CARAVAN TRAVELS WITH BOB & MARION [COOLOOLA COVES].
As promised in my last post to this blog, I have finally put pen to paper with a report on the trip to Cairns and Townsville with three of our grand children, Chris16yrs; Becky 11yrs and Jake 5yrs. This particular trip was somewhat of an experiment, for we had never before taken three of the children away with us; and accommodating them in the caravan annexe was to be an experiment. Fortunately it all turned out well and we had a great trip. It was interesting to see how various caravan parks treated the extra persons in terms of the accommodation costs. Christopher was invariably classed as an "adult"; Rebecca was always a "child" and Jake was sometimes a "child" and sometimes a "baby -free". The majority of caravan parks simply treated all children as extra "persons" and charged the same extra amount for each of the children respectively. Interestingly, Christopher was treated as a "child" at some tourist attractions.
Prior to our departure the children were all delivered to our home and excitement permeated the house as we tried to settle them down for bed the night before we were due to depart. On Saturday 25 June 2011, we awoke at 4.00am for a very early start as we had quite a long way to go before pulling up for the night. We arrived at Mackay in North Queensland just on 3.46pm; and after booking in to our ensuite site, we set about putting the annexe up for the children's sleeping quarters. All went well with the process and whilst Chris assembled the camping stretchers with their "blow up" mattresses, Becky and Jake assisted with the erection of the annexe. Jake undertook the task of winding down the four stabilizers under each corner of the caravan and once again did a great job. He was experienced at this task, having undertaken it on previous trips with us. Onlookers were quite amazed to see a 5 year old boy winding down the stabilizers as if it were a common occurrence. Becky learnt how to hammer in tent pegs and became proficient at this task very quickly. In less than an hour the "camp" was set up and we were all comfortable. The children had learnt the importance of team work and this augured well for the rest of the trip. We let the children off the leash for a while and they went exploring among the local birdlife, including Ibis and Whistler Ducks that abound in the park. There was no playground in the park, which was a surprise as we had believed there was one. There was a pool but it was by now too cold for swimming and consequently that option was ruled out with no objections from the children. We decided to reward our helpers with pizzas for the evening meal, so we all piled into the car and after a visit to the petrol station for fuel we found our way to the pizzeria where we purchased some delicious pizzas which were consumed quick smart! It was soon time for bed as we had another early start in the morning. Three tired children and two tired adults were soon dreaming sweet dreams. We had travelled 787km from Cooloola Cove [home] to Mackay in one day.
Whistler Ducks at Andergrove Caravan Park, Mackay, Queensland.
Sunday 26 June. We were out of bed at 5.00am and to our dismay it had begun to rain! Fortunately the rain eased off for a short time allowing us to pull down the annexe and stow it in the van. It did not matter that it was still wet as we knew it would be going up again that same afternoon. We laid out another small plastic sheet on the floor of the van and stowed the annexe walls on this to prevent water dripping all over the van floor. By 5.45am we were on our way. The rain stayed with us for a couple of hours as we travelled north, however it was not heavy rain and did not cause us any problems. We arrived at Townsville, some 384km north of Mackay, at 10.45am and utilised the relatively new extension to the motorway to bypass the heart of the city and emerge on the northern outskirts in 15 minutes. Stopping at Bluewater picnic grounds for lunch brought back some childhood memories, as I used to go there for picnics with friends many years ago. After lunch we departed feeling refreshed as the children had taken the opportunity to have a good play in the excellent playground provided at Bluewater.
Having passed through Ingham at 12.37pm we arrived at Cardwell at 1.22pm. Fortunately the rain held off for a while whilst we set up the "camp" (as Jake liked to call it). The township and the caravan park bore the "scars" of the recent cyclone named Yasi and it was sad to see the buildings that had been destroyed, as well as the trees in the surrounding bushland which had all be stripped of their leafs by the strong winds. The caravan park managers told me the town was still in recovery mode but things were slowly getting back to normal. We went for a drive to find the Information Centre where, in the past, an excellent display of local marine environments including coral reefs and mangrove fish nurseries had been available free of charge. I particularly wanted the children to see this display as an educational experience; however, to our dismay the building had been all but destroyed by the cyclone and could not be accessed. As we drove around we saw once familiar places lying in ruins. It really brought a lump to one's throat to think about what the residents must have gone through in Cardwell and other small towns along the coast.
Cardwell N.Q. June 2011: A house still in ruins 6mths after Yasi.
Some facts relating to Cyclone Yasi:
Coastal Crossing Details
Crossing time:
12 am - 1am EST, 3 Feb 2011
Crossing location:
Near Mission Beach, 138km S of Cairns
Category when crossing the coast:
5
Extreme Values During Cyclone Event (estimated)
Maximum Category:
5
Maximum sustained wind speed:
205 km/hr (estimated)
Maximum wind gust:
285 km/hr (estimated)
Lowest central pressure:
929 hPa
The largest rainfall totals were near and to the south of the cyclone and were generally in the order of 200-300mm in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday. These rainfall totals were experienced in the area between Cairns and Ayr, causing some flooding. The highest totals were; South Mission Beach 471mm, Hawkins Creek 464mm, Zattas 407mm, Bulgun Creek 373mm along the Tully and Herbert River catchments.
{Source: Queensland Bureau of Meteorology}
Of note was the 5 metre tidal storm surge experienced at Cardwell, which caused extensive damage to vessels moored in the Hinchinbrook Marina on the outskirts of the town. The photo hereunder is taken from the Brisbane Times website:
We were quite subdued by the time we got back to the caravan park and to make matters worse we discovered Jake was running a high temperature. He was not well at all and there were no medical centres available in Cardwell. I took him to the local Ambulance Station where fortunately the ambulance bearer was on the ball and confirmed that Jake indeed was running a high temperature. He spoke by telephone to a medical advisor in Ingham and on the doctor's advice administered some medicine to help bring Jake's temperature down. Jake is so irrepressible he did not complain at all but it was obvious to us that he was not well. Back at the caravan park we made a contingency plan to drive to the Ingham Hospital some 52km south of Cardwell should Jake's temperature not abate. Fortunately the medicine worked and he spent a quiet, restful night. He was a lot brighter in the morning with no signs of the temperature we had been so worried about. A blessing indeed!
By now the rain seemed to have set in and we were resigned to the fact that the weather bureau forecasts were correct in predicting on going showers for the rest of the week. At least there were some periods where the rain stopped for a while and let us go about without getting wet.
On Monday 27 June 2011 we arrived at the Coconut Holiday Resort Caravan Park, Cairns just after 10.00am and were soon "set up" and enjoying a well earned rest. Jake was feeling a lot better; however, we confined him to the annexe, watching DVDs and resting, for the remainder of the day. We had planned a rather busy schedule over the forthcoming week and hoped the rain would not dampen our enthusiasim too much. The following day we spent some time going for a drive around the city of Cairns and allowing the children to enjoy the facilities at the caravan park. The caravan park boasted several swimming pools, jumping pillows and playgrounds, giving the children lots of choices to occupy themselves if they wished. Christopher proved invaluable as a supervisor and we were confident we could leave the children in his charge, within the confines of the caravan park.
