It’s blog time! Many of you may be thinking… finally… another blog from Ben and Leah’s Camper. I would like to apologise for the wait on this one. Townsville has now been our home for around about one month. We are staying here at the Coral Coast Tourist Park and when you read that, you may think… ohhh, that sounds tropical. It is really just a regular, well maintained little park. It is not the fanciest caravan park we have seen on the road and it is situated in the suburbs next door to the R.A.A.F. base, which makes it a pretty noisy place at times. The thing that really makes this place special is the people who run it. They are absolutely lovely, they are laid back and ready to help if they are needed. They make everybody feel very welcome and at home here. They even hold a burger night at the camp kitchen every Wednesday, for a gold coin donation (money goes to motor neuron disease research) you get as many homemade rissoles as you like, bread, salad and sauce. They also light the campfire and everybody sits around, chats and eats together. It’s a good night, they do a couple of raffles and for us, it is a chance to have a cheap meal and have a mid-week relax.
I would like to tell you that we have been out on the town here, going to the beach every day and exploring all of the nooks and crannies but if I told you that I would be lying. Ben has been working flat out for a bricklaying mob. They normally do a lot of block work around Townsville but they happen to be building a school out of bricks at the moment. There is many bricks to lay and Ben has been working hard at it almost every day.
I have been locum vet nursing for a veterinary emergency hospital, most of my shifts have been night shift and weekends and so if I am not trying sleeping during the day then I am caring for the dogs. I can tell you now that sleeping in a camper trailer during the day, when the sun is beaming down on the canvas, when you have the R.A.A.F. base next door and other caravan park users just outside is no easy feat.
A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to catch up with Zac, Katie and their two kids, who we first met at Workman’s Beach in Anges Waters. They happened to turn up in Townsville and happened to be staying at the same park as us. It was good to see them again for a few days. Ben got to go fishing with Zac and they were so close to landing a large threadfin salmon that it made the hairs on the backs of their necks stand.
For the first week or so that we were in Townsville we did not have jobs yet and so we did do some things. We went up Castle Hill, which is a large rocky hill in the middle of Townville. From it’s look outs you can get a unique 360 degree view of all of Townville and is well worth a look if you are in the area. We visited Reef HQ, which is the aquarium here and it was fairly average. In the first couple of weeks Ben did do quite a bit of fishing and bait catching with his cast net. We went around Townsville and discovered many of the local fishing spots, but unfortunately we haven’t been lucky enough to get a keeper here yet.
The fun times that we did have here now seem like a distant memory with all of the work we have been doing but thankfully there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The light is in the form of Glen and Amanda, who are coming to see us later this week in Townsville. We have been looking forward to seeing them since the moment they told us they were booked in months ago. While they are here we hope to get in some well-earned drinks, some great meals and do a bit more touristy stuff. Can’t wait to see you both!
Food & Fiction 