We had already spent an afternoon in Innisfail last time we were in the area, but that had been on a Sunday and everything had been closed! This time we were lucky to pass through on a Saturday. Innisfail was bustling and we visited the local market and strolled around town checking out the art deco architecture and the shops. The town isn’t much to look at but there’s actually more to it than meets the eye. Innisfail’s cosmopolitan past credits Chinese settlers with establishing the area’s banana plantations and Italian immigrants (including a local branch of the mafia!) arrived in the early 20thcentury. I was surprised to find a some new-age stalls and shops, and had nice chats with some of the locals. For the first time in a veeeery long time I went into ... read more

After driving back through Ingham and visiting the local charity shop (love op-shop shopping – but I miss doing it with you Nici!), we headed on to Lucinda (as recommended by the ladies in the op shop). This little seaside town, set in amongst all the sugarcane fields, is best known for the world’s longest bulk sugar-loading jetty. The jetty is actually 6km long, allowing enormous carrier ships to dock and be loaded up! There isn’t much else to see in Lucinda (aside from a cool little open-air gym next to the beach) so we didn’t stay long before heading on to Cardwell. We had stopped in Cardwell for fish & chips with Tracey and Jason a few weeks earlier as it lies at the half-way mark between Townsville and Mundoo Skydivers. It’s a quiet uncomplicated ... read more

Wow, amazingly our time in Townsville has already come to an end! After seven weeks, it feels very strange to be hitting the road again tomorrow. I’m surprised to be feeling both excited (more adventures, yay!) and apprehensive (living in a van does come with its drawbacks). What I’m very aware of is how quickly we adapt to new circumstances, so we’ll probably have settled comfortably back into our hippy lifestyle within a week. I will seriously miss having a bathroom across the hallway though! Back to weeing in the wild and having a shower every other day… and getting used to having bloodthirsty mosquitoes around. Dean says he is going to miss standing upright when he gets out of bed and not bumping his head on the van ceiling of the van. Aside from all ... read more

Well, on an average day I've been cycling for an hour and a half, walking a chiwawa for an hour and cleaning for six hours! But let me start at the beginning :-) Townsville was always going to be a major stop on our trip as we couldn’t wait to see our friends Tracey and Jason. None of us had anticipated that it would take us six months to get there though! With a population of 160,000, Townsville is the third largest city in Queensland. It has a compact centre which, for a city, is surprisingly quiet. Townsville is spread out over a very large area, all of which is flat. That said, it is surrounded by mountains on all sides, making for great views from almost everywhere. As soon as we arrived, we made a ... read more

Home Hill is a tiny country village en route from Bowen to Ayr. We hadn’t really planned to stop there and it was the ‘Home Hill Comfort Stop’ that made that decision for us. It’s a spot with BBQ facilities and lukewarm showers where travelers can stay for free for up to 48 hours. The village itself is a bit of a dive so we figured that this is an effective way to boost the economy and get people to spend some money there. Instead of having names, Home Hill’s streets are all numbered, ie “Fourth St” and “Fifth Ave” etc. Very New York for a little country settlement! Our camping was a very interesting old chap: permanently on the road, Gary liked to drink and loved to talk. Many conversations and jokes later (Gary even ... read more