Fly Buys, Byes, Boys

All of them. I’m sitting to write this some 10 days or more after the event. Well, 10 days since we hit Townsville. We actually ended up spending 8 days there, a couple more than we anticipated whilst waiting for mail then doing a little job for Civic Guides.

Townsville is a lovely place though. Truly worth the visit. We included a day on Magnetic Island and Jude didn’t get seasick on the ferry so it was a good day out.

But, we spent money (fly buys), we saw and heard FA-18’s every day sometimes as many as 4 at a time and Chinook heavy lift helicopters (fly byes) and quite clearly their pilots were fly boys. They were clearly enjoying their rides coming in at low level with subsonic circuits over town every day. The Chinooks were very subsonic but they are bloody noisy nonetheless.

Had the truck serviced. There went $1125.00. Then bought some ‘o’ rings for the dunny and there went another $236.00 (thieving bastards Dometic). Very expensive processing food in this truck. I always used to joke to Jaguar drivers that the purchase price was just the entry fee but try a Winnebago, particularly one with Dometic fittings.

Townsville is not that old. Much of its history only dates back to the late 1800’s but it does boast some lovely early 20th century buildings…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

most of which are situated along The Strand, on the foreshore. The Strand is just a beautiful extensive parkland along the foreshore with a smattering of restaurants, kiosks and leisure activities…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opposite The Strand, apart from some of the historical buildings are apartments and units that clearly aren’t cheap…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but I guess from here they can keep an eye on their boats…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kissing Point or Jezzine Barracks at the northern end of The Strand is a monument to the invasion of Townsville in 1942. Whilst it was a fort dating back to about 1880 it had a modernisation by Americans in 1942 to provide protection to Townsville. As noted in the previous  post, bunkers at Charters Towers were built to house armaments for back up to this Townsville installation. There’s not much left but a couple of re-installed old cannons, a bomb store  and a lot of explanatory placards but it is a fact that Townsville was attacked but the Japanese bombers missed their target and a second attempt also ended in failure without a shot being fired by this installation. It is now a spectacular viewing point set in a terrific garden environment….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thought the view from Kissing Point was fairly special but then we drove up Castle Hill, the backdrop to all photos of Townsville…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the island off in the distance is Magnetic (originally Magnetical as named by Captain Cook in 1770).

The trip to Magnetic Island was very pleasant. A short trip of 20 minus on a Quick Cat and a nice day on the island. Pretty place, surprisingly well populated with 2100 residents and little suburban property estates. Very few had ocean views so it begs the question as to why people choose to live in such isolation in suburbia. Just the same it is a pretty place……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then you stumble into other strange places to find unexpected treasures…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(and that’s a genuine C type)

All British Day at Cathedral School restored my faith  in automobile collectors. After Charters Towers American muscle dominance this was refreshing and encouraging. Attendance even included an 8 vehicle contingent from Cairns including Graham and Pauline Hepburn in the bug-eye. About 60 cars on display – bloody beautiful but lots of oil residue. I know we didn’t have to come to Townsville to see this but it was worth the trip to see that even in the northern reaches there are still some purists.

This entry is a bit of a photo fest. I best leave you to digest this lot so far as there are a lot more pics in the next entries. Sometimes words fail me.