Day 52 Somewhere Near Townsville

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Woke up in ridiculous heat feeling like I was in a sauna at such an early time. We hadn't realised we had to pay for this beach camp spot until at 6.30am this heavy smoker of a lady came and asked us for our money. We paid her and got ready then headed down to chill on mission beach before the peak sun so we didn't singe ourselves to a crisp. Unfortunately as the stinger season fear was still instilled in me, I didn't risk it by swimming but I was a dare devil and paddled in the water and wander up and down the beach.



By about 11am we were hot and decided to make our way to Townsville. With the heat being so unbearable and our fuel saving tactic of no aircon, we became the cliche of girls driving along in a campervan with the windows all the way down in bikinis. We had a pit stop along the way which resulted in us getting an ice coffee (inspired by the ice coffee we had on the reef trip) that was the best ice coffee of my life. It even had icecream in it and cream on top. Then wandered along the beach in Cardwell which is the first time in Australia that I haven't really wanted to swim in the sea. It was kind of murky and brown water. Plus warnings of crocodiles were rocking about so we decided to suffer the heat.





Due to the heat in the camper again we took another pitstop in Ingham. We sat on benches by the beach and just about managed to eat our lunch although it was super windy. Then we made a final stop in Townsville where we were entirely unimpressed with the lagoon there. We waded through it and it barely reached our ankles so we were like it must just not be there in the dry season. Until we walked out the other side and saw signs saying “temporarily closed for refilling” and all made sense. Instead we made use of the section off, essentially rubber fence in the sea where you could swim. I was so hot. It was so refreshing. Very happy.

We then brought our first batch of goon. Basically this is the cheapest drink in Australia by miles, got can get 4-5 litres of this basically cask wine in a bag for as little as 10-15 dollars (6-9 pounds). As a result its become a travellers drink because its half the price of everything else. Em and I are pretty weary of it though as we have heard some awful reviews, that it is disgusting, you have to mix it with orange juice, it messes you up and will give you the mother of all hangovers. This time we had gone for 11.99 for 4 litres of one called dry white from the bottle-o. Verdict to come.

Stocked up we headed off to try and find our free camping spot. After much driving around and getting lost we realised that it was essentially just a bit of grass by a service station that we had actually driven past a while ago. Obviously intended for truckers. We sat and had dinner. With trucks honking and stocking up on fuel the whole time. To accompany dinner we experienced our first taste of the goon. To be honest with you neither of us understand the fuss. I have drunk far worse wine at uni and at festivals out of a bag. This was fine, nice even. Think I can definitely stick on this goon hype which is great for our bank balances. Sorry for any offences caused to wine connoisseurs but needs must at this current juncture.

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