Friday 28th July - Lightning Ridge

The drive to Lightning Ridge took us through scenery that reminded us of the trip north nearly a month ago. Cattle country is tricky to drive through - you are always on the watch for cattle as well as emus and goats.

Only in Lightning Ridge could you find a caravan park attached to a pub - so here we are!

The town is amazing. Little shacks are everywhere - with the evidence of mining at the front door. Original buildings and trucks line the streets.

After a dip in the artesian bore pool to freshen up, we took a car-door tour of the town.

Numbered car doors pave the way.

We found a half-finished castle. An opal miner must have run out of money!

Janine bought a boulder opal pendant at the markets, then we headed to the pub for dinner and a game of pool. It was a good chance to meet the locals and update the blog.

Thursday 28th July - On to Roma

Just before we left Emerald the kids befriended a few Rainbow Lorikeets - just lovely!

Then we drove to Roma. Roma is named for Lady Bowen, wife of the first Governor General of Queensland, whose maiden name was Countess Diamantina Georgina Roma. (What a great name!) Roma was the first town formed after the separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859.

After exploring the town, we bought bacon and eggs to cook for tea. By nightfall it was too cold to be out of our sleeping bags... so an early night was in order.

Janine was snapped in her sleeping bag, with a glass of wine watching Grey's Anatomy - bliss!

Wednesday 27th July - Mackay to Emerald

Along the road today we saw evidence of Queensland's biggest industry - mining. The mines are mostly open cut coal mines.

The geology is really interesting - which is probably why the mining is so good.

Emerald is a large country town not very used to tourism. We are staying at a caravan park on the shore of Lake Maraboon. The Rainbow Lorikeets come right up to you and eat out of your hand.

There is no shortage of water here!

We saw a petrified log that was dated to 250 million years ago in the main street.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the town and the botanic gardens.

Emerald railway Station is like the one at Barcaldine and similar to the one in Maryborough, Victoria. The one in Maryborough was intended for Maryborough in Queensland, but someone got the two towns muddled up and it was built in Victoria.

Dinner was at the Emerald Hotel - followed by a few games of pool.

Tuesday 26th July - Cape Hillsborough and Mackay

Cape Hillsborough is about half an hour north of Mackay, and well worth the trip. The coastline and mountains directly opposite the Whitsunday Islands almost mirror them in height and green forestation - just beautiful!

There were caves to explore - one was big enough for a family! It was worth following Joy and Dennis' instructions and going at low tide because we could cross over onto a beautiful island.

Monday 25th July - on the way to Mackay

The drive to Mackay was interesting - the scenery was different again.

We crossed the Burdekin River bridge - which is longer than the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The rivers are so big up here!

We set up camp and visited Joy and Dennis Travers and their daughter Jo for dinner.
Joy and Dennis recommended that we visit Cape Hillsborough the next day as well as exploring Mackay.

Sunday 24th July - Joseph's 16th Birthday

Today is Joseph's birthday so a day of things Joe wanted to do was planned. First - the movies to see the new Harry Potter. Just before the movie started we bumped into Dianne Manning, a teacher from Strathmore Secondary College and one of Joe's teachers - what a birthday present! The first thing she said was "Why aren't you in school?"

While Hannah and Joe were in the movies Janine and Paul wandered around the markets in the mall and had lunch at the Rockpool cafe - prawns yum!

After we picked Hannah and Joe up we went to the splash park and the Lagoon for a seim - still 25 degrees and we have been swimming most days.

Dinner was at the Australia Hotel - where Errol Flynn stayed when he was in town.

Saturday 23rd July - driving to Townsville

We were up early again and were in the car for most of the day.

We lunched in Bowen - were the movie Australia was made. The whole town is still buzzing over the movie - Paul and Hannah had a Jackman beef pie for lunch.

We took a detour to Lucinda to see the longest jetty in Australia - at over 6 km it is an amazing sight! The jetty transports sugar from the Victoria refinery direct to the ships.

We arrived in Townsville and wandered around town a bit. We stopped by 8 Hindley Street Townsville - the home of the McIntosh family (Carmel Doug, Neil, Colin and Dennis) in the early 60s.

We stayed with Paul's friends Jack and Deanne Sheridan. Jack was Dennis McIntosh's best man and boarded at Rupertswood with Paul and Dennis. All of their family came over for a barbecue and we had a great night.