North Queensland Report: September
North Queensland is the only place any civilized Aussie should be in August. Ask any Victorian and they will tell you this is fact, because they are up here everywhere and thousands of Victorians can’t be wrong.
In August Glenda flew back to Sydney for a grandparent hit
The first thing we did when Glenda came back was to go to The Great Barrier Reef. We caught a catamaran to the outer reef. Inside the boat was a big lounge area. It took two hours to get to the reef, and then we put on our snorkeling gear and set off to explore the reef. There was every kind of beautiful coral that you could imagine. Darting in and out of this coral are the most beautiful fish of all shapes and sizes. At the first stop we snorkeled for about one and a half hours. Then after a delicious lunch, we came back to a coral island and we snorkeled from the boat to the island where we saw more coral, fish and a magnificent turtle. We just hovered close to the surface and observed him (or her). It was a spectacular sight. An experience we will remember forever.
Then we headed up to the Atherton Tableland. We stayed at Lake Tinnaru. We went for a drive around the lake and much of the surrounds is National Park and some excellent little camping spots that can booked through the National Park website.
Then we went on to Mt Surprise, saw the lava tunnels that are just spectacular. The results of a volcano that erupted many thousands of years ago spewing a river of lava for one whole year.
We went to the hot springs at Tullaroo sat in the pool and soothed our weary bodies and talked to a lot of people about fossicking for topaz in the O’Briens River. This is a must for us next year. Our schedule to meet Glenda’s mum prevented us staying. But the stories were very exciting.
Then back to the coast to Mission Beach. A great seaside place, and well worth a visit. We went out to Dunk Island for the day and almost trod on a tipan!!!! Then back to Townsville and a day at Magnetic Island and a Jazz session on the island. Now at Bowen, a very diverse little community. The tomatoes appear to be rotting on the vines. The tomato crop looks magnificent although the land is very, very dry.
Bowen is fantastic. A little sleepy seaside town, the tomato capital of Queensland. Here you can snorkel in Horseshoe bay, swim, play golf and meet some of the nicest people in the land of Oz
We have meet many Vic, Tasmanians Kiwis who all come to this part of the land for months to escape the winter. They are fit, healthy, trendy and have an extremely positive outlook on life. We are convinced the employer gets the best years of your life and despite the “collaborative, team, renewal fulfillment” patter that they philosophically trot out it all boils down to one word “stress” and frustration. It is not until you retire that you find your true mental and physical self again and a true sense of well being.
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