Townsville - Mick and Laurie's

 20 - 21 March 2025

After 4 rainy days at Airlie Beach, it was finally dry enough to pack up and move on. As Mick was winding up the campper, he noticed the winch strap had almost torn through so that was another repair we would have to get done. We were headed to Townsville so were hopeful we could get that done, and also get some of the pinchweld needed to reseal the storage hatch.

Caravan park in Airlie Beach was so green

Townsville, and other parts of North Queensland had experienced another massive downpour of rain - over 200mm - so we were glad we had stayed further south for a few days - but there was more to come, and the Bruce Highway was closed north of Ingham, again. We drove from Airlie Beach and stopped in Bowen for lunch where it was just starting to rain. 

We continued on to Townsville and went straight to Clark Rubber to get the seal, then on to Mick and Laurie's. We had driven through some very heavy rain, but it had eased off by the time we reached our destination. Not long after arriving and getting settled, the rain bucketed down again and continued through most of the night. We were very grateful to be staying with friends and not camping in that weather.

On Friday morning, we checked and the road was still closed so we set about finding someone to repair the winch strap. I took the strap to Beehive Canvas who had said they would be able to do it straight away. The job only took a few minutes and they only charged a few dollars. Getting that job done meant we could get back on the road as soon as we were able. While I was out Mick replaced the seal, and I visited friends Wendy and Jay. While I was on the way to their place, I heard on the radio that the highway had reopened.

Back at Mick and Laurie's we had morning tea, packed up and said our farewells. We decided we'd go straight to Cairns as we were getting close to the time we had arranged to meet the people we would be house sitting for in April.