Day 53– Monday 8 August 2016 – Townsville - Cairns

Today was also a bit of a milestone decision as we had not originally planned to go north of Townsville in Queensland but given the weather is still pretty cool down south we wanted to make the most of every opportunity we could in the north.  We had been talking about a bit of a detour to Cairns but it really wasn't until yesterday that we decided to turn left an keep heading north. As it turned out this wasn't the best decision weather wise, but we certainly did get to visit a few more places that we've never seen so that can't be a bad thing.

We got away at about 8.30am and were excited for our next leg of the journey.  I don't think I've ever seen so many boarding kennels and catteries so close together.  We joked about how Miss Kitty might take being dropped off for a doggie retreat for a few days and then both of us came to our senses and realised that the punishment may well be worse than death and definitely not worth a couple of dog free days!   

I think it was less than an hour after we left the camp that the rain started.  The clouds were thick and dark and engulfing the mountainous surrounds.  And here I thought the wet season had finished!!!!!  Rookie mistake obviously.

Thankfully we noted the roads manage to find paths through this hilly area otherwise the going towing a van would have been pretty tedious.  The tops of most were lost in the clouds.  I might add that we were both feeling a little miffed at the fact that we have essentially hit the east coast and still not seen the sea.  The only time we did get a view of the sea was at Cardwell which was a really pretty town, but unfortunately so busy there wasn't a park to be found so we kept driving.

The cane fields we found fascinating and the little cane train rails and the trains themselves interesting as well.  I may have described them as "cute"..........  They're so little!  We were also fascinated by the Sugar Refineries and after passing a museum in Tully on the way we made a note to visit on the way back to learn a bit more.

Lots of Banana plantations as well and judging by the number of bags hanging from the trees around here at the moment - bananas better be cheap this year!

Apparently Queenslanders have a "Survival of the Fittest" mentality when it comes to merging to one lane on the roads.  Passing lanes have definitely been opportunities for personal growth on this part of the trip - not the least of which included a truck driver who pulled out to pass me AFTER I had indicated I was moving into the right lane, and then continued to overtake me forcing me off the road onto the verge.  Lucky for us on this particular part of the road there actually WAS a verge.  

We arrived in Cairns and finally located our van park.  It was certainly a lovely park but it was a tight fit getting from the front through to the sites and apparently we were lucky enough to score the most difficult site to get into.  Fortunately it wasn't a major drama with one of the park guys to help guide us in.  The park is set on a very steep hill so while it was a great barrier to the noise from the major road running past it, I have no doubt that it would be pretty hot and steamy there as it wouldn't benefit from any breeze at all.  In some ways we were fortunate not to have to worry about that as it poured rain for most of the afternoon and all through the night.  The air conditioner ran in the van all night and the rain was so heavy during the night at one point I assumed Shane had turned the fan off as I couldn't hear it over the rain on the roof.  This of course presented issues with trying to keep the dogs dry.  I can cope with almost anything taking dogs on holidays OTHER THAN wet dogs.

This little dude was called the Frosty Mango.  Although why he was frosty still eludes us!