Monday 29 July 2013
The timing of these things, once you depart the standard tourist operation, can be a little tricky, particularly when it comes to connecting flights, which explained the initial look at flying Cairns > Hamilton Island.
We know, from experience, the overnight flight from Kansai International outside Osaka is scheduled to arrive right on sparrow fart, but when you take the possibility of delayed flights and likely queues to get visitors through Customs the first QantasLink flight to Townsville might be a little bit dodgy, so you’d be inclined to play it safe, wouldn’t you?
Playing it safe, however, involves a five hour wait. Cairns > Hamilton Island leaves earlier, and halves the drive back to Bowen, but at $300, forget it...
In any case, with Cairns > Townsville arriving on the ground at Garbutt around 11:20, an early departure looked like the way to go, and we were heading out of the IGA Car Park, having stocked up on bottled water for thirsty travellers around 7:30.
That might seem a tad overenthusiastic, but conversations with The Afghan Neighbour, who’d done the same trip a week or so earlier and experienced lengthy delays due to road works, suggested we might need three or possibly even three and a half hours rather than the two and a half you can usually bank on.
The Neighbour’s not 100% on his knowledge of the localities along the way, and part of the reason his trip took so long was obvious when we turned back onto the highway at Sandy Corner, noting roadworks activity on the Brandon side of the intersection.
Whether there was additional activity between there and Ayr is something we’ll find out on Sunday.
Apart from the inevitable stoppages due to construction (they’re putting a bridge over the tram crossing at the Brandon Sugar Experiment Station, and it looks like involving a significant realignment of the highway) there was absolutely nothing remarkable about the trip, and we arrived in Townsville with enough time to divert into Angelina’s Deli at Fairfield Waters and take a squiz at the sale at Kathmandu en route to the airport.
It seemed there was nothing remarkable about the overnight flight and the Cairns connection either, though you can never be too sure about these things. The visitors are an undemonstrative duo, inclined to observe and note rather than offer comment or assessment.
There was, however, a reference to Hungry Jack’s, which sort of figured, given teenage appetites and uncertainty about what was on the nutritional horizon that had implications once we’d skirted Castle Hill and parked the chariot near CBar on The Strand.
The view across Cleveland Bay wasn’t quite as good as it can be, and we started off at a table in full sun, so things could have been better, but the food, as usual, was good, and the view and the winter sunshine delivered the regular reminder about why we live where we live.
From The Strand we looped through Flinders Street East, paid a flying visit to the deli beside the Victoria Park Hotel, an operation that warrants further investigation, though we weren’t inclined to do that just then, and headed out of town on the new Port access road, which rejoins the highway at Stuart and is completely clear of traffic lights.
One point, however. Coming out of Boundary Street there’s a No Right Turn sign, which required a U-turn closer to the port.