From ghosts to the coast.......

Thinking about a career change.......

but it seems like too hard a work!!!!

Spent the night camped behind this historic pub in outback Ravenswood.  An old mining town famous for its ghosts from the past gold rush days.  We had a few beers with the publican and we both saw a shadow race across the back of the bar.  It was an eerie night camped on our own out the back.  We didn't get a lot of sleep as mysteriously church bells rang in the middle of the night along with a lot of other very strange noises!

On a brighter note we stayed a few days in Townsville and took a trip out to Magnetic Island.

We spent the morning on a scenic walk up to the many forts built to combat the enemy in World War II.  There were some great views of secluded beaches along the way.

Took this photo to show Dad as this bay on the island has the same name!

Magnetic Island was a real gem and we enjoyed getting on and off the local bus checking out the little towns.

Charters Towers.........

Spent the week in Charters Towers an old gold mining town full of  history and amazing old buildings.

We took a guided walking tour around the town which was really interesting.

The post office was very grand.

We watched the Melbourne Cup race in an old pub with a beer or two!

The Stock Exchange was truly amazing and had been restored as accurately as possible.

This is the view from Tower Hill where the first gold was discovered by a young aboriginal boy.

Gorgeous rock wallabies appeared as we watched the sunset over the town.

Old relics from the gold rush.

This is Malcolm who showed us through the Venus Battery where the gold was processed.

This morning we headed out of town to watch the action packed Northern Queensland Dirt Racing event.

There were lots of thrills and spills...........

........red dirt and grunting V8's.

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One dam to another.......

Tac managed to beat his personal best with a 103cm barra on our last arvo at Kinchant Dam. We had an amazing time here and we caught some huge barra.

Next stop Theresa Creek Dam where we had a lovely quiet campsite.

Spent a day checking out the historical town of Clermont which was not far away.

One of the redclaw we caught and had for dinner!

Kinchant Barra!

Had an amazing week fishing for barra in a truly magic spot.  We head out at 4.30pm and fish into the night. 

Tac was the first to land one on a soft plastic and just shy of a metre she put up a great fight. Lots of aerial maneavoures.  It was very exciting fishing!!  

A few nights later I was lucky enough to get this beautiful barra into the tinnie. Tac did a great job netting her and it took two of us to pull her in.  We quickly took the photos and released her back into the water.  It was awesome to watch her swim away.

She was 110cm in length and pretty bloody heavy!

We spent one of our days touring the area taking a walk out to Finch Hatton Gorge and then on to Eungella National Park. 

From salt to fresh...........

A Trevally caught on our last fish at Cape Palmerston.

Next stop Kinchant Dam where Tac is sitting on the deck taking in the view.

Our new mate "fat duck" loves a drink on the deck!

Sunset over the dam let's hope we can catch a Barra over the next week or so.

The Cape was calling..............

We have finally left Mackay behind and are now back on the road.  We couldn't resist another stop at Cape Palmerston.  Our friends Ken and Helen had unfortunately already left.

The creek that we have been flicking lures in. 

Not a bad mangrove jack which I caught in the creek using a floating surface lure.  Nothing beats watching the fish engulf a lure on the surface.  It's very addictive fishing.

Tac had a barracuda slam his lure. 

Another jack caught not long after.

We topped off a great day fishing with the weekly "jaffle night" around the camp fire.

Tac has decided to swap building for cane cutting.  He says it would be much easier....ha ha!

Harvest time.........

Christy and Ben's house in Mackay before the makeover.

The front is now complete with a new porch, windows,
stairs and handrails.

The massive rear extension which incorparates
a huge undercover back deck, large master bedroom
with ensuite and a laundry.

The finished product which only needs a paint job!

On Saturday morning we were lucky enough to get the chance
to go out to a local cane farm at harvest time.  Tac jumped in with Chris
while he operated the harvesting machine and I sat alongside Gary in the
tractor which pulled along the carriages that the harvester filled with the
cut cane.  I then took my turn to ride in the harvester and Tac sat next to Gary
in the tractor.

This is the harvesting machine in action cutting the top off the cane and also the front rollers
sucking in the bulk of the plant.  It's an awesome machine with heaps of grunt!

At the same time the harvester cuts the cane up into small sections and shoots
 it into the train carraiges ready to be transported to the sugar mill.

Once the carriages are full they are labelled and ready for the mill.

The sugar mill is actually visible from the farm so doesn't have far to go.

We had smoko with the boys after sitting along side them while they worked.

Our ranger is parked on the trash from the cane that has already been harvested.  The new cane resprouts itself for 7 years then has to be dug up and replanted.  Each crop takes one year to mature.

What an amazing experience!