Queensland. The sunshine state? The smart state?? I was sent up north to the QLD coast to get some sun and absorb the warmth before the upcoming Antarctic season. No, not really. Rather, three GPS surveys were conducted at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) differential GPS sites in Gladstone, Mackay and Ingham. The work was really cruisy and simply involved connecting some of my fancy gizmos to the existing AMSA equipment and collecting data for two days at each site. After setting up the equipment, which took a grand total of about two hours, I then had to keep myself occupied for 48 hours before packing up the gear and driving on to the next site.
First up was Gladstone. An industrial town set around the deep water harbour of Port Curtis. Boating is the main pass time of locals and seafood is on the menu. Fish was eaten at the yacht club and two local restaurants. The yacht club pulled out the classic pub style fish and chips, whereas the other two served up over priced ocean trout, which wasn’t cooked well enough to justify the price.
Aside from food, which always seems to be a priority on my adventures, there are some nice spots tucked away from the refineries and other industrial sectors. The Tondoon botanic gardens are impressive and chock full of natives, although the mozzies and other biters prevail. Tannum Sands has a great coastal walking track which was perfect for a sunset jog. Spinnaker park, built in the harbour by the port authority, is another nice place for a walk with plenty of sea air and a view of the ships loading up with natural resources.
After packing up the GPS gear it was time to hit the Bruce highway and drive north to Mackay. The last hour of the drive was through the pleasant smell of golden syrup as I entered sugar cane country. Mackay is a regional city, which is surrounded by mangroves and sugar cane fields and sits halfway between Bris-Vegas and Cairns. The town is a grid of wide streets and seems to have outgrown itself, waiting in traffic is common and annoying. With school holidays on, the miners on break and after the floods earlier in the year, which put quite a few locals out of their homes, accommodation was difficult to find. The backpackers were booked solid. I’ve said it before but pre-booking backpackers completely goes against the idea of backpacker accommodation. It pisses me off! Anyway, I managed to check into a relatively expensive motel and spent the next few days scratching mozzie and sand fly bites. The town caters to the miners at night with a pub on every corner, strip bars, tattoo parlors and beauty salons.
Surprisingly, the food in Mackay was really good. A steak at the Austral hotel was one of the best I’ve had since the “Ball and chain” in Salamanca, Hobart. The steak was so good I actually ate dinner there twice. I also sat down to a delicious dinner of borsch soup and goulash at the local Russian restaurant. I simply had to try it for the novelty of Russian food in Mackay. There are a few cafes about, making some nice stuff as well. There are a couple of pleasant spots for a run or walk, the long strip of botanic gardens alongside the lagoons and looking out on the sugar cane being the stand out. The work all went well and it was time to continue the road trip north to Ingham.
Unfortunately, the northward drive fell on the last Saturday in September, Grand final day. Excited about there finally being two Victorian teams in the granny, I simply had to stop and watch the game through the arvo. I pulled into Ayr, 90km south of Townsville, and watched the game in a local pub with a few toothless locals sitting around, muttering into their XXXX Gold. It was weird to see the lack of interest from the Queenslanders. Different country up north I guess. After the disappointing game, I continued on for another 200km with the setting sun until I reached Ingham and then a little further NE to Lucinda. I woke to the dramatic view of Hinchinbrook Island, through the tropical palms and across the water. The island looks like a fun place to explore maybe some time in the future.
The survey equipment was setup quickly (I was getting good at it now) and I had the rest of the day off. The sun was finally shining and it seemed I had driven free of the clouds of the last week. I spent midday at Forrest beach and enjoyed a bake in the sun and a swim in the lovely, warm water. I then drove down to Townsville where I would meet up with a co-worker the following day. On that lovely and warm evening I joined the locals and had a casual walk along the Strand, enjoyed fish and chips on the grass looking out to Magnetic Island, as the sun set over Castle Hill, and then walked back up the Strand with an ice cream. Bliss.
The next few days were spent working at another continuous GPS station located at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) about 50km south of Townsville. The AIMS site is impressive and we saw plenty of sleek kangaroos and birds on site, as well as dolphins, turtles, crabs and fish down by the tide gauge. The institute is quite isolated and with its electronically operated front gate, picturesque location by the water, well manicured tropical bush grounds, laboratories and hard working, tidy employees, gives the impression of a futuristic community living in a protected natural utopia. Every time that front gate swung open on its own I was reminded of Jurassic park or the Island of Dr Moreau and imagined the forbidden laboratories contained long lost sea monsters or deranged amphibious mutants. It was curious that in almost every conversation with different staff, they made mention of the space on grounds and how there was plenty of room for more people, if we wanted to stay? Oooooo creepy. Anyway, we got through our work unscathed and I am sure my webbed feet will return to normal in time for my Antarctic medical tests.
During this working week we tried a few more places to eat and drink around Townsville, I snuck a run in along the Strand one morning and up Castle Hill on another early morning, both popular exercise spots around town. It is great to see so many people out and about exercising in Townsville, with a steady stream of people (all shapes and sizes) climbing up the big rock and walking by the beach. We dashed back up to Ingham one evening to pack up the other survey equipment and dropped by a local hotel for a few beers and a counter meal, chatting away to the young bar girl who answered most of our questions of some of the oddities of the area. By the way, Ingham is not the place with the chickens. Rather, sugar cane is the business. The locals get a little pissy when you mention chickens. I ate the chicken at the Ingham hotel and it was really good. On reviewing this blog entry, I noticed that food is the standout topic. I apologise for this, but I think about food a lot. Obviously, I will need to find a lovely young woman who enjoys cooking.
With the work all done and plenty of sun and warmth absorbed it was time to head back to Canberra, where I spent about four hours before driving back to Melbourne for the long weekend. Stay tuned for the next blog series, On Antarctica II.
