TOWNSVILLE, ROLLINGSTONE, BALGAL BEACH & TOOMULLA BEACH

Brian, James and I left Ayr Sunday morning after doing a fairly extensive tour of the town. It was bigger than we both thought and very much a sugar cane community. It was not far to our destination, a farm stay called Lazy Acre Plantation forty kilometers south west of Townsville. We were one of only three guests there and after collecting an information leaflet from the box at the driveway entry (as per the sign) we plopped ourselves in the midst of an old mango orchard. It was flat, shady, private and quiet. We both quite liked it and given it was as close as we could get to Townsville without going into a caravan park, it would suffice for a couple of nights. After setting up I wandered up to the old farmhouse hidden behind the mango trees and paid Estelle, the owner, $20 for two nights. 

LAZY ACRE PLANTATION is a good cheap spot not too far from Townsville. There are no amenities but it is flat and shady with fire pits and wood supplied. Cost is $10 per night. I rate it 3.

It was early in the day so we drove into town and parked along The Strand. The place was alive with people enjoying their Sunday with friends and family despite the thick smokey haze that, due to burning off on Magnetic Island, completely blanketed the entire area. It was still late morning so we were lucky enough to snag a table right on the water at the Surf Life Saving Club (don't know why the word 'surf' is used, Magnetic Island just 8km off shore makes for dead flat water) where we enjoyed the best luncheon share platter I have ever tasted, washed down by a very nice Pinot Gris.  After lunch we met up with Bruce, a friend from Yarrawonga who (along with his wife Christine who was on a cruise at the time) spends his winters in an apartment on The Strand. We shared a few drinks at his 'local' while listening to live music. Nice!

Next day we spent sightseeing. The smoke had cleared a bit which made the nine kilometer steep and windy drive up Mount Stuart to the lookout worthwhile. The views over Townsville and across to Magnetic Island were fantastic though I must admit I found the loop walk around the summit a tad hair-raising in parts.

Ross River Dam was our next port of call. We were hoping to fish in it but the only access appeared to be via a climb up the dam wall and then there was no way to the water. It seems the authorities haven't opened it up for recreational use as yet. To finish off our day we paid a visit to the casino but sadly, didn't have a win.

Christine was due back from her cruise on the weekend and I wanted to catch up, so we decided to kill a few days on the beaches north of Townsville. We checked out the Big 4 caravan park at Rollingstone about an hour north. It had great reviews with beach front pet friendly sites. Sounded good. And it was. Except for the wind which was absolutely howling, and the $54 per night price tag!

We stayed two nights and did a bit of sight seeing in the area. The Jourama Falls in the Paluma Range National Park was supposed to be good but when we got there the walking track was too long for Brian's dicky knees. I headed off alone but not long down the track a snake, slap bang in the middle of the path, reared up at me. Wow, did that scare the crap out of me! I hightailed it back to the car real quick. We did enjoy the crystal clear creek crossing on the access road however.

Thursday we repositioned a couple of k's down the road to the much more sheltered free camp at Balgal Beach. We had stayed a few years earlier and knew that with limited space it was a must to arrive early. We got there at 10am and scored ourselves a prime position backing onto the park and beach under a shady tree. It was sooo much nicer than the caravan park....and free.

BALGAL BEACH scores a 4.9 from me. I absolutely love it...The fishing, the kiosk, dump point, toilets, electric barbecues, great park and beach etc. It really has everything going for it - and for free. It does have a 48 hour stay limit and, sadly to say, SANDFLIES!

Balgal beach, aside from having a beautiful long stretch of golden sand to walk on, has an inlet, boat ramp and kiosk which does fantastic fish and chips and is licensed. Yay! We had a great lunch on Thursday with a nice little savvy and VB. Later in the day we took our rods, chairs and drinks down onto the floating jetty and caught ourselves a delicious feed. Brian even caught a legal size male mudcrab on a line. The one down side of Balgal is the midges. Fuck me....did we get eaten alive!

Our friends, Marie and Ross were due to head back from Cairns on Saturday so we planned another catch up. With no space for them at Balgal, we pulled up stumps and did another short move to Toomulla Beach freecamp some 15 km south. It was a nice, open, flat grassy spot with shade and no wind. They arrived late afternoon so we spent a second consecutive Saturday night enjoying their company.

TOOMULLA BEACH is a good overnighter. It's a big space with toilets, barbecues, water and boat ramp, but is beside an inlet and not on the beach as such. It's lovely and quiet. I rate it 4.