a couple more days in Townsville ...

Since the Blunderbuss was still in quarantine, we had a few extra days in Townsville. Can't believe our luck at being stranded here - in a beautiful camp spot with lots to do and a huge Toyota Service Centre close by.

Sunrise over Kissing Point

I have been waking up early every morning, so on Sunday morning I got up and sneaked out of the camp site (although not quietly enough, as Lachie heard me and came too) to see the sun come up over the Kissing Point headland and the bay. Beautiful.

Getting some fishing tips from a local!

We packed our backpacks and struck out for the 6km walk into the city to the Flinders Street Markets and the Maritime Museum. The walk was almost entirely along the waterfront, which was gorgeous, and then up into the city. The markets were not what we expected and made us realise how good the Showground markets are at home. However, we grabbed some lunch and a cold drink there (where we lost Lachlan for a while as he took his lunch and walked off 180 degrees the wrong direction - must be related to Dave!) before walking another kilometre or so to the Maritime Museum. Along the way, to Lachlan's delight, we found The Sweatshop - the only shop in town to stock the Penny skateboards that he wanted for his birthday. The last part of the walk to the Museum was punctuated with "Mum, LOOK!" and "Watch this" and "I can do it!!" and a few "Aaagghhhhs" as well!

Ella found a tree at "Just my size"
She reminds us of Winnie the Pooh
on a regular basis!

We spent a few hours at the museum, fascinated by the story of the SS Yongala, which sank under mysterious circumstances in 1911, with the loss of all 122 on board. A racehorse was also drowned when the ship went down, a fact I tried to keep from Ella by standing strategically in front of the display, but her nose for animal tragedy sniffed out the story and you would have thought that Moonshine was her own horse!

We also watched a DVD presentation about the MV Krait, partly because it was so interesting and partly because it was so good to sit down!!  MV Krait was a Japanese made fishing boat, which was captured in WW2 and used to evacuate over 1000 people from ships sunk around Sumatra. It also famously transported members of Z Special Unit to Singapore in September 1943, where they successfully raided the city's harbour, sinking seven Japanese ships. The second similar mission was not so successful, with most of the men captured and beheaded, a term that had never crossed the kids vocabulary radar before. Ella stated that she would never, ever, ever want to be "Bigheaded"!

We then had the long, hot trek home so had to stop off at the Ice Cream Factory on the waterfront to sustain ourselves! We have finally solved the insomnia problem that has plagued Marcus for a year or more - huge amounts of physical activity. He is so tired at night that he falls asleep very quickly. One night, he fell asleep sitting on his stool in the middle of the caravan!

Marcus is more like a Maelstrom than a MasterChef,
but if he is outside, the mess is more easily dealt with.

The boys decided to cook up a feast for breakfast on Monday morning, so we ate the last of our supplies and walked down to go swimming at the Rock Pool while we were waiting for the garage to ring. There were some pretty amazing ships heading in to port - the biggest we've ever seen. The ships are no doubt involved in Exercise Talisman Sabre involving 22 000 Australian and US defence personnel. Late in the afternoon the garage rang and hadn't started on the van, so we booked yet another night here! Dave took Lachlan fishing while we made Lachie's birthday cake and wrapped up his presents. We had absolutely nothing left in the fridge or the pantry, so Ella, Marcus and I went for another 1km walk to get fish and chips. Guilt free eating, after all that walking!

Thanks for the loan of the book Joel!

Happy 10th Lachlan!

Today, Tuesday 12th, is Lachie's birthday. We started the morning with birthday breakfast cereal and toast, then Lachie and Jackson went off skateboarding while I did the washing. Ella was very excited to finish Harry Potter and the Poisoner of Uzbekestan. At home this would mean she could watch the movie, but since that is not an option here, she contented herself with humming the filmscore over ... and over ... and over! The Toyota garage finally rang at 11 a.m. and said the van was ready, so Dave and Lachie headed off in a taxi to get it. Hooray! With our transport back we made a dash to the grocery store before scurvy set in. Jackson has also been champing at the bit to buy a Ripstik so we got that as well. After driving back to camp, we enjoyed Lachie's cake, while Jackson bled from his many skateboard injuries. (He said I had to point out the injuries were not from his new Ripstik but from Lachie's skateboard!) Reason number 26 to get the caravan level is to ensure the birthday cake doesn't measure 1 cm at one side and 6 cms on the other! However, that didn't affect the taste and it disappeared pretty quickly!

A Happy Birthday Boy!

But I have to say, THE MOST EXCITING thing that happened today was that Dave finally consented to buy a Manbag! I can finally have my spine realigned as I don't have to carry all his heavy crap anymore! We all don't have to participate in family treasure hunts looking for sunglasses (often found on Dave's head!), iPods, wallets, contact lens cases, glasses ... before we can go anywhere. Gonz, you'll be so pleased that he has finally followed your brave fashion lead! The final straw was at the Rockpool the other day, when Dave sat on his glasses and broke them. The tantrum that followed turned the air blue, filled Ella's swear jar and made the lifeguards grab their lifebuoys and look concerned! The boys were disgusted and walked ahead of us at the shopping centre when he put it on, but Dave is happily finding "homes" for everything in his Manbag as I type! He even consented to a Manbag Fashion Shoot for the blog!

Now, where are my sunglasses?

The kids are playing knucklebones, Dave is playing his guitar and Jackson is moaning about his injuries, so it is just another night in paradise!

Off tomorrow towards Cairns.

Stay tuned ...