Townsville

Our friend John sounds like he wants to start our trip to Cape York mid June instead of July 1st. We drove North covering about 300km for a couple of days. We did stop for an hour at Rockhampton to catch up with a couple we had met at the Caboolture Showgrounds in February. They gave us some helpful tips about the best free camps to stay in. One feature of the drive north has been the amount or roadworks that we have had to stop for. One time we stopped at a rest bay on the side of the road and were disgusted with what we saw. Rubbish rubbish and more rubbish. The photo doesn't really capture the mess



We were part way over this bridge when we decided that a photo was required. The railway line is on the left



Wednesday and Thursday we bit the bullet and stayed in a caravan park on the outskirts of Townsville. Brandt made contact with a fellow member of the grey nomads who lives on Magnetic Island. So Thursday morning we caught the ferry across. Bill met us and showed us around his little island. He took us to a dead end road, got out, grabbed a bag of pellets and started throwing some on the ground. Slowly one by one out came the small wallabies. He knelt down and offered some in his hand. Amazingly they were happy to eat.






Notice that Brandt has three eating out of his hand at once


When they all departed, there was not a crumb of pellets left on the ground.
He then took us to his house where he threw some stale bread for the birds






It was a good day on the island in spite of the fact that it rained the whole time.
Friday we drove 29km north to Bluewater Park. We had been told to get here early. We WERE early, but even so it was hard to find a place to camp. Even though the maximum stay is 48 hours, many seem to have been here longer and yes we are overstaying by a day too!
Today, Sunday, the sun has finally broken through and all the washing lines are up and full!