Townsville

5 October 2023

We reluctantly packed up and left Kurrimine Beach early so that we would have some time to linger a little longer on the way back to Townsville. We had to meet the real estate agent at 1:00pm so kept an eye on the time as we travelled.

Our first stop was a detour into Mission Beach – another long-time favourite place. We walked on the beach and found a coffee shop for morning tea. From there we continued back to the highway and south through Cardwell, stopping at the Hinchinbrook Channel Lookout. We made it to Frances Creek Rest Area, just south of Ingham in time for a quick lunch and then it was back to Townsville – and home for the time being. We’ll be “house bound” for a while, but can’t wait to get out and start filling in some of the gaps on the map.

So..some stats –

• We travelled over 40 00 kilometres
• We were away from Townsville for almost 2 years
• We drove on 6 iconic roads - Strzelecki Track, Oodnadatta Track, Mereenie Loop, Gibb River Road, Kalumburu Road / Mitchell Plateau Track, Birdsville Track, Nullarbor
• We camped in caravan parks, national parks, conservation parks and reserves, free camps, pubs, community campgrounds, roadhouses, rest areas, showgrounds and on a friend’s property
• We spent 6 nights at sea – crossing from Victoria to Tasmania and back 6 times
• We stayed a total of 60 nights in 22 different National Park Campgrounds
• We camped by rivers, lakes, beaches and gorges; in forests, mallee, mulga, desert, savanna; in towns, cities and in the bush
• We stayed in cabins, cottages, houses and units in 14 different locations
• We spent time is all states –
• Qld – 31 nights
• NSW – 5 nights        
• Victoria – 73 nights 
• Tasmania – 295 nights
• South Australia – 97 nights
• Northern Territory – 90 nights
• Western Australia – 120 nights
• Mick went on 4 pelagic boat trips and 5 other bird tours
• Together we went on 5 tours – Murray River Sunset Cruise (Waikerie), Lake Argyle Sunset Cruise, Dinosaur Adventures (Broome), Yellow Water Cruise (Kakadu), Danggu Geikie Gorge Boat Tour (Fitzroy Crossing) 

This map shows all the
major trips we have done since 2014