Keith hangs out at Machans Beach & Yorkey's Knob

April 30:  So Danny, Indigo and Keith turned up at Lissie and Buzzy's place on the beachfront at Machans.


I had spent a couple of days staying at my sister Lynda's and catching up with my pregnant niece, Melanie which was great.  I went to Lissie's school musical (v. good) and even watched "Avatar" for the first time.  I know,  I am the last person on earth to see it!  It was worth the wait 

 


 May 1, 2 & 3:  The next few days were spent enjoying the hospitality of my family. Machans is a wonderful place full of interesting houses and a really cool vibe. 

Danny and Buzzy did some time down the beach cast netting, then out the front with the rods...but to no avail.

Other locals tried cast netting out front (waist deep in water that can sometimes contain crocs and sharks!!)  but they did no good either.  A few prawns is all the boys caught.  But fishing is about more than just catching fish, isn't it... 

 Unfortunately for Indigo, Howard & Martha did not want her to stay at their place and so she slept (with 1 night of howling) in Keith.
They did all go for walks together around Machans and across the bridge to Dungarra Island. 






Danny spotted this pair of Birdwing butterflies along the esplanade.
The female is larger and brownish and the male a bright green & black.
My sister has a particular plant that the birdwing caterpillas love to eat and they grow quite big and fat before they go into their coccoons.

Danny and Buzzy also put on a bonnet scoop for Keith to decrease the amount of heat in the engine bay and help with the valporisation issue.
Before we left, Danny painted it white and it looks like it has always been there.

May 4-6:  
So we said our goodbyes on Friday morning (my nephew Elliott's 21st birthday) and went off up the highway, a few beaches away, to our 2nd Helpx gig at Yorkey's Knob. 
Villa Marine is run by Peter who also takes bookings for Cairns & it's surrounding attractions.  He was very busy so we didn't get to spend any time with him personally, but he was friendly to us and Indigo.

First, we went for a long walk on the beach to the river mouth.   Unfortunately there wasn't a villa for us, so we stayed in a bessa block duplex a few streets away.  Luckily for Indigo, a foster dog arrived that night and they had a couple of good plays in the back yard.

The Helpx work was cleaning windows & screens, mowing and whipper snipping, cleaning the pool and making up the 4 star rooms.  Each room had a slightly different theme and they were very tastefully decorated.  I learnt how to roll towels into a nice shape, do hospital corners on the sheets and we both whipped around the units as a team doing the basics:  kitchen, bathroom and floors. 
On Sunday arvo, we went off to the Yorkey's Knob Boat Club  (as suggested by Peter) for a Jimmy Buffet tribute.  Well, we got there late and there was a lot of middle age drunk people in Hawaiian outfits.  We had a Corona (on special for $5) and disappeared into the back room to play pool.  We called it a draw, because the table was shitty and so the decider game which we started in Reddo, will be played at a later date, somewhere on a better table.

Machans Beach  - always such a pleasure to see you and all my Cairns family!

Hull Heads Pt 2 or "Bugger!"

 April 23:  We get a call later that night that Nielo's ute is bogged down at Tully Heads.  So B2 drives down and picks up Danny and Neilo and brings them back.

April 24:  B1 picks up the guys in the morning to go dig out Neilo's ute.  The stickers on the back of Neilo's vehicle says it all:  BUGGER.

 Meanwhile, Danny goes down the beach and takes photos of some local feathered identities. 

That night, we were all supposed to meet up with Jimmy (from Clontarf) for his birthday.  He was nowhere to be seen and we had a bonfire on the beach at Tully Heads anyway.

                   

                 Uniting Church, Lower Tully                       

April 25 & 26: 
I did some more staining of the verandah bannisters and Danny polished off a lovely wooden leg (above) that was made by a late friend of B1 & B2.   That afternoon, on Danny's suggestion, I got on a bus to Cairns to have some catch up with my sisters without the hassle of parking Keith somewhere.
Danny and Indigo camped down at Neilo's property in Tully Heads for some fishing and home brew.

April 27-29:  Over the next couple of days, they camped down at Hull Heads at a spot next to the Coast Guard for $11 a night.  A man and his dog just hanging out fishing and chilling out. 
Thanks B1 & B2, Neilo and all the people we meet at Hull Heads & Tully Heads.
See ya next time round!

Hull Heads & heaps of Fishing Pt 1

  April 16:   We popped into Tully to get some supplies from the IGA and then went back down the highway to the Hull Heads / Tully Heads turnoff.  Along the way we saw a Cassowary and her chick by the roadside.  This was our first Helpx gig - you work at someone's place / business for 4hrs a day and get your accommodation and meals provided.  It's an international organisation, like WOOFING.

