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Published: August 14th 2011
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Tuesday 9th August – Having arrived safely yesterday and settled in nicely at the Walkabout Palms caravan park, we had a couple of priorities to sort out today. We needed to arrange for the rear brake shoes on PIE to be replaced and the handbrake cable to be checked and replaced if necessary. We had tried to get this done in Darwin but a three week waiting list and an advanced payment requirement of $600 persuaded us to hang on until we got to Queensland and to Townsville in particular. The brakes have been behaving well but at the last service, some 14000 kilometers ago, we were warned that the rear brakes were in need of attention and the handbrake cable had already been repaired and adjusted twice – once in Perth and again while we were in Kalbarri. To help find our way around Townsville we drove into the city centre looking out for a Nissan garage as we went. We actually found our way to The Strand, a delightful waterfront area which we remember fondly from our last visit. We were equally impressed this time too by the facilities on offer, plenty of free, modern barbecues, no end of
playground equipment, miles of cycle paths (pity we no longer have our bikes!) plenty of seating, a water adventure area for kiddies, free car parking and all adjacent to some pretty good beaches. There’s also a rock pool – a huge “natural” swimming pool which is very popular with people who don’t trust what they might come up against if swimming in the sea (at certain times of the year “stingers” - or jelly fish - are quite common on this coastline). We lingered in this area far longer than we had intended and soon it was time for some lunch so we found our way to a very pleasant restaurant.
After lunch we drove back through the main Central Business District and located a Nissan garage. Unfortunately, they were fully booked for the next three weeks but they advised us of a company that they sometimes used for brake work. With the help of Sat Nav we found our way to this company, just a little way out of the city, but they turned out to be suppliers only – they didn’t actually fit brakes. Never mind, they in turn, recommended a small garage in the same complex.
Success – or so we thought. We booked PIE in for the brake work and a service and drove away relatively happy. Alas, it wasn’t to last long - that garage rang us back to say that they couldn’t get the parts!!! But they then recommended a brakes specialist who, if needs be, could manufacture what we required. We called straight round and to our delight, not only could they fit us in on Friday but they produced a set of brake shoes there and then and quoted a very reasonable price – it was like a miracle! They warned us that the difficulty would be in acquiring a handbrake cable but assured us that what they couldn’t get they would make. We couldn’t believe how easily our problem had been resolved after what had gone on before but, of course, we will have to wait until Friday and keep our fingers crossed for a satisfactory conclusion. It was mid-afternoon by the time we got back to the caravan but we celebrated with a nice swim in the enormous pool which we had virtually to ourselves.
On Wednesday we had a bit of shopping to do but, after a
very leisurely breakfast, we meandered in to the city. We eventually found our way to Castle Hill which involved a very long and very steep climb, hoping that PIE’s brakes would continue to work well for just a while longer!! They would certainly be put to the test on the way back down. The view from the top was stunning with a series of short walks giving a complete 360 degree outlook onto Townsville and the surrounding area. Just out to sea we had a wonderfully clear view of Magnetic Island which we intend to visit later in the week. We got chatting to some other people, some, like us, just visiting but also others who were residents. The more we see and hear about Townsville the more we realise that it is a great place to live. There is a period of two or three months each year when weather conditions can be a bit unpleasant and of course earlier this year Townsville suffered some minor cyclone damage. But it is growing on us and is fast becoming one of the most impressive cities we have visited on this trip.
From Castle Hill we decided to see if
we could locate the Magnetic Island Ferry terminal and to see if we could arrange to spend a day on the island. We were aware of several options to visit and tour the island and we were undecided as to how best to see it. We found the ferry terminal and studied the various options – take our car, hire a car on the island, use the island’s public transport or do a coach tour. We decided to go for a “package” which included the ferry trip, a 3 hour coach tour and then free use of public transport for the rest of the day. And we decided to go tomorrow – Thursday. That done we had a bit of lunch at the ferry terminal and then, on our way back towards the caravan we happened upon Annandale shopping centre where we called in to get some groceries. The centre isn’t huge but it is new, tidy and had everything we wanted including a Woollies and plenty of under-cover parking which helps to keep the car cool. After our shopping, as with yesterday, we spent an hour or so in the pool before relaxing the rest of the day away.
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