10 July 2011 - Alligator Creek Roadhouse, Queensland

We woke to a glorious day, clear as can be, with the top of Mount Elliot in view and the Sugar Mill still whirring away as it had all night. We had been warned by a fellow camper that there were times it could be very noisy, as if it were doing a big cane chop through a mixer. Using the information we gleaned from the mini-mill at Sarina, I think this is unlikely, however there were occasions when the steady noise changed to something else. None of that kept me awake and perhaps that was because we had ended up having a night out on the town.

 After dinner and dishes last night we wandered over to the public bar at the International Hotel, and ordered a drink at the bar as one must, joining half a dozen locals who looked like they had been there a while. In fact we recognised one from earlier in the afternoon when we had called to check whether they had a television screen, and I don’t think he had whipped home for dinner and a shower in the interim as we had.

We noted that one wall was dedicated to League memorabilia and there was a build up on the channel showing for a league game between the Storm and the Bulldogs being played in Adelaide, so we were pretty pessimistic about our chances of watching The Big Game. We joked about the fact it was lucky we hadn’t eaten at the Pub as well; at least our wasted expenditure amounted only to the price of two drinks.(How do people afford to drink at pubs with the price of drinks as they are!!?)

Giru's International Hotel

Just when we were thinking about returning to the caravan, the publican changed the channel and there were the two finalists in the Super 15 on the field ready for kick off. Saved! And so we watched and enjoyed the game, despite the fact that Queensland beat the Cantabrians, the former having perked up after their first try and playing a superior game thereafter. It was amusing to watch the locals also perk up when their fellows started playing some decent rugby, and the previously distracting chatter changed to intense scrutiny, howls, woops and cheers thereafter. Unlike our friends and relatives back in New Zealand who watched the same game, we were back home and I was tucked up in bed with my book before ten, and Chris was able to watch the first couple of hours of the Tour de France, not having had to sacrifice any of that for the rugby. All in all, a successful night; at least for us, if not the Crusaders.

Chris was keen to give the caravan and the cruiser a good wash, and so this morning we moved across the green to a good water supply and he brushed and scraped until we were all shiny and clean again. We did of course replenish our water tanks at the same time.

We had established positive contact with Danielle, Liz’s daughter, yesterday by both telephone and email, confirming appropriate dates to catch up with her and the fact that Townsville is still in the grips of V8 Racing. This all served to convince us that we did not want to arrive in Townsville until at least Monday, but also confused the issue of where to stay tonight. We left Giru still undecided, but having perused the pamphlets about the Bowling Green Bay National Park, and seeing that the mouth of the Haughton River offered a wealth of bird watching, we decided to head for Cungulla.

We left the Bruce highway, initially heading north toward Cape Cleveland across a long causeway over sandy tidal waters, then east toward the Bowling Green Bay. Cungulla, like Giru, is too small to worthy a mention in our Explore Australia travel book, but does not look even as big as last night’s resting place. I suspect that at least half the houses there on the beach are weekend retreats for Townsville dwellers who enjoy the access to apparently excellent fishing. Both Giru and Cungulla have access to the Haughton River, the latter across a very rough sandy track through the bush, the mangroves and finally on to a piece of land that is effectively an island at high tide. The lowest point of this track has been built up with copious loads of rubble and does look as if it would be fairly solid even under an extra high tide. Needless to say we did not tow the caravan out to the boat ramp, but parked up beside a green area from where we could look out far across the tidal flat to the sea. We walked the distance of perhaps two kilometres along the beach and then on to this track, passed by a couple of 4WD vehicles towing tinnies, enjoying the bird life and wondering what the occasional crashing noises in the swampy perimeters were. Reaching the boat ramp, we could see the Haughton River as it meandered both up and down river, through steep tidal muddy banks. We chatted with a couple of fishermen sitting in their tinny waiting for the third to arrive back with the right petrol tank. They told us about the three metre tide, were a little surprised that we had walked out and warned us of the large crocodiles that lurked in the environs. Needless to say we were a little more vigilant retracing our steps to the caravan!

Tinnies on the Haughton River

After lunch we continued to devour The Weekend Australian, before deciding it was time to up stakes and head for the night’s camp. Once back out of the Bruce Highway, it was a mere fifteen or so kilometres to reach this excellent facility, essentially a Caltex truck stop with heaps of asphalt area for both travellers and trucks to overnight. The amenities block boasts a lounge area, a laundry, and of course the usual toilets. The service station is attached to a restaurant / takeaways, and the service station itself sells an array of grocery items for those not as organised as ourselves. To show our respectful appreciation for this wonderful free facility, we purchased two Magnum ice creams which just about cleaned out Chris’s wallet. I interrupted his moans, reminding him that the same novelty ice-cream in New Zealand is as outrageously priced. We will most likely fill up with fuel here tomorrow morning; the price per litre is an acceptable $1.45. How the threshold for diesel price acceptability has shifted as time has passed!

Chris has just come in from chatting with the chap in the motorhome behind us, and then the trucky who arrived to hitch up to his trailer. Apparently this site will be busy tonight as many more trucks pull in and out. We have been warned!