Tony gets a haircut

Well he decided that seen as I had a free haircut we could afford to buy some hair clippers from KMart - so off we went and made the purchase - trouble was where to now for the haircut - I mean I know the picnic spots often have power but that felt just a little toooooo public for me.  Problem solved we found a lovely little lookout - aptly named Lamberts lookout (the name of Tonys uncle) and plugged the haircutters into the adapter in George, left his motor running and 30 minutes later we have a very cool looking dude.

Tonys first haircut at Lamberts lookout

George gets stuck

Hmm tried to see what was down this road and yes we did see the puddle but really thought George could handle it - Tony pushed, I drove and we escaped.

Cape Hillsborough

Another pretty beach spot but this time with some interesting walks – through a mangrove forest – I didn’t know the jolly things could grow so big.  Yuibera Plant Walk – a undulating walk down to the remnant of a stone fish trap that the aborigines used to use for catching fish. 

As we started this walk we got talking to a grounp of army cadets who were doing the same walk – a bit unfortunate really as the walk was quick smart on the double – the next walk we did by ourselves at a slightly more leisurely pace.  Finally a walk up the hills and then down to return along the beach as it was low tide.

Seaforth, Haliday Bay and Ball Bay

Back towards the coast for a few days.  Spent some time relaxing at some pretty little beaches, checking out rock pools and fossicking for shells – I have no idea what I am going to do with all the pretty shells George is carrying for me.  While on one of our beach walks we spotted some movement in the distance and it was hundreds of tiny blue crabs on the move – they were quite good fun to play with as they would run away when we approached and dig there hole at the last minute – im sure we killed a few – unintentionally, but it was pretty hard to avoid them. 

Tracked down Ian who was in hospital with Tony and spent a few hours with him and Adale his wife, staying the night on their lawn – thanks guys. 

Finch Hatton Gorge

Left Eungella and headed to Finch Hatton Gorge – another tropical rainforest.  Walked to a couple of swimming holes – the Wall of Fire which we got too by crossing the river had a bit of a dip here although it was pretty chilly and Araluen which was more popular as it was easier to get too.  Saw some iguana on the track and again back at the start of the tract and some gorgeous bright blue Ulysses butterflies – if only they would keep still so I could take a photo.

Eungella National Park

As Tony is feeling not too bad we decided it would be safe to venture away from the hospital so headed for Eungella national park.  Had a bit of a climb uphill – thanks George but arrived at the top to magnificent views of the gorge below us.  Had a bit of a walk and then carried on to Broken river and the viewing platform where we saw platypus.  They were much smaller than I had thought but apparently the bigger ones are in Tasmania and quite hard to photography as they didn’t stay up for long – also say turtles paddling around below us.  Left our wee water friends and did a couple of walks though the tropical rainforest and along the creek – probably the prettiest walk we have done so far - a very cool afternoon.



Turtles at Eungella



Platypus at Eungella

Breaking down

Another visit to Mackay hospital and another dose of morphine and a CT scan and we get discharged again only to have George loose his clutch, so we ambled into McDonalds and let them know what had happened and that we would be spending the night in their carpark – but no this was not to be as Tony needed to go back up the hospital – so we got to use the taxi service in Mackay.  This time they kept him overnight so a rather unpleasant night was spent in a chair before he was admitted the following morning to the surgical ward.  Right so that’s Tony ‘safely’ ensconced in someone else’s care now lets deal to George.  Arranged to get him towed to a garaged not too far away and they checked him out and said he needed a new clutch shoe and they would do him later that day – so…. Another taxi back to the hospital to find out what was going to be happening with Tony and then another when we got a call that afternoon to say George was ready.

So about now I was feeling pretty shattered and it appeared that Tony was going to be in hospital overnight so I needed to sort a place for George and I to stay.  One of the nurses recommended the Red cross emergency accommodation so I went to check it out and booked in for the night.  There are 3 rooms each with their own toilet shower and then a shared kitchen lounge and laundry – within walking distance to the hospital so that was me for the night.  Tony was seen by the urologist the following afternoon with appointments for blood tests, CT and xrays the following week.