Blake and Deb Far Away

Another of the many great walks around Townsville is the Coastal Boardwalk which follows the shore northwest from the town center. Here are some photos. Coastal Boardwalk Deborah along the rocky shore Mudskipper in a creek Fruit bats, aka flying foxes A particularly beautiful eucalyptus tree. Video of a goanna, as seen from the boardwalk above (11 sec).

Paluma Range National Park is about an hour north of Townsville and made a nice day trip for us. This is considered rain forest area, but it looked somewhat dry to us. In fact, we spotted a few small fires smoldering as we drove up the mountain. What kind of rain forest catches on fire? The dryness might be seasonal but the types of plants didn’t entirely fit our notions of tropical rain forest either – especially after having lived in Hawaii. As you go further north in Queensland it gets more and more tropical. Nevertheless, we had some nice hikes through the forest and stopped by Little Crystal Creek, which is a scenic and popular swimming hole. Deborah didn’t appreciate the drive on the narrow twisting road up and down the mountain, made all the worse I think by sitting on the opposite side of the car than she is used to.  Little Crystal Creek Well-named Camouflage Tree Payoff view at the end of a hike to Witt's Lookout. Cloudy Creek

The Ross River drops down from the Hervey Range to the south and runs right through the heart of Townsville where it empties into the Coral Sea.  Unlike the Black River near our house sit, it actually has flowing water in it, despite the very dry season in which we find ourselves. Flow is controlled by the upstream Ross River Dam, which forms Ross Lake and provides the largest source of drinking water for the region. There are also some old weirs further downstream that date back to the first half of the last century. As we have seen in other parts of Australia, the city and state have done a good job of investing in recreational infrastructure using the areas along the river to provide a network of parks, bridges, community facilities and pathways for public use. As temporary members of the local public, we were happy to take advantage. The Ross River Turtles aplenty Deborah sporting a homemade sling she fashioned from a shopping bag to support her sore shoulder

The Townsville City Council, in their own words, “recognizes Street Art as an important factor in creating a vibrant and lively city centre.” The city does a good job of minimizing the ugly, artless (IMO) tagging and instead encouraging, and in some cases even commissioning, eye-catching pieces by both local and international artists. After happily stumbling upon some murals during our strolls around downtown Townsville, we took the further step of picking up a map from the tourist center for a self-guided street art walking tour. Here are some highlights. “Untitled (Goanna)” by ROA. You definitely do a double take when you are crossing the street and catch this giant lizard out of the corner of your eye. The contrast with the brick is really interesting. "The Barrier" by Tellas Left: “The Smizler” by Lee Harnden, portrait of Townsville street artist Garth “The Smizler” Jankovic. Right: “The Tower” by Fintan Magee. Interesting optical illusi

Toolakea is the third of the five northern beaches near Townsville. It has a nice long but somewhat narrow stretch of sand bordered by a rocky band further out to sea that harbors interesting little critters like small sting rays and shovelnose guitarfish (I did not make that name up). The sea was remarkably calm on our visit and the beach nearly deserted. Very beautiful and peaceful. Toolakea Beach Rocky bits (photo by Deborah) Shovelnose Guitarfish (a type of ray) That's me in the distance (photo by Deborah) Deborah's video of a small stingray (10 sec) Deborah's video of...well, I don't know what this is. But it's cool. (28 sec) Deborah's video of a shovelnose guitarfish (13 sec) Your moment of zen (video by Deborah, 35 sec)

In the seven weeks we’ve been here in Townsville it has rained only once. Apparently this is not overly uncommon. This part of Australia gets most of their rain during the months of November through April, although this most recent wet season was apparently not so wet. Climate change has a taken a toll on Australia in general in recent decades with increased temperatures, more bush fires and prolonged droughts. As a result, we are currently under “Level 3 Water Restrictions” (reminds me of “double secret probation” from Animal House). Part of our house sitting duties is keeping the gardens watered, but I am only allowed to hand water (no sprinklers) 6-7am and 6-7pm on Wednesdays and Sundays. It isn’t even fully daylight during those two hours. Unless your neighbor turns you in I don’t know if there’s much chance of getting caught for violating the watering restrictions but there is the risk of a $365 fine so I’m being a good boy. Our hosts have a drip irrigation system (“weeper hos

Anderson Park is the largest of Townsville’s botanical gardens at 25 hectares (62 acres). It features a conservatory, a pond, several themed gardens, and a collection of huge rain trees. We spent a very pleasant morning wandering around admiring the flora and fauna of this beautiful park. A grove of date palms. Bamboo Blue-faced Honeyeater Rain Trees Muscovy Duck Fig Tree Banyan starting to take over another tree. Palm Tree Lily Pond Damselfly on a lily pad