As I said earlier, Steve had the whole three days off from work over the long weekend which was great for us because we could get out of the house and do some family things. Up until then, Steve had been doing odd jobs on Saturday mornings like going out to local cane farms to drop trailers or pick trailers up. Not 'all day' stuff but still, it ate into our day and meant that Steve only got one sleep-in a week on Sundays. All a supreme sacrifice in the pursuit of helicoptering.
We had been invited to Lucinda on Saturday afternoon by Steve's boss. He and his two sons had hired a unit near the boat ramp at a place called Dungeness where they were launching their boat for some fishing. Lucinda is on the coast and Dungeness is on a river entrance just up the beach so the two towns are only about a kilometre apart. Lucinda was also hosting the Hinchinbrook Fishing Competition so there were boats everywhere hoping to land that monster fish and take home the trophy. We arrived at Lucinda to have a look around and people were already bringing in fish to weigh-in even though they had until 6.30pm to do it. Kids were showing off their prize catches which seemed to be within legal size limits but not huge. Maybe later the big ones might start coming in. We then headed to Dungeness just down the road where the kids all had a swim in the inground pool near the unit complex. It was a nice afternoon sitting by the pool while the kids swam and Becca just went up and down the steps because the pool itself was too deep for her. While we were sitting talking, I could feel sandflies nibbling on my legs and that was confirmed by a local sitting with us who also commented on the bities.
After a while, we all decided to head back to Lucinda where some food and drink stalls were set up and we could have something to eat. Naturally, at the last minute, Becca had to 'come a cropper' on the slippery edge of the pool and fell backwards cracking her head on the concrete. This expediated our departure as she needed consoling and we wanted to get she and Erin out of their wet swimmers. Again, Becca's resilience showed through and after a short time, she had calmed down although we kept a close eye on her after that for fear of concussion.
The big fish were being weighed in by the time we got to Lucinda and it was getting late in the afternoon. Steve's boss had caught two mangrove jack but they had forgotten to bleed them. This is obviously a bad thing as they were trying to palm these fish off to whoever was around, including us. Steve and I could see by the looks on their faces that unbled MJ aren't tasty so we made sure we didn't take them. Fishermen were carrying eskies the size of small chest freezers around and extracting very large fish from their depths. While they weighed their giants we grabbed some food from a stall, one steak burger, one fish burger and some wedges for the girls. I must say that fish burger was magnificent, one of the best burgers I'd had in ages. Erin, as per usual, waited until I had ordered, waited and picked up my fish burger and left the queue before deciding she wanted one. By this time the queue was a mile long and I wasn't going to re-enter it. Sulking followed as we girls sat under a tree across from the bar area while Steve was PRing because there was no seating for us to use. There was a large playground nearby which was crawling with small people so I headed over there after eating with our small people until Steve had finished which wasn't long after. We headed home with me already starting to feel the effects of sandfly bites which of course escalated overnight.
After a rather unpleasant nights sleep from itching, we took the girls to Townsville to the movies. I researched what cinemas were available and found two - a Greater Union and a Reading. Timing our arrival for a movie is somewhat difficult when one has to drive for over an hour and then navigate a new regional centre to find said cinema. Our choice of movie would depend on when we arrived and luckily we arrived with 20 minutes to spare. Hotel Transylvania was Erin's choice and we had a ball. Steve and I did our usual thing and laughed all the way through........just lucky we love kids movies although they are aimed at adults too these days. Becca is happy as long as there is a snack box packed and a box of popcorn on hand.
After the movie, we picked up our pet supplies and headed home but detoured into some beach towns on the way. Steve had been wondering about all these beachside areas off the Bruce Highway so we casually drove around to have a look. Everything from shanty shacks to mega mansions were scattered along the coast right on the beachfront. Unfortunately the beaches themselves were less than attractive and were mostly tidal and muddy although there was the odd nice beach interspersed along the coast. We stopped at Balgal Beach near Rollingstone where we walked along the beach and saw coral littered throughout the tidal zone. An estuary ran out into the sea nearby and large "Achtung" signs were visible......just. Steve pointed out how beautifully these signs were covered by some overgrown bushes........no possibility of litigation here when someone gets eaten..Mmm! Whenever I mention an "Achtung" sign, it means there are salt water crocodiles around. North Queensland is covered with these signs which translate as 'Attention' for foreign tourists to warn them of the likelihood of salties. They also need to have signs up for the smallest bities in Queensland but then I think they'd run out of space to put them all . My continued run in with sandflies was making my already lumpy limbs even worse. We escaped back to the car and drove through the campground where many hardy campers were taking their chances just back from the beachfront. There would be no way I could leave the tent/van if we camped in this area.
