Long Sunny Days

Our course went well - quite interesting, but the thing that really amazed us were the people attending the course and some of the stories they told.  Night life in Townsville is probably no different to night life anywhere else, but it is certainly different to when I was young.

We have resumed our normal routines again. R goes off to work in the morning and I potter through the day, taking walks to interesting places.

This was the sun peeping over the hill yesterday morning.  Must still be a lot of smoke in the air.
I went out to get myself some lunch and decided to walk through the gardens on my way home, but they had the sprinklers going, so I wasn't able to go far.  A little panda was sitting on a rock all by himself so I stopped to say hello.

I did some more work on the crochet blanket I am making.  I sit in the unit with the door open listening to the birds and planes.  There is always something to watch around here and I don't get bored at all.

This morning there was so much fog or smoke about that we could hardly see Magnetic Island, but when we returned from our walk, there it was. Still in the same place..

We walked over to South Townsville and along Palmer St with all the restaurants, then back across Victoria Bridge and up the hill to home.  The air was so still and it was calm and peaceful. One or two stragglers on their way home, but quite a few early morning walkers, bikers and joggers too. We came across a huge parking area empty apart from one car and one bicycle.  Obviously gets full of vehicles sometimes, but we were please to saunter through and watch the sunlight filter through the trees

It is hard to believe that we have been here for over 2 weeks now and in another week will be winging our way back to Brisbane.  I am looking forward to seeing Mark. He is flying over from San Diego and will visit with us for a few short days before flying on to Sydney.  I just hope that Quantas can get the baggage handler strike sorted out and that it doesn't stop us from getting home in time to see Mark.

I hope you all have a pleasant weekend. Don't eat too many sugar buns. They are addictive you know and you can't stop at just one. (giggle)

Thanks for joining me in Townsville. I'll see you again soon

A whole lot of walking going on !

It is so pretty looking out over the water as the sun is rising.  Each day it is different.

This was taken yesterday, Friday before we went for our walk. You can see the smoke haze in the background.

  And this one was taken about an hour later this morning after we returned from our walk. I love the way the clouds are lining up across the sky.

Yesterday there was a lot of smoke in the air. For most of the day I could hardly see Magnetic Island, although it wasn’t too hard to breathe or anything.  In the afternoon I walked to Castletown Shopping Centre which is about four and a half km away.  R met me there and we purchased a Telstra Mobile Wi-Fi, which still does not work even though the salesgirl said she activated it.  Oh well, eventually we will get it sorted.

This morning we walked a long way along the foreshore and there is a triathlon here today. They were getting set up for it and putting out flag and drinks etc.  We didn’t have time to stay and watch unfortunately and I forgot to take my camera this morning.

Later on we watched someone come floating down with a parachute and just a short time ago the same red seaplane I watched the other day came over doing its acrobatics again.  I will put the other lens on my camera and try and be ready tomorrow.

We moved the furniture around in the room here so I have the table by the window.

I tried to take a shot showing the view through the window which, even though they cleaned it when I asked, is still a bit smeary (well, I can see it).  I have the door open most of the day when I am here, so it's not like I am shut in a box all day.

I am going to venture down town shortly and see what I can find around the shops. 

Have a fun day and catch you tomorrow.

Walking is good for you..

...or so they say.  I seem to be doing a lot more of it here in Townsville.

We went for a lovely walk very early in the morning yesterday.

Before the sun was up

We found our way to The Strand which is the waterfront here. So many people out, running, walking dogs, strolling etc. And it was well before 6.00 am.

A really nice man was feeding the seagulls. I had to lighten the photo as it was still quite dark out. 

The sunrise looked very pretty out over the water.

We started our walk back to the motel.  One man late for work was getting very impatient with the driver in front of him and was really close behind revving his engine and when the other driver turned right the impatient one sped off quickly and loudly.  I hope no one else got in his way and his day got better!

Castle Hill was just catching the sunlight.

And by the time we climbed up the hill to our motel the sun was all the way up.  A beautiful morning.

I hope all of you are enjoying your day and your morning is as beautiful as mine.