August 21 & 22 Townsville

Thursday’s big news was getting the car back, at a price! The total cost of repairs was, wait for it, $1692.00 – yes, the decimal point is in the right place. That makes a total of just over $6000 spent on the transmission since July 2006. It seems to me we might need to give some serious thought to getting rid of the Prado when we get back. Originally we had hoped to be able to sell the 4WD after a few years and have enough to purchase a car however the increase in depreciation in the last couple of years has probably put paid to that strategy. (Sharon, please tell John we’d appreciate his advice when we get home.) The good news is that the whine has gone but they identified another worn part which will need replacing down the track The only thing we did yesterday was to visit the Tropical Queensland Museum. The most interesting section was the Pandora Gallery which was dedicated to the ship of that name. As I’m reading about the Mutiny on the Bounty at the moment it was really interesting. The “Pandora” was sent out to the Pacific to roundup those who were responsible for the mutiny. A number of the mutineers had been captured and the ship was on its way back to England when it sank off the northern tip of Cape York. The wreck was discovered some years ago and the museum has on display numerous artefacts from the ship as well as information about sailing and ships of that time. There’s also a reconstruction of the front of the ship and an outline on the carpet of the size of it. Today was our first “tropical” day since Emerald. While we’ve had a few hot days, this morning was hot and humid. I decided to clean the car inside and out and lost a fair bit of fluid in the process. Morning tea was provided by the caravan park so we joined in – cheesecake, scones and cream and lots of other yummies were supplied free of charge. It also gave everyone a chance to meet and have a yarn. As we didn’t need lunch we decided to go in to the Rock-pool and have a swim – the first time we’ve been able to because of the weather. Mum had her final swim at the Long Tan Pool – she loves it because it’s heated (about 27 degrees). Back on the road tomorrow, destination Proserpine. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed Townsville and been very impressed of it as a place to live. I’m not sure what it would be like in summer but then we won’t be here, so who cares. It would certainly be high up on our itinerary if we ever come this way again.