Another night of itching and discomfort followed. On the holiday Monday we drove south of Ingham to Jourama Falls for a look. These falls are only about 30 kilometres away so we had a casual morning and headed out after lunch. I made sure that both myself and the girls were lathered in sunscreen because it was quite a warm day and I didn't want sunburn on top of bites. The national park was, again, at the back of the ranges and was drier than other areas but the creek had lush vegetation. We parked the car and walked the 1.8 kilometres return to the falls lookout. On the way we detoured down to the creek which ran over large granite boulders. There were plenty of rockpools where people were taking a dip but it was quite slippery and steep for the girls and us to navigate. After finding a safe spot to dip our toes in for a while, we continued up to the lookout. The track was in good nick but wound it's way around the contour of the hill. Becca insisted on being miss independent which stressed Steve and I out as the drop off from the track was fairly steep. It was hot and when we got to the lookout, it was reasonably secure but we had to watch Becca again as there was a gap along the side of the railings. On the way both up and back from the lookout, we saw numerous lizards and butterflies of different colours. The lizards, in particular, stayed still for long enough for the girls to see them. We had promised the girls a swim while at the falls but not knowing what the terrain was like meant we probably shouldn't have. As I said earlier, the rockpools were too slippery and quite deep for the girls to use and when we got back to the carpark, we drove back through the park to a picnic area we had seen on the way in. When I got out to investigate, the creek was deep and black with a ladder up from the steep bank for people to climb out. I apologised to Erin in particular and said there was nowhere suitable for them both to swim. As a compromise, we promised them both an icecream when we got back to town. Erin was happy with that as she was fairly exhausted from the walk. It was a tiring walk because it was quite hot and I realised afterwards that it was the first descent walk we had done as a family since Mapleton so it had been a while between bushwalks. Anyway our family long weekend had come to an end and it was back to work for Steve and back to school holidaying for us girls.
Well, the girls and I managed to survive Erin's first school holidays in Ingham. I was always going to be a little concerned as to how I was going to amuse Erin and Becca especially as we haven't established a solid friend base yet. I find playdates an excellent way to keep the kids occupied but as I discovered during these holidays, kids are happy with one outing a day no matter where it is.....well at least mine are. I had done some research before the holidays about school holiday programs in the region so I could have a fallback on boring days. The long weekend in the middle also made our holidays fly by because, thankfully, Steve had the entire 3 days off so we did family things.
Of course there was no point rushing into things so we had a quiet first Monday. Erin and Becca got up whenever they felt like it (usually 6.00am) just like a pensioner who feels like they have to make the most of every hour in the day. I managed to sleep in until 7.30 if I could ignore the sisterly tiffs, thundering feet around the house (not difficult on floorboards) or Becca galloping a horse on her Ikea table. Erin, for the first time, managed to get both herself and Becca breakfast without huffing to get me out of bed. There were the odd accidents with the milk but on the whole, she did very well. One morning when I got up, Erin had given them both breakfast and gotten them both dressed including changing Becca's nappy which they both thought was a bit of a novelty. It was only 7am!!
Tuesday was shopping day so after packing snack boxes for both of them, we headed off. Both girls were well behaved thank goodness and amused themselves by singing up and down the aisles. Erin, always eagle eyed, pointed out to me all the toys high up above the fridges which I had never noticed before. In the afternoon, I took them both to the aquatics centre because it was quite hot that day (hot for us anyway). On Wednesday, I had booked both the girls into the craft afternoon at Ingham library. There was a large group of kids there of all ages and they all made spring baskets and a kite. Erin naturally got right into it but I didn't know what Becca would do. She surprised me and was happy to colour and collect decorations for sticking while I used the scissors and glue on her behalf.
By Thursday I thought that Erin needed a little 'away' time from Becca so arranged for Steve to take her in the truck with him for the afternoon. We met Steve and the truck in town and I promised Becca a stint at the playground on the way home to prevent any tears when 'sissa' went off in the truck. It worked a treat. Erin got a trip to Tully and an icecream in Cardwell on the way home. She also went out to a cane farm at Abergowrie so came home with Steve that night. On Friday, Erin went to a birthday party. It staggers me how she does it but her first birthday invitation came home in the last week of the term. The party was at MacDonalds at lunchtime so it was great entertainment in the middle of the day. I hardly saw Erin at all and Becca ran around with the big kids but touched base with me from time to time. At one stage she came over to me with a blood nose after running into one of the bigger kids. It was an accident and there were tears for a second but then she was back out there again. I sat with a couple of mums whom I was introduced to and passed the time nicely by chatting and finding out a bit more about Ingham. Thankfully the day was overcast because if the sun had been out it would have been hot and nasty. In the last 10 minutes of the party, I was introduced to the mum of one of Erin's classmates who also happens to be an Erin. In class they are Erin O and Erin V.
After chatting for a while we discovered that we both had in common a recent hospital experience. This mum had a brain haemmorhage 6 months previously and so we compared notes on our treatment, our experiences and our mutual dislike of MRI's. We were still chatting long after the party had broken up and gone home. All in all the first week had gone quite quickly and there weren't too many "I'm bored"s in that time.
