Aug 2- 7 Cairns to Townsville

We have begun our descent of the East Coast; the home stretch now before we arrive back in Melbourne for mid September to attend Sally & Rhys's wedding (my niece).

Our travels south along the coast of FNQ



Pebbly Beach, north of Cairns.



The "pebbles" on the beach were spectacular, even if they were a little uncomfortable to walk on

We stopped for lunch in Cairns, but decided to keep travelling down the coast a bit further before stopping. Frustratingly, we copped a few days of rain and strong wind over the past week. All the more frustrating because we were travelling slowly down the coast and stopping at some beautiful beach locations.

We stayed a one night at Bramston Beach. The camp site is run by the council with no power. Unfortunately, that meant most of the campers there had a generator out buzzing away.

The next night was spent at Kurrimine Beach. Again, a council run camping ground, this time with both powered and unpowered sites - and a ban on generators. Our unpowered site was on absolute beachfront - just beautiful, but so disappointing. The wind was so strong that Princess was blown off her lead.

Location, location, location! Wonderful site at Kurrimine Beach

Morning views from the van of the beach

We had heard some good reviews of Mission Beach and went to see for ourselves. We stopped for morning coffee at North Mission Beach - in the rain! Unfortunately not a lot to do here if you can't enjoy the beach. In between North and South Mission Beach is Wongaling Beach. We found a quiet caravan park where we settled for a soggy afternoon and night.

A wind-swept, drizzly Mission Beach

Princess braves the cold and wet

Palm trees line the beach

This area was hit hard by Cyclone Yasi earlier this year. We drive through Hull Heads and Tully Heads, which bore the full force of the cyclone. There are still signs of significant damage from Yasi - both the natural woodlands as well as many damaged homes still awaiting repair.

Houses damaged by Cyclone Yasi

As we approached Townsville, the weather cleared and warmed up. We found a free camp site at Rollingstone. There were about 40 caravans, but still plenty of room. The generators were going but fortunately not too close to us. The sun came out and the wind moderated. We decided to stay and have a lazy day in the warmth of the sun. Very nice.

The "Bushy Parker" camp site at Rollingstone

The beautiful river setting near the camp site

Next, it's on to Townsville.