Longreach to Townsville

Rubbish bins in Winton

The big windmill bus stop in Hughenden

A storm on the road near Charters Towers

Christmas is our favourite time of year, and for the end of 2010, we had planned to spend some time with Karens’ sister and her family in Cairns.

When we left Longreach, it was raining, and although we were supposed to head for Uncle Johns property out of Ilfracombe, it was deemed to wet to go. In hindsight, if we had gone to Ilfracombe as we wanted to, we would have been stuck there for a really long time.

After discussions with the locals, we also took the long way around to get to Townsville, through Winton, Hughenden and then into Charters Towers. This kept us on the bitumen roads, as all of the dirt roads are closed due to flooding. There is a lot to see along this drive, but it will have to wait for another day, as we need to escape the rain and the flooding that it brings.

Whilst we were in Longreach, I checked the elevation above sea level and it was 190m. When it rains, all the water will work its way slowly towards Lake Eyre, which is 15m below sea level. So that flood waters have to drop 200m elevation to finish over 1000km away. No wonder the flood water move so slowly.

We spent a few days in Townsville having an early Christmas with my family and especially my sister Roni, who flew in from Equador to spend some time with us. We had a great time camped in the garage with the kids sleeping in the house.

Then it was off to Cairns to spend Christmas with the Back and Steele families. with the compulsory stop at the Frosty Mango. The Frosty Mango is the quintessential stop on the highway just north of Rollingstone, about 70km from Townsville. They make ice-cream from 23 different locally grown fruits. A lot of them are lactose free, so we can enjoy to our hearts content. Yay!

Now on to Cairns!