31st
July
Just a short update.
It's Saturday night here in Townsville. We catch the ferry from here tomorrow to go to Magnetic Island for 3 days. After the simplicity of camping in the outback, the Holiday Inn seems almost overwhelmingly luxurious.
The last few days have been amazing, we've been right up close to - kangaroos, wallerroos, minature wallabies, kookaburrahs, lorikeets and a small flock of emus.We've climbed extinct volcano cones, walked along bush tracks, drank fizzy wine and watched the sun go down with a mixture of Belgians, Kiwis, French Canadians and Swiss people - them trooped off together to watch microbats muster in the pitch black of a lava tube...
The last few days have been amazing, we've been right up close to - kangaroos, wallerroos, minature wallabies, kookaburrahs, lorikeets and a small flock of emus.We've climbed extinct volcano cones, walked along bush tracks, drank fizzy wine and watched the sun go down with a mixture of Belgians, Kiwis, French Canadians and Swiss people - them trooped off together to watch microbats muster in the pitch black of a lava tube...
The size of outback Queensland is unimaginable, we drove 468km from Undara to Townsville today on empty, at times barely surfaced roads. Some idea of the size of the place can be gleaned from one sign - it said next petrol 248Km. I counted 45 minututes in the middle of the day when I did not see another car.
I think the wilderness slightly freaked Laura, as we got within 20km of Townsville we passed a small collection of houses, 'civilisation' Laura exclaimed, then counted us back into the known world...'lamposts! a roundabout, traffic, a supermarket...and so on.
Anyway, we'll keep in touch one way or another.
Love
Dad, Mum and Laura
