12-16 October 2016
We
dropped the mooring in Pioneer Bay soon after first light and motored south in
almost windless conditions along the western shores of Orpheus Island towards
Townsville where we planned to spend a few days before continuing our trek
south.
We
lived in this North Queensland city in the 1980’s. It was where we bought our
first house and all our children were born. Although not having been back
for quite a while, we still had a number of friends here we were hoping to
catch up with. We also discovered we had arrived just in time for the coming
weekend’s T150 Celebrations to mark the City’s 150th Birthday. This
included a massive Australian Defence Force Airshow followed by an enormous
fireworks display. Best of all it was all going to happen over the water off
the beaches where Our Dreamtime at
anchor would have the best seats in town. Talk about perfect timing.
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Motoring on glassy seas through the Palm Group of Islands. |
The
run through the Palm group of island was quite pleasant as we cruised past many
attractive small islets. Much of this area is a designated Air Force live
firing range centred on Rattle Snake Island but it was inoperative at this time
so we could take the shortcut right through the middle of it.
|
Rattle Snake Island is a RAAF practice range for fast jets. |
It
took quite a while before the wind strengthened enough to sail but when it did
we had a very nice square reach in through the West Channel between Cape
Pallarenda and Magnetic Island .
|
It was fantastic when the wind picked up enough to turn the engine off and enjoy the sailing. |
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Our Dreamtime loves the wind square on the beam making good speed in light conditions. |
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The light and shadows combined to produce a very grumpy emojo face on Townsville's Castle Hill as we approached. |
The water here is quite shallow so we kept a
close eye on the depth gauge as we made our way towards our planned anchorage in
an area known locally as ‘The Duck Pond’
between breakwaters at the shipping harbour’s entrance. This area beside the
Breakwater Casino is earmarked for future reclamation but in the meantime
offers a good, free and reasonably well sheltered anchorage.
|
Orpheus Island to Townsville - 45.0 Nautical Miles - 8 Hours 02 Minutes
Average Speed 5.6 Knots - Max Speed 7.8 Knots |
|
Townsville's Duck Pond can provide a shallow but free anchorage adjacent to the centre of the city. |
However
it is very shallow with only the quarter of the area further most from the
Casino offering depths of more than of 1 to 1.5 metres at low tide. The sea bed
is very soft, fine mud which is very forgiving if you do touch, or in our case,
sit in, the bottom. We draw 1.5 metres and on a couple of low tides during our
stay our keel was buried about 30cm in the mud without any problems. The soft
bottom does require putting out more anchor chain than you’d normally use in
such shallow depths. Many people have been caught out here with boats dragging
in moderate winds. Access to the shore is available via a dinghy dock next to
the fuel dock in the marina for a $10 a day charge.
|
Sunset from Townsville's Duck Pond anchorage. |
|
A stark reminder that we were in Crocodile country was this trap complete with pig's head bait in Townsville's Duck Pond. |
On
our first day ashore we walked the length of ‘The Strand’ along the waterfront checking out the great job the
city has done redeveloping this area. ANZAC Park located at the eastern end was
established shortly after WW1 but has been enhanced as a very fitting memorial
to those who have served our country in uniform without detracting from the
heritage aspects of the area.
Beside
the marina the Tobrook Memorial Baths which were originally built back in 1950 have
been expanded once again while preserving its heritage. Because of Townsville’s
warmer climate, the Tobruk Pool was used as a training venue for the Australian
swimming squad for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games and 1960 Rome Olympic
Games. Team members included Australian swimming legends Dawn Fraser, Murray
Rose and Lorraine Crapp. Six world records and 13 Australian records were set there
in one night in 1956, with the footage featured on the first day of television
broadcast in Melbourne.
Continuing west, The Strand is now full of new public amenities including a water park, excellent children’s playgrounds, exercise equipment, outdoor stage area, public art, cafes and the excellent rock pool swimming facility at the western end. On the headland at Kissing Point the old Army Reserve Barracks has also been redeveloped with a military museum, parkland walks, art gallery and lookouts. We enjoyed the best part of a day exploring Townsville foreshore including an excellent lunch at a Greek Café.
|
We were very impressed with Townsville's redeveloped Strand. |
|
The public facilities such as this BBQ area are first class. |
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No need for a gym membership when there is such good outdoor exercise equipment in the park. |
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Not all is at it first seems. |
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A fun piece of public art. |
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No shortage of fun for the kids here. |
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Townsville's Strand provides plenty of options for a dip. |
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The rock pool is excellent. |
|
A couple of the Townsville locals we came across. |
Great
Townsville friends Peter and Mariane joined us on board Our Dreamtime on Saturday morning to get set for the big airshow.
As we enjoyed a great lunch of fresh seafood on the stern, we were provided
with plenty of entertainment as vessels both great and small filled the duck
pond jockeying for the best view. With all the action happening overhead we
really didn’t think it mattered that a number of boats anchored in front of us.
