August 2021
When we left Magnetic Island we only had a very short sail ahead of us as we were aiming for the not to distant Townsville. From Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic to the anchorage in Townsville known as the “Duckpond” it was only 12nm. However the morning we left the trade winds were still blowing at 15-20kts and forecast to keep like that for the rest of the week which meant that if we wanted to get to Townsville we had to sail upwind. Although we weren’t about to let a little headwind stop us trying and so not long after breakfast we weighed anchor and headed off. That morning we set all the regular sails and had them sheeted on hard in an attempt to sail. However even with all that sail set we still needed the engine to assist as without it it would have taken us all day to reach the anchorage.
All up we spent nearly four weeks anchored in Townsville’s Duckpond heading ashore on many occasions to visit the town and meet up with Hugo’s sister, Holly, as she lived in Townsville. While in Townsville we also took the opportunity to visit all the local walking trails in the nearby area the first of which was the walk to the top of Castle Hill, the large hill shadowing the town. Although to get there we thought we would try something a little different. When we had arrived in Townsville we’d noticed a lot of electric hire scooters around the place and decided to give one a shot. Although instead of using the scooters for a short joyride we used them to get to the Castle Hill trail head which was at the back of the town. The scooters were a fun and easy way to get around the town, although they did come with location limitations and at a similar price for a taxi for the two of us we decided that we probably wouldn’t use them again.
Following our little scooter ride we then walked the last little bit to the Castle Hill trail head and started the long climb to the top. The hill was only 260m high and the track 2km long but the whole trail was one long stair case. It was while doing this trail that I realised that stairs are really not my strong suit which meant that reaching the top was more of a struggle then I would have liked but I wasn’t to be deterred. After puffing our way up the stairs we eventually came to the top and were greeted with a lovely view of Townsville and its surrounding suburbs which was divided by the Ross River that ran through the towns centre. From our vantage point at the top of Castle Hill we also had beautiful views out towards Magnetic Island and even the more distant Palm Island.
We spent about an hour at the top of Castle Hill visiting all the different lookout points and admiring the view, we even enjoyed a quick picnic lunch which I’d packed for us that morning. When we finally left it was down the same path that we had come up on which meant going down all those stairs once more. However going down stairs is always much easier then going up so it felt like the return trip was over in seconds. Although walking back to the water front was a mission.
Due to the cost of the scooters to go such a short distance we decided against using them a second time so we had an extra 2-3km to get back to the dingy and after all the stairs our legs were feeling a bit jelly like. But we pushed on and it wasn’t long before we had made it to the water only to realise we hadn’t paid enough attention to the tides. We knew that we were approaching spring tides but hadn’t realised how much that affected the beach where we’d left the dingy. When we arrived at the beach the tide was basically at its lowest point and as such the dingy was about 50m from the water, which normally wouldn’t be a problem. The problem was the soft, grey, silty mud which we had to drag the dingy through to get it to the water. To start the mud was fairly hard but the closer to the water we got the softer the mud become until each step I was sinking down to my mid calves. It was a truly disgusting experience that left us covered in a stinky, sticky mud. But eventually, after much pushing and pulling, the dingy was floating although only just enough for us to climbed into and then use the oars to pole us out into deeper water and then motor out to Allagai.
Following our climb up Castle Hill we decided to have a day recovering on Allagai and complete a few jobs. But after our day of rest we were ready for another adventure and so since we still hadn’t put the bikes away from our ride around Magnetic Island we decided to take them ashore. Our research of the area had uncovered a national park/ conservation area about 10km away on Cape Pallarenda. This sounded like it could be an interesting area to explore so we packed the bags, made a picnic lunch and headed ashore with the bikes. The ride out to Cape Pallarenda was fairly straight forward and easy with a bike path that extended along the entire foreshore area which meant it was only an hour after leaving Allagai that we were arriving at the cape.
Once we arrived we did a little bit of exploring and were amazed to find that the park catered to bikes. This meant that we didn’t have to dismount instead we spent about an hour exploring various trails. Although the trails were designed with mountain bikes in mind, not our tiny folding bikes. However we didn’t let this deter us instead we picked the easy trails and turned around whenever the tracks degraded or became too steep.
While out we enjoyed a short ride to visit some old jetty ruins, a lookout to Magnetic Island and a ride along the lagoon in the areas wetlands. This was a truly beautiful area and if it wasn’t such a long ride there and back I would have loved spending more time exploring the park. However with 10km still to ride back to Allagai we decided not to overdo ourselves and so turned around to begin our trip back to Allagai when the trip tracker ticked over the 20km mark.
Throughout the day we had been riding on designated trails however our maps showed us that there was a service road which ran through the park which if we took would save us a few extra K’s. So with this in mind we decided to return via this park road thinking that it would be easier then returning via the trails. However we probably should have stuck to the park trails as the road was an unsealed gravel road with large corrugations and was smouldering in areas where a burn-off had been recently completed. With wisps of smoke coming off the nearby ground we were a little unnerved and so didn’t dawdle especially as were unsure if we were meant to be on the road. However with no signs to say the road was closed we continued riding, peddling quickly while dodging large corrugations and avoiding areas of loose gravel on the road. It took us about half and hour to reach the main road and left us feeling relieved to be out of the smouldering remains of the recent burn-off. Following our ride through Pallarenda National park we then headed back to Allagai, once again having to drag our dingy over the huge mud flats through the disgustingly sticky, muddy clay on the beach.
Following our long bike ride we decided to spend another day recovering and relaxing. However once recovered there was one more place in Townsville that we were keen to visit which was the old Fort at Kissing Point. We had ridden through this on our way back from Cape Pallarenda but that day we’d been feeling far too exhausted to stop and fully appreciate it after our day of riding and so decided to revisit it at a later day. The day we decided to visit Townsville’s Fort we headed ashore in the morning once more with the bikes. The ride to Kissing Point was only 3km and so with the bikes it meant we were arriving in no time. The Fort offered us an amazing insight into an important part of Townsville’s history during the wars. We spent about an hour at Kissing Point Fort reading all the plaques and marvelling at the structures which remained grateful for the effort the soldiers had gone to to protect our country.
After our week of jam packed exploring we had run out of places nearby to visit in Townsville. However with our new sail ordered and on the way we couldn’t leave just yet so this led to a week of maintenance on Allagai. Since leaving Tasmania we had been slowly repainting our deck and it seemed that Townsville was the perfect place to finish the last section, having done the fore and aft decks in the Tamar River and the starboard side of the main deck in the Town of 1770. So once again all the maintenance gear came out, sand paper, paint and the epoxy and we got to work. The port side of the deck was in fairly good condition in terms of chipped paint however there was still two small pieces of wood rot in the deck which had to be cut out and replaced with new plywood.
For the most part the week of maintenance went smoothly with only one or two hiccups. The first little problem was the death of our tiny generator, which we burnt out using the grinder and the second was some unfortunately timed rain. By this point in our travels we’d had beautiful warm and sunny weather for nearly two months. But about five days into the fixing of the deck the forecast turned nasty and we were predicted to get 50-100mm fall in the space of 36hours. We couldn’t believe our luck and worked furiously on the last day to get the new patches sealed with the first layer of paint. Thankfully we did it but with so many days of rain ahead we had no choice but to take a break for a couple of days. With a few days off this led to our next round of exploring. However having exhausted everything within Townsville Hugos sister offered to take us out of town to visit a nearby waterfall in Paluma National Park.