In the wake of the to-ing and fro-ing associated with two Neil Young and three Springsteen concerts back in March I wasn’t, I must admit, in a big hurry to go off gallivanting around the countryside.
Then, when the motivation returned around the start of May, there were a couple of appointments to sort out various financial matters that needed to be worked around, which meant it was mid-June before we found ourselves with a bit of clear air to plot out a week to ten-day trip.
We’d just about got that side of things sorted after the Retired Teachers’ lunch at Bogie River Bush House when an unexpected email advised that Madam’s sister and niece were intending to visit at the end of July, which meant it was just as well we’d put off making bookings in the Gulf Savannah until we’d had a good talk to people who’d actually been there about road conditions and options.
Procrastination may be the thief of time but it comes in handy when unexpected emails enter the equation.
So, having deferred the Undara experience and the Savannahlander we set about sorting out a new itinerary that would suit a couple of visitors whose requirements didn’t quite compute as far as the standard Reef and Rainforest elements were concerned.
Not that we were going to be avoiding the two Rs, you understand. It’s just that the time frame was a bit longer than the standard Japanese package tour duration and The Niece was considering studying languages and wanted to get an idea of day to day life away from the standard tourist route.
Which, of course, explains why the following narrative is based around six days in and around Bowen. Bowen isn’t exactly on the standard Japanese tourist route. It’s not far off places that are, which is helpful, but we thought a side track into a rural environment would be a bit of an eye opener.
With the visitors flying in and out of Cairns a road trip back to the Far North was going to deliver them to a point where the Rainforest and a bit more Reef could be slotted in, so the basic outline wasn’t difficult to figure.
The first consideration was getting the two of them to Bowen, which meant flying Cairns > Townsville or Cairns > Hamilton Island, which looked like the way to go when Madam investigated the options on a Sunday and found a very reasonable $99 fare for the flight.
Things, however, hadn’t quite been set in stone on Sunday, and while we waited for advice that the visit was definitely on (a mere twenty-four hours) the cheap fare disappeared into thin air, replaced by a $300 option.
So, predictably, we found ourselves on the road to Townsville on Day One of this little odyssey...