The Buoys B & B is run by B1 & B2 (aka Bruce & Bruce) and set on 2.5acres of semi-cleared (thanks to Yasi, a bit more cleared!) bushland.
We parked Keith behind the unit and B1 gave us a tour of the property and what needed to be done.  Still large piles of trees to clear and maintenance for us to do that had been put on the back-burner after Yasi.  She hit Hull Heads really hard and wiped out 75% of the houses on the waterfront.

That afternoon, Danny repaired: clamped and glued a wooden dunny seat and I started on the big job of cleaning their mate Kiwi's old caravan that got damaged in the cyclone and suffered from a bit of bachelor pad neglect as well.    

April 17 - 22:  The next 5 days were spent:  whipper snipping & ride on mowing; building a vege garden & cover (below); restoring the deck bannisters; cleaning the old caravan... 

and exploring Hull Heads and surrounds by bike and Keith (Sammy even drove around the back streets!)    

Danny went yabbying Saturday arvo, then fishing that night with Neolo. a local CES guy down the Tully River.  Danny saw something in the water with his head torch and Nealo said:  "They're crocs".  Danny was quite alarmed but then Nealo clarified:  "No, they're YOUR crocs".  Danny had left his shoes on the bank and they had floated away!  But there are real crocs in the river, but they didn't see any.  They did catch lots of fish that Nealo filleted (he used to do it as a job) and turned into sushi and marinated Nummus.  

The next night Jimmy popped over, who coincidentally used to go to Clontarf High (at the same time as Danny) and Nealo brought the fish and we had a big feast.  Jimmy was a bit loud and intoxicated, so Nealo took him home to his mum's in Tully Heads.

April 23:  We did some work in the morning, then went into Tully (about 20mins up the highway) for lunch and a look around.
We climbed The Golden Gumboot and found an unusual motorhome (below) a Morris from the 60's.  We also had a look at a nearby waterhole, Alligator's Rest which was quite lovely.

That night, I made Vietnamese Cold Rolls for the boys and Danny went fishing again with Nealo.  
In the dark, on the banks of the Tully River:  crocodile territory.

But everything did not go as planned...

Keith gets a bit Country on the way to Cardwell

Friday, April 13:  After filling Keith up just outside Bowen, we happily headed up the Bruce Highway....leaving the ill wind behind us.  And just as Danny had predicted,  ahead was a wonderful free camp site - RV FRIENDLY (that Sammy had heard about from other Nomads):  Bluewater Park just north of Townsville.  Lots of green grass, right next to the creek with toilets & taps.

And yes, the water is very blue!  Parked next to us, was Dirk (originally from Holland) who lives in his station wagon.  He was a very interesting chap who had lived for 10 years in Coober Pedy and various other places.  Then across the paddock, we saw a sign that said "Country Music" and wandered over to the community hall to see what was happening.
Danny spoke to any old guy setting up music equipment:
"Hi Mate.  We've just come from Bowen and - "  
"You're welcome.  Do you have a guitar?"
So after an hour or so we wandered over again, guitar and ukulele in hand, and sat down for $5 hamburgers & cheap drinks.
We were about 6th on the blackboard line-up which featured a variety of performers from the Thuringowa & Townsville club.   Dirk turned up in his black stovepipe jeans and cuban heels, and we did our 3 numbers and were asked for a 4th.  We stayed for most of the singers, then crossed the paddock for a peaceful night's sleep.


 


April 14:  In the morning we had a closer look at the creek, said Happy 50th Birthday to Dirk for the next day and then motored off to Cardwell.
The ocean front didn't look the same as remembered from 8 years before, but cyclones will do that to you. 
We  weren't planning on staying at a caravan park, but we needed to charge our phones and do some washing, so we picked a small one for $17 a night.  B grade is probably generous, but it had nice grass and was across the road from an IGA. 
Indigo enjoyed meeting "Junior"  a Mastif X (below) who was definately pleased to see her.
We liked the toilet signs:  Man & Lady written in electrical tape.
And I rang Bruce, from the Buoys B & B to see if we could start our HelpX stint earlier than we had anticiapted.  He said that was cool and we organised to go there on Monday.   

 April 15:  We managed to do three walks:
1.  Along the beach front to the mangroves and Danny found this cemented plague which states that it is an offence to remove it!  
2.  To the beach just a couple of streets from the van park to do some hula hooping.
3.  To the bottleshop at the beginning of town.  I've always liked seeing a man carry a whole carton of beer cradled in his arms.
We had our dinner, took our beers / wine and went and chatted to the English and Italian banana working backpackers.  We had already met one of the Italians who had been smoking a rather large 'cigarette'...
So although Cardwell didn't look like the lush, tropical town right on the highway that we remembered, we still had a fun couple days just hanging about in our C grade caravan park. 
The tree sculpture below  really brought home the impact that Yasi had on North Queensland over a year ago. 

