Monday, April 27, 2009

A Little Further North







How about this for suburbia. Live on the island and ferry across, walk along the esplanade to work...

Was given the opportunity to travel to North Queensland and Townsville this past weekend and must say was wonderful to have a break. The tropics smell different and found myself on the edge of the Coral Sea with tears on my face thinking of what was and what might have been. Was a moment which I guess most of us sometimes reflect upon, a lost youth, but as we grow older inevediably we learn to appreciate what is around us each day but a little sadness over a past time is not wholly unhealthy I think.

Memory is a strange thing and I really felt it was the smell and the feel of the sun that I recollected as a small girl visiting from a distant cattle station being missing for hours along the Strand in Townsville, and this was in 1955, and had not thought of the incident in years. I was under the impression that one could go where ever, and someone would take care of you as was the case on the cattle station but no, not in a town, and eventually was taken in at a Hotel on the seafront which is still there at least the facade, I can remember the lacy front. What a rude awakening to realize the world did not revolve around moi......

The day was beautiful and met relatives that had not seen in many years.




A number of swimmers out and about within the nets to keep out the stingers, I wonder how the nets cope with the irikanji or the irikanji only in the far north. These are small deadly jellyfish which when I was young were usually found on Palm Beach near Cairns and named after the original inhabitants of the area before European settlement. The irikanji are only as big as a thumbnail.



I found the day hot and think I could use this ...pour a bucket of water on your head to cool off...good idea and I will remember this when get hot under the collar.....perhaps not such a large bucket




These guys were making hand signals as they flew past....I thought about it for a minute or two and thought why am I the only person sitting on this enormous stretch of sand...sat some more and thought do they have crocodiles in this town these days... Don't know but shifted just in case....I should have followed the plane over to where it landed on its floats and asked to be taken up...oh what a lost opportunity but was too slow as when looking through the photos I took saw a sign for flights and may well have been in this plane and would have loved to have gone up in her.





I think a lot of this boardwalk is man made.... the casino certainly is.....




These are the twins whose twenty first it was...My mother is a twin also and she was the taller of the fraternity as is Toni with Adrian.



The tropical streetscape



An eyeful of color to fly back to Brisbane in...on the return trip flew more inland. Aussies call a "red" haired person "blue" and the ocean blue is mixed up in there somewhere......hence the name, with the originator of the airline....having a bit of larrikin in him also.



I took this over Rockhampton and the mighty Fitzroy River but may not reproduce too well to make out the detail.



The wonder of flying through the air at 1000 ks per hour is so amazing.....and what else was astonishing was how low the air fares were because of the recession I imagine .

What a beautiful day and was a revelation revisiting my roots and experiencing the smiles of the friendly north Queenslanders. Not to mention new shoes with bling...sent the beeper off at the airport when forgot to take them off, and painted toenails...I really know what are priorities flu, recession and I have red toenails......oh well......

2 Comments:

Blogger diane b said...

How did I miss this great post before. I am back at work for the next ten weeks and it sure interfers with blog time.This post is very interesting for me because I have never been to townsville but we are going in a few weeks time to surprise a friend with birthday bear for her birthday. We are staying at the Casino so it was good to see the area. You took some great shots. Love the shoes and toenails. A bit posh for a farm girl. I don't bother with fancy shoes or painted toenails. I'm a slob.

April 30, 2009 at 9:45 PM  
Blogger Lizzie's Insomnia said...

Diane,
I thought the place was an absolute gem....only spent the day mores the pity. If that float plane is available go for a spin in it for me...I am sooo disappointed did not go for a flight over the city and immediate island.

A butterfly enclosure exists close to the city which I would have liked to see. In retrospect I should have hired a car for the day as did use the grand nephews car and and only at the insistence of his mother, my niece. I would have been apprehensive myself having someone borrow my car and would have preferred to hire a car and see a little more.

Townsville also has a great dive, classed as one of the best in the world where a clipper in years gone by went down with all aboard and the reef as grown over the wreck and believe the fish life is unbelievable and many many varieties of the colorful corals and fish. I would have enjoyed this also as years gone by was a member of the Cairns Spearfishing Club and dived on many reefs in my youth in the late 60's. Diving on the reef is to me akin to another planet and dreamlike as is so beautiful and sometimes I have difficulty in the reality.

You are not a slob...you should see me in boots and spurs and the cowboy hat....I overcompensate when out and about.....always was a bit over the top.

Cheers, Have a lovely party with that bear and take many pics so that I may enjoy the balmy tropics for a little....9 degrees here this morning on this mountain...not complaining though as believe I live in the best climate in Australia.....perhaps the world!!!told you I tend to go over the top.

May 1, 2009 at 8:58 AM  

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