This is a short post so I thought I would delve into a bit of our style of travelling. Once we have packed up and are in the car we head in the direction we want to go and I look up places to stay on WikiCamps, read reviews and call ahead to check availability and pricing. If we are not committed to a particular location we just drive, then when Esther wakes up we might stop somewhere for lunch check it out and decide to stay or keep moving. This has been one of the enjoyable, adventurous things about our travels, getting in the car and not knowing where we will stay next.
We had a few things we needed to do in a big town so in this case we were already committed to Townsville. We left Perth with the new fancy and expensive Hema HX1 (thanks to an abundance of BCF vouchers for our birthdays and Christmas from family), which died on us after our 2nd town, Hema Support were helpful and we were able to collect another one in Tom Price. Unfortunately this one died when we were in Cape York, it wouldn’t charge. By this point we were looking for alternatives. In the end Dan chose a 7inch tablet where we uploaded the Hema maps app and iGo app, working just the same as the Hema but costing half the price (WAIT: There is more to this story than Felicia is willing to tell, after three nights researching bloggs and Satellite Navigation manufacturer websites, I decided a 7″ Samsung tablet with the right software would be more suitable, They have a long battery life, a great screen resolution, faster processing speeds, work with GPS and GLONASS, plus I would also have a tablet to use instead of borrowing Felicia’s. Apparently I was wrong in my assessment and had made a poor decision. Felicia felt very strongly against this solution and gave a number of very feeble reasons as to why… after seeing the error of my ways we bought a Garmin from Harvey Norman. The sales assistants assured us that we could install the Hema Maps…. Turns out they were wrong and we then exchanged it for the Samsung tablet and it has worked wonderfully ever since. Dan).
Townsville:
We attended a school fete with food trucks, went to some markets early the next morning and had our first spiral potatoes on a stick! We took Esther to the foreshore water playground in the afternoon where they also had another fair with food trucks and rides. Lots happening in Townsville!
Lunch stop @ Bowen:
The town seemed dead when we passed through but the coastline was stunning!
Conway Beach:
An unexpected detour led us first to a Nudist caravan park.. ha ha, no mention of this minor detail on wikicamps, it was only when I called after we couldn’t locate it and mentioned we had a 1 year old he said it wasn’t for children and it was a nudist camp!
So off to this caravan park: Conway Beach Caravan Park, so full of character, especially suited to families with children, (or the big kid in all of us). They had a train that did laps around the caravan park twice a day (for free), as well as a nice pool with a slide, toddler waterplay area, 2 sizes of jumping pillows and an American styled “diner”, but my favourite was the painted cabins and toilets, the yellow lighting didn’t do my photo justice but the colour was fantastic, a really bright friendly place to stay.
Next stop: Airlie Beach!
Beebe's Big Lap Around Australia 