It almost seems unimaginable that a short 130 kilometers will have us looking at the sea.

After weeks of dirt, dust and near 40 degree temperatures, we are looking forward to looking at the rolling waves of the ocean.

Ray has always has a special affinity with the ocean and can spend hours near the water. I like sitting on the sand and will swim if I get hot enough which is really rare. We are not too sure about The Captain yet. We have brought a sun shade tent with us to make sure he doesn’t overheat on the beach. His experience with salt water has only been down on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria with his best buddy Bo, we are not sure if he will venture into the water without him to show the way. We will see.

As we left Charters Tower, we returned to the Main Street and noticed things were a bit more lively today. We stopped by the cutest little coffee and flower shop to get our coffee. The mural painted on their side wall was delightful.

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They even put “thank you” stickers on their coffee cups. Cute.

Before we knew it we it we were in Townsville. The big smoke. Population 200,000.

My cousin, Melanie, lives here so I sent her a message hoping we could catch up. Unfortunately, she was off on her own little holiday so that was disappointing for us, but absolutely amazing for her.

The caravan park we booked is opposite the beach so we settled in, glad to feel the breeze off the water and the relative cool. A top of 30 degrees.