Sure enough ALL the huge range of aircraft taking part across the five hour
show flew low directly over our boat at different points of their
demonstrations.
|
Fresh prawns, Moreton Bay bugs and bubbles waiting for the air show to start. |
|
An hour earlier there was not one boat anchored behind us. |
Heritage
warbirds such as a P51 Mustang, Catalina Flying Boat, Lockheed Hudson and
Neptune Maritime Surveillance aircraft were joined by the RAAF’s latest and
greatest including FA18 Super Hornet,
C17, Wedgetail and of course the Roulettes aerobatic team. A great bonus were
two unbelievable demonstrations by a Major Richard ‘Punch’ Smeeding from Misawa
Air Force Base in Japan in the cockpit of a USAF F16 Fighting Falcon. The fast
jets were certainly the stars of the show. We’ve only included a few shots of
the planes here but if you’re a aircraft nut and would like to see more you can
have a look at almost 80 shots Rob took in our T150 Air Show Facebook Album.
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We could not have asked for a better view of the T150 Air Show. |
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The sound of the V12 Merlin engine in this P51 Mustang in RAAF colours was glorious. |
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The very LOUD RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornet put on a brilliant display |
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Vapour pours off the USAF F16 Fighting Falcon in a loop over our boat. |
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The RAAF Roulettes in tight formation flying the PC-9/A |
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Flares fired off by a C130 Hercules and PC3 Orion were the perfect way to launch very long and spectacular fireworks. |
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The reflections over the water added a great dimension to the fireworks. |
On
Sunday morning we were able to catch up with our old neighbours Phil and Anne
over brunch and drinks at the Townsville Yacht Club. Although we hadn’t seen
each other for 16 years we had kept in touch over recent times via Facebook.
The fantastic thing was we found ourselves sitting and chatting as comfortably
as if it had only been days since our last conversation rather than a decade
and a half. If they hadn’t had another previous commitment we probably would
have been there late into the night.
After
our goodbyes we strolled to the nearby Maritime Museum on the banks of the Ross
Creek and were very pleasantly surprised about how good a job this volunteer
organisation has done in presenting the marine history of the region. There is
a very good area dedicated to World War Two Townsville and the pivotal Battle
of the Coral Sea that occurred uncomfortably close to these shores.
|
Townsville's Maritime Museum was well worth the visit. |
|
The WW2 exhibit was very informative. |
|
This model of HMS Pandora that sank on the Great Barrier Reef after arresting Bounty mutineers was one of many. |
An
excellent display details the loss in 1911 of the luxury passenger vessel SS Yongala in a cyclone south of
Townsville. One hundred and twenty two people had been on board, and none of
them survived. It was not until 1958 that divers discovered the wreck site.
The
Yongala steamed from Mackay for Townsville in the afternoon of March 23 carrying
49 passengers and 73 crew. She was still in sight of land when the signal
station at Flat Top (Mackay) received a telegram warning of a cyclone in the
area between Townsville and Mackay. Although the shore-based wireless station was
capable of wireless communication few ships carried wireless in 1911.
Ironically, a wireless destined for installation on the Yongala had recently
been dispatched from the Marconi company in England but was yet to reach
Australia. Five hours later, the lighthouse keeper on Dent Island in the
Whitsunday Passage watched Yongala steam past into the worsening weather. It
was the last sighting.
|
Karen with a model of the SS Yongala which foundered south of Townsville in a cyclone. |
In
1943, a Royal Australian Navy minesweeper corvette, on a passage from
Townsville to Brisbane clearing the shipping lanes off the Queensland coast
mined at the beginning of the Second World War, fouled on an obstruction
believed to be a shoal, but which was not investigated at this time.
In
1947, the Royal Australian Navy hydrographic vessel HMAS Lachlan examined the
obstruction using anti-submarine equipment and an echo sounder. The obstruction
was thought to be a sunken ship, and presumed to be that of SS Yongala. No
further action was taken, leaving Yongala in peace for another eleven years. It
wasn’t until 1958 that Townsville divers rediscovered the wrecks location and
the Yongala was positively identified.
The
museum’s display includes a very good video presentation and many artefacts
from the wreck including the ships bell. The Yongala is now fully protected as an historic wreck under federal law and has
become a world famous site .
|
We did like the sense of humour of museum's volunteer staff. |
All
too soon our time in Townsville came to end. There were many other people we
would have loved to have spent time with. It also would have been great to take
a look at what has become of our first home but
the south easterlies were giving way to some predicted north easterlies
opening a weather window for us to continue south. The wind dictates how long
we stay somewhere and when we move on .
We
would spend one day reacquainting ourselves with the delights of Magnetic Island then we would be underway
again.
|
Good afternoon from Townsville. |
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