What else could go wrong??? .... right??



 

 Well, lets see. So after Mission Beach, we made our way to Tully where we partook in our 2nd Big thing "the Golden Gumboot" and unusually for Tully...... it was raining!??! haha :P It's really well done and quite interesting inside with all the photos, yes i said inside, you can climb up inside the gumboot, all 7.9 metres of it! just don't go when it's raining. Wear shoes with good grip, as it can be slippery.



So,  then a quick servo brekkie of fried egg sangas, Mmmm, and off to Townsville where Jamie had organised new batteries for the truck so there would be no more incidents like Thursday. 



"hat...hat.....hat" (they are her shorts)
Our first night at Mission beach



So I rock up to the depot, "hi you must be Mark, I'm here for the F250 Batteries" (d'uh it IS a battery shop!) "Umm yeah, can't do it, we've got no power, no one in the street does"  $%_^)*$@#% thinks I! So we scoot off to the camp shops, as we discovered in Mission Beach - We have no lights outside the truck to work by. We get  lost (our GPS is 5 yrs old), then finally find the place, change a horrifically smelly Sophie and head in to the store, we get inside, get to the back of the store and Claire says "I'm BUSTING!! need to go to the toilet!" gees, thank you, couldn't have said  it OUTside? so out we go, find the toilets and head back instore...... ring ring.. ring ring, D'oh back to the battery shop we go. Batteries fitted, find a bigger better camping store, stock up on essentials and find ourselves a caravan park. ahh nice there's a pool, maybe we might a get a swim in??? Ummmm No, we need to unpack EVERYTHING, build new beds (another story) and sort out dinner, getting dark by now, GUESS WHAT WE FORGOT TO BUY!!!! uuurrrgghhhhh!!!!! So we are rushing about in the dark (Thank goodness it was a fullish moon!) finally have dinner, baths and into beds, and i manage a little blogging. off to bed i go and a brand new day begins :) 



Photo Courtesy of Samuel - RAAF Base

A new day dawns on the W.A.lkabout Base Camp and we spend a hurried hour or two or possibly three?? sorting out our camp, The sun is getting higher, so it is also getting HOTTER, and I have some children staring longingly at the pool.  Eventually everything is in it's place chucked back into the truck and we finally head off,  again no pool time :( oh i should point out here that when we started our journey, the truck was equipped with a queen size mattress and 2 single foam mattresses and even a woolen mat/rug for insulation, after living in the truck for a few days at 'home' we discovered that the 2 singles did not perform the function they were assigned as they were too big, so reluctantly one was left behind. After the rain at MB and our subsequent discovery we now were in possession of a queen size SPONGE! and a smelly carpet. yuk! So a decision was made to relieve ourselves of the extra weight(and smell!) and we asked our handy dandy GPS to find us a lifeline store, 'you want me to do what?' it thinks, so we proceed to drive unassisted around in circles,  and decide after thoroughly getting lost, we need a current GPS, we find a Dick Smith  store and after making a 42 point turn 'squeeze' the truck into a  carpark, i dash into the store, and might i add here that townsville stores (any) Blow their Cairns counterparts OUT of the water in size and layout!!  i find a cheap GPS that will talk to me $146 nice me thinks take to the register it comes up as $149, i'm halfway through telling the clerk $146 and she says"oh thats the one on special" doot doot doot KaChing "$119 please" woo hoo says I!! so we enter a lifeline location, yayy just around the corner. uh ahh, Closed  (it was a Saturday)So we head out of town, slightly looking for somewhere to 'donate' the mattress and i discover the mattress can  be left behind at the townsville tip for $4, where incidentally i discovered my truck weighs 4.92 tonnes :) it's perfectly legal T.A.R.E weight!

Oh yes, and we did remember to get some lights for the camp :)

Anyway slightly off track there. Off we go to Bowen, stopping by in Ayr for a photo with the big snake where Samuel enjoys telling people "the snake bit me" - he slid down the neck and being a boy, crashed off it and mysteriously sliced half his nail and a big chunk of skin off his pinkie toe - i took photos, but most are blurry and i know not everyone likes blood and 'guts' he didn't even notice for a few minutes, but now he's crippled and "oohhh it hurts so much!!!" :)



The rock and plaques on ground are grave markers
for remains of pre European aboriginal remains, about 6ish i think?

So back on the road to Bowen,when we arrive, we drive aimlessly around town looking for the big mango,and decide to do a spot of groceries instead, after giving up we drive out of town and what do we spot??? signs for the big mango!! note to interested parties you can bypass bowen completely as it's out on the bloody highway AFTER Bowen  "Slightly" irritated with Samuel at this point after an argument with him for being selfish, so nobody's allowed out of the truck and the adventure bears make a solo appearance.



Can you see them? I'm standing on my side of the car
perched on the seat and door, holding the  camera aloft
I must admit, it's a "Big Mango" :)

I collect the bears and off we go, hoping to make it to Mackay, but more realistically thinking of Proserpine.

However, feeling oh so very drowsy  and pretending I was awake enough, I 'wisely' pulled into the "Gunna Go Caravan Park", about 5 minutes before  Proserpine

 That, my dear family and friends is another story, as I'm 'gunna go' to bed now

til some more free time makes it self available to me

Goodnight

OXO

 B(J)slkcs