Now we were heading for a place that copped it right in the guts by Larry then a couple of years later by Yasi. 

An ill wind...Carmila Beach to Bowen

April 11:  We drove up the A1 along the dreaded "Malborough Stretch" and Keith went like a dream.  100km/hr...too easy.  We eventually stopped at Carmila Beach, (100km South of Mackay), for some free camping  right on the beachfront. 
A waterspout formed nearby, but never made it into the ocean.  I helped Danny give Keith a service...well, I held the cut off drink bottles for the old oil.
The wind was blowing a gale, so late that arvo, we decided that Keith might get too much sand-blasting and moved a few kms to outside the Carmila Pub. 
We ended up listening to a slightly intoxicated but highly amusing storyteller who had been a Ringer.  And had the $10 specials:  Bangers & Mash for Danny, the meatballs for me.

April 12:  We bypassed Mackay and went on to Bowen, where we had a couple of friends to visit who live on a yatcht.   We tried them on the mobile, but no answer.    We had a couple of negative experiences during the day in town with an impatient driver and a not-so-friendly Librarian, and then parked on the esplande at Front Beach.  It was still very windy, so we had dinner inside and had an early night. 

10pm:  "Bang, Bang, Bang"  on the door and Indigo's barking, Sammy nearly put her neck out and Danny got up...he knew who it would be.

A Regional Council worker gave us a warning and this notice to move on or be fined!  Bloody bastards!  There is no free camping spots in Bowen, or on the highway north or south, so with not many options, we rang a couple of pubs / backpackers and a caravan park.  No answer. 
So after driving around 30mins looking for a spot, we settled on the footpath in front of a car yard in a back street.  A lady nearby was having a loud, verbal fight with someone, but we didn't care.  As long as we didn't get evicted again! 

April 13:  We hung out at Queens Beach in the day, and found out from Dazza's mum (Yvonne) after lunch, that he and Ruth were out of town working and the mobile doesn't work.  So around 2:30pm we made the decision to say farewell to Bowen.  We just missed them, but that's life on the road.  Sometimes the timing just isn't right.  So, catch you next time Dazza & Ruth!

But Danny said something good was waiting up ahead for us...and it was!

Keith pops his Engine Mount...thankfully near Wattlebank

April 5:  So Keith's engine mount snapped and caused the fan to go into the radiator.  Hence, the awful sound.  And after long conversations with RACQ (not happy Jan), we had no option but to get Keith towed privately from Rod, Rockhampton Heavy Towing. 
A guy who just happened to see us waiting for the tow truck suggested we call his cousin, Rob Clews who lives on the same road about 10km away.



He took us the back way (as suggested by Jim, our house sitting contact who luckily said we could bring Keith to his place) and through the lovely hills surrounding Rossmoya & The Caves (where Rod grew up).


 






So when we got to "Wattlebank", Jim got on the phone and lined up Rob Clews to fix Keith.   Country hospitality is muchly appreciated, especially in situations like this where we didn't know anyone in this area.  The house and property is magnificent with large rooms and tastefully restored and decorated by the owner, Twigg.

The next morning, Jim hitched Keith up and away he and Danny went down the road to the Clews's Farm.  Rob said:  "He's F@#ked, but I can fix him".

 

EASTER:  So Twigg and Jim went off on their Brisbane-Ballina-Kingaroy break and we settled in with the dogs.  I did 4 loads of washing and Indigo tried to work out what game Muster was trying to play.  He is a Weimarana x Ridgeback with lots of energy.  She put him in his place a few times...now why didn't she do that with the Shit-tease at Cedar Galleries?
After careful deliberation, Danny decided to sell the z50 Monkey Bike and it went that night online. 

The next 3 days were spent just hanging out:  playing music, rotating the sprinklers, hula hooping (Danny has improved greatly)...and Danny went on some photo expeditions at Wattlebank and on his push bike to Alligator Creek and the old Barmoya School House.
The next day, Tuesday 10th April, was spent frantically running around Rocky & Gracemere for the new radiator, chasing up a fan at the wreckers (Danny had to remove it from a ford falcon ute) and a wheel nut.  Danny took it all to Rob and they fitted it all that afternoon.  Keith was ready to go and the next morning, we said goodbye to Muster, Twigg & Jim and left Wattlebank. 

So Keith - like the magnificent eagle - was off on his adventures once again!