided to stay put. We spent Sunday and Monday in a caravan park in Hughenden. Tuesday morning July 10 we hooked the van up and headed east on the Flinders Hwy. towards Townsville which would be our next stopover. We had intended to stop at Charters Towers for the night before heading into Townsville the following day. As I had mentioned previously, it had been raining for a couple of days and it was continuing as we travelled today. We were approching the small town of Homestead and in the distance we could see a lot of activity on the road and as we got close we thought there may have been an accident. We pulled over off the road as much as we could, stopped , got out and asked a few questions. It turned out the police had blocked off the highway some 13 Klm. out of town because of water rushing through a floodway. All the vehicles were being stopped at the town because there is no turn around points for large vehicles down the track. As it turned out the water didn't go down enough for anyone to leave until early the next morning,so all the vanners got together and we had our happy hour under our awning, the trouble with the happy hour it went past 4 hours and everyone was very happy. The only ones who didn't enjoy the events of the day and night were all the semi drivers, I did get a chance to have a good chat to a few of them,and got some good info off them. In a little remote town like Homestead we still managed to find a Richmond supporter as you will see in a photo that I will post.     

As mentioned previously we booked into see the Outback Hall of Fame on Saturday 7 July which takes in a 2 hour 1 man show. This 1 guy, along with his animal friends, 3 horses, 6 bullocks, 3 dogs, 1 camel and because of the school holidays he had the assistence of his 2 young daughters. The show is to give all the city slickers an idea of how the outback people opened up the west from the beginning all thoughs year ago. With his ability to tell stories and recite C J Dennis poetry, he painted the picture of just that. The show is a must see if you ever pass through here. After the show we ventured back inside the huge building which housed all the artifacts that had been collected and I guess donated for the cause. It takes you right back to when all our great adventurers came over the Great Divide and from when the indigenous people became involved. Also covers when and why the Flying Doctor came into play and continue there amazing work to this day.They have replicated the small homes that they lived in, the tools they used and the equipment for them to transport large loads of whatever they had produced. There are too many displays to mention, I can only let everyone know that it is a place all should, if they get a chance, to visit. We went to lunch, which is part of the deal, then wandered back through the building again to make sure we had not overlooked anything. All up we were there for just over 4 hours.