January 4 - Townsville

Driving our Toyota Camry on the right side of the car instead of the left.

Some of the Townsville's coastal line.

We are on the road!

God is good.

As I think I mentioned before, we have a lot of heavy bags.  Of course we do...Brittany is moving to the other side of the world and she needs to pack for 3 seasons.  We have 4 50lb. large suitcases on wheels, 2 20lb. backpacks, we each carry an additional 'purse' and now we have a mid-size styrofoam cooler for our fridge things.  The shuttle driver to the airport this morning was so good about it.  She dropped off the other 2 couples with their luggage to departures, and took us to the arrivals door as we were just there to get our rental car.  She let us leave it in the shuttle trailer until we got our car around.  Technically we shouldn't have been in the 'bus arrivals' section, but how awesome to just transfer them to our trunk...and back seat.

When checking in for our car, the woman at the desk upgraded us from a compact to a mid-size without us asking.  As we transferred the luggage we understood what a blessing that was!  I don't know what we would have done with a compact!  The 2 giant suitcases with stuff we don't need for the vacation part of our journey are in the trunk, and the 2 other big overstuffed suitcases with our clothes, toiletries, dry food groceries and pillows are in the backseat with the cooler.  The backpacks are behind the seats.  No room for hitchhikers for sure!

So...yes.  I am driving on the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the street and I keep on turning on the wipers instead of the turn signal.  I am SO glad they kept the pedals in the right place!  I never seem to look in my rearview mirror as it is on my left and backing up is an absolute joke...I keep looking over my right shoulder instead of my left and it is so hard to judge how much car is on my left side. (You should have seen me parallel parking on the the left side of the road!)  Oh well, it's only Day 1 of the drive and I must say that after driving for 4 hours, I was getting more and more used to it.  The other thing I noticed is how tense and sore my right hand and forearm are...normally my left arm is the one that is always on the steering wheel keeping things in line, but now it is my right and it's not used to it.  Brittany also noticed that the radio controls are all backwards too.

The drive to Townsville was pretty, and we didn't have accurate directions to our 'Coral Lodge Bed & Breakfast' so we did a little walking around the town centre and finally found some locals that were of some help.  Hot and sweaty we stood in the front foyer of a pretty 'sketchy' looking house and rang the bell several times before our host John came up the stairs with the laundry.  He walked us to a choice of 2 rooms...Room 4 won out as it is right across from the shared ladies washroom and has a double and single bed.  We knew that our suitcases would be absolutely too large for the room and to come up the back stairs, so we grabbed what we needed from the backseat of our car, stuck it in our backpacks, plunked it on our beds and quickly went out for a walk to the waterfront.  (Looking at the pictures you will understand why it isn't somewhere we wanted to hang out :).

Unfortunately we must have gone down the wrong streets to get to the waterfront, because it was you typical old downtown area with the old bars, lonely people wandering around (or no one at all) and not much to make us very comfortable.  Finally we made it to the beautiful waterfront and ate a neat place right out on a pier called 'Jamaican Joe's'.  Yummy food, great atmosphere and we could watch the ferry crossing to Magnetic Island the whole time we ate...even after dark.  Beautiful really!

Walking back was almost as uncomfortable as going to the waterfront, but having a quick 50 cent softserve cone from the McDonald's we passed on our travels, made us feel better.  Our car, parked in a side alley owned by the B&B, looked to be in tact (we had to 4x4 our way into the area).  We have both quickly taken a shower and now feel better as we are safe in our room.

Really Townsville in the right areas is really beautiful, but it is a town that is about the nightlife too as there is an army base and many backpackers and students here too.  Not as cozy, quiet and comfortable as Palm Cove.   The accommodations were 'cheap', but like the reviews said, the hosts are friendly and for an old house, I suppose it's quite clean...at least the linens are.  I suppose Brittany and I are not the 'backpacker' type who would think it is paradise just to have your own room.   We are glad we are just passing through, and look forward to our 4 hour drive tomorrow to Airlee Beach where we will be staying at 'Parkwood B&B' and spending the next few days in that area visiting Hamilton Island for 2 nights and then sailing for 2 nights...if the weather cooperates.  Everyone says Airlee Beach and the Whitsunday Islands are awesome.  Can't wait!

Love,
Kim (and Brittany)