Cummulative totals = 3420km and 23,421km
Rollingstone Rest Area = free
We didn't get great internet reception at Rollingstone so I am posting it from here in Ingham.
We have finally left Townsville, here are a few more photos from Townsville. We did take the bike path that goes the other way away from the Strand as at near the end of it is a series of public free pools which are currently having work done on them ... that will take a month to complete. But it is a great service this bike path with all its' dog areas (which Kouta enjoyed even though he was by himself!) rock pools, playgrounds and pools. Riding along this bike path I am beginning to think that I could live in Townsville. I know, I know Mum I said I could never live in Queensland but I think I could make the exception for Townsville!
We crossed the river and took the bike path on the other side and while we crossed the Federation bridge we could see no fresh water crocodiles but we saw lots of fresh water turtles ...
season) this river would be spectacular to see
So we enjoyed ourselves in Townsville and the campground was good, unfortunately Kouta disliked the grass immensely and so he spent his time scratching and licking!
We left early this morning around 7.30am and there was no traffic going through Townsville. The major roads in Townsville all have wide shoulders that allow for parking and plenty of room for bikes so it is a breeze to ride even in peak hour traffic.
It wasn't until around 9am that the traffic going north in the same direction as us picked up. But we had a shoulder for most of the way, only twice did it narrow that we had to go out in the lane. This part of the Bruce highway is okay to ride and the shoulder is good for us ... the only problem with this area of North Queensland is that there are alot of bridges going over creeks and rivers that the shoulder disappears or is that unridable that it is a joke. So we have to enter the flow of traffic and like all bridges anywhere in Australia the surface is usually poorly done and has regular gaps to allow for movement which is not suited to a loaded bike, so we find the bridges hard to deal with sometimes.
It is a cloudy day today and no realy wind to speak off, if anything we had a slight tailwind which pushed us along. Despite the profile picture it is absolutely flat to Rollingstone and we made good time and got here around 11.30. Now this has got to be one of the most popular freebies in Australia. By the time we got here it was packed and there wasn't much room for us let along a caravan. We found a spot in the corner and looking from our corner out is like looking at a Used Caravan sales lot ...
One thing I love about this rest area is that it is next to a creek that is great to swim in
Once we set up the tent had something to eat we decided to go for a wash in the creek. Not many in the river, just a few fishing. The water is very clear ... maybe so you can see the crocodiles coming! But Neil and I braved it ...
No matter how much enticing, cajooling, bribing and sweet talking we can't get Kouta to come in, so he just waited on the side of the creek watching.
Since this place is very crowded as there are alot of families here just for the long weekend we might push on to Ingham. We delayed leaving Townsville as there is suppose to be rain around Mission Beach this weekend, which means that the surrounding areas of Bilyana and even Ingham are suppose to get rain.
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