Townsville last day

Today was the last day of my stay in Townsville.

It was an easy and relaxing, as well as enjoyable day. I woke up early, as usual, listening to Ian McNamara's Australia All Over. Some was interesting but mostly he waffles on. I had my cereal and did some reading.

About 8.00am, my friend from work days, Cliff, called to say he would collect me after 10.00am and go for brunch. He duly arrived and we proceeded to go into the very nice area of the Strand. We went into a very busy cafe overlooking the water.

We first ordered our coffees and then a while later, we ordered something a little more substantial. All the time we were chatting over old times and thinking about what we will do over the ensuing times. Time past by very quickly and it was almost 12.45 when left for a drive out to Cliff's work place.

After about a 10 km trip we arrived at Lavarack Barracks where Cliff works. It is very large and quite modern. There are numerous building under construction partially due to another Regiment moving there in the near future.

While there, Cliff showed me where he lives. It is all quite modern and comfortable. He has a fairly large room in which he resides which has an ensuite. Most meals are taken at the mess.

Cliff pointed out the vehicles that he trains the drivers on. They have to be very conversant with these heavy vehicles and are not just drivers. They are required to know and understand how they work and be able to identify all the parts on them. A lot more than the average car driver.

After that tour, Cliff returned me to the Caravan Park. He left and went to do his weekly shopping and I then visited the RAAF Museum.

It is not large but has a great record of the various Squadrons that have operated from Townsville since it was established. It was very heavily used during the Second World War especially with activities in the Pacific not being so far away. The Americans had a big presence there during that time.

 The Vietnam war featured heavily with the aircraft that were there, too.

Various other sheds have displays such as engines and an early turbine along with another shed that houses bombs. There is also a library that has a lot of information too.

After that a quick trip to some shops to get some vegetables and then back to the Karavan. After packing all the goods away it was time to refill water tanks and then have a read and relax.

So that has been the last day in Townsville, at least on this leg of my journey.