Townsville to Fraser Island

Godzilla

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So into Townsville we rolled in need of food and water.  And in a manner that only we can found possibly the worst place to eat in town.  The "Cowboys" bar named after their Aussie rules footy team.  It was similar to a working mens club with old duffers dancing and an old fella singing in the corner.  Needless to say we drank and ate with a rather wolf like manner and left.  Outside, the centre of Townsville was as quiet as the grave.  We thought something must be wrong but it turned out that on Sunday everything shut.  At first this seemed a bit backward, but on reflection who wants to work on a Sunday??  Not the work to live Aussies and fairplay to them.  The world can survive a day without the ability to buy pick'n'mix from woolies.

We headed inland and south to Eungella national park in the hunt of a sighting of the duck billed platypus.  After a few hours rolling through the middle of a very long and wide valley we got to our digs for the night and spent the evening in the local (it was another town of one pub and bugger all else!) chatting to a couple who've just moved there from 30km down the road.  They were commenting on the locals as if they had come from the moon, so god only knows what they made of us.  The following morning we set off to reach the end of the valley and drag our van up the mountain at the end.  Once we'd groaned and grunted to the top we  plopped into a little valley that I thought looked much how I imagine Telly Tubby land does.  We parked up and tootled down a path next to a brook that we hoped led to a pool full of furry little critters.  When we got to the end and waited for fifteen minutes it was decided that they were obviously having the day off and we should head back to the van for a cuppa.  Lynds walking ahead we trudged back along the path we'd come until Lynds let out a little noise that alerted me that some kind of creature was in the viscinity.  The noise doesn't change with size of beast encountered so is usually a moth or other flying bug.  But not this time.  A 1.5m long monitor lizard had popped onto the path and was now looking at us looking at him.  After giving Lynds what she felt was his attack stare he trundled back into the forest to breath some fire or something.  After that it was decided that I should wlak at the front.

Top of valley

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But we did see some Platypus after a cup of tea.  Two of them swimming about below a platform we were stood on.  The odd thing about them is that if they aren't moving its tough to tell which end is which.  But they are cute and Lynds decided that our cat wasn't enough back home and that we now had a need for "Percy the Platypus".  However, once I'd explained the usuall smuggling methods employed by people crossing borders she had decided against it.

The following day before we left we nipped into a wildlife sanctuary where we got our first glimpse of Koalas and the new pet idea came up again.  I must say they are very soft, but then again so are Kangaroos.  Needless to say we oo'd and aaah'd at the cuddly inhabitants and scowled at those covered in scales.  And ran from an over friendly emu that seemed to want our Roo food.  Bloody scary beasts they are to so I can see why Parky got so upset with Rod Hull!

Another attack stare

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Hervey Bay was next which is further south and overlooks Fraser Island.  A really nice beachside town which lured us into staying for three days.  The campsite was clean and had loads of parrots about the place.  At night you could see the outlines of thousands of fruit bats heading off for supper on Fraser Island against the night sky.  And it was to Fraser island we were off on a trip in a 4x4 bus.  The island is the largest sand bar in the world and has no roads or tarmac on it anywhere.  The main highway is the beach which is closed at certain times of the day when the tide comes in.  On the sandbar is rainforest with some of the straightest timber in the world as sand doesn't obstruct roots.  We got lucky and managed to see a dingo on the beach as well as a sea snake.  We also went inland to see one of the many freshwater lakes on the island.  This is made possible by a layer of dead foliage creating a liner for the rainwater and so the water is as clear as you will ever see.  If you looked at the creeks they looked dry until you looked closer to see they were clear and full.  The whole place was lovely and I hope they never put a road in as it would spoil it.