It’s an all-day bus ride.

First stop will be at Tully…… the town has a big boot on the side of the road. It is 8 metres high to show the highest amount of rainfall they have ever recorded in Australia, was here in 1950. The mill is spewing black smoke that we were told yesterday, is not bad for the environment. The air smells like sweet corn.

I noticed big stainless bumpers on the big rigs driving by that I believe Luigi had mentioned before. Instead of cow plows like we have at home, we have here kangaroo plows cuz “if you’ve ever hit one before, you know they will make your vehicle incapacitated”. Along the way we noticed some sugar fields burning….. in the distance.

We arrived after about 11 hours with a few stops along the way …. Bathroom breaks and lunch in Townsville. The street along the waterfront there is quite lovely with a beautiful little park where J and I have had our lunch. It is extremely hot…29C “but feels like 34”.

Later we motored on to Airlie Beach. We cannot see too much cuz it’s already dark. Our accommodation is really very nice… on about the 5th floor. It is an apartment with view. It is probably a mile to town. Okay if you have a car or bike, but in this heat we decided to just stay put in the AC.

5307 steps.