Ah.....the queenslander house, that wonderous piece of building history that exists all over Ingham and everywhere else in between. It is a true indicator of a regions potential for flooding and an amazing natural climate control system when living in Queensland's wet tropics. It is a two storey house built on tree stumps with the living quarters most likely to be upstairs and downstairs can be a laundry, storage space or living space which doesn't mind flooding from time to time. The upstairs floors are most likely boards which allow air circulation from underneath when the breezes blow through. Downstairs floors are either concrete, tiles or dirt depending on how modern the house is. Many downstairs areas are closed in with either loover windows or besser blocks with patterned gaps in them to again let the breezes flow through. Some houses have no walls at all downstairs.
Anyway, when one is living in an upstairs house, one has to contend with stairs. Our current little abode has 12 of them, wooden and quite slippery in the wet. Of course when much of what you need to access is downstairs, for example the cars, the washing machine, the washing line, the bins and all our worldly possessions from the van which wouldn't fit upstairs, one needs to use the manual step machine that is the stairs. On those days when I am washing, I tread a steady path up and down our back steps......taking clothes down, bringing dry ones back up and that doesn't take into account the many trips I make empty handed in either direction. I have started to think ahead and work out any future jobs that may require me to go up or down so that I can make return trips count. Naturally there are times when I forget why I came down or forget something when I am half way back up again. I genuinely wonder whether my knock on the head has made me vague which adds to the frustration of knowing that if I forget something, it's back down or up again.
When we were in the van, I only had to worry about 2 steps and believe me, they were a worry with Becca. I was always paranoid that she would miss a step or trip and fall face first onto the concrete annex floor and break something. To her credit, Becca always negotiated those couple of steps well. She is just as sure about these steps too but the possibility of her missing just one out of the 12 worries me somewhat. Our main rule for both the girls is that they hold onto the railing when descending and ascending.
When Steve gets home from work, he stays downstairs sitting on our outdoor setting to have his couple of beers. The car fridge (beer fridge) is downstairs and after a hard day at the office, he is not interested in going up and down stairs is the pursuit of a coldie. I usually sit down there with him for a while and the girls come down and play ball. Once I go up to make dinner, I talk to him out of the kitchen window so there is no real need for him to come upstairs until dinner is ready which decreases his step exercises.
Going out usually requires me to take loads down to the car in a couple of bites rather than negotiate 12 steps with nappy bags, handbags, keys, umbrellas etc etc. Standing on the top step holding the screen door open while locking or unlocking the house usually results in some gruff words especially when the girls stand right behind me waiting. There is open pipework right under the back stairs which I had to ask Steve to cover with wire to avoid the inevidable situation of dropping the keys and watching them disappear down the drain. Erin has learnt when we get home to take the keys, unlock the house and prop the screen door open (with an occy strap of course) while I ferry all the stuff upstairs. Of course, she's usually at school when I shop so carrying 10 or so bags upstairs, of varying weights, makes for great exercise. Having a bung arm makes it harder because most of my shopping bags are too heavy for my left shoulder to carry at the moment which means even more trips up the stairs. At the beginning of the day, my steps are spritely and quick so I trot down the steps or do a controlled glide. By the end of the day it's like hauling a sack of wheat upstairs. I can see myself becoming quite unbalanced physically with a shrivelled, floppy left arm and two legs like Wile E Coyote after taking a dose of acme super running pills. I may ponder the annoyance of these stairs now but in the wet season they will provide an unmatched escape from rising water if that's what becomes of our abode. There is also a certain feeling of security being upstairs and a nice view of our surroundings. In hindsight, it's gotta be better than a rope ladder.
One thing I have noticed here in Ingham is very few people actually wear hats for sun protection. One would think in this day and age with all the skin cancer information that hat wearing would be a no brainer. Whenever I go to school in the afternoon to pick Erin up, I almost always wear a hat and the sun sure has some bite up here. By the time Becca and I walk from our car to the school grounds - which isn't far - you could probably fry an egg on my head. It is an uncomfortable feeling so we wear our hats but we are definitely the odd ones out. I have only seen one other parent wearing a hat when picking their child up from school. In saying that, most sit in their cars and let the kids come to them as I portrayed in a previous blog but those that walk in don't wear hats. Just walking around town, one sees all sorts of people, young and old, men and women not wearing hats.
Steve has realised that his baseball style cap from his Beckers days just doesn't cut it for him up here. He has complained on several occasions about his ears and neck getting burnt especially as he now spends a great deal of time outside. Even though he drives a truck, he spends time in the open pumping liquid fertiliser out of tanks and shovelling granular fertiliser out of trailers. The baseball cap suited him while he was helicopter training because it allowed him to wear his headset and the peak shaded his face, however he decided he needed to go back to the wide brimmed style - a style which he used to wear quite regularly. He did find his old wide brimmer which was oilskin and therefore waterproof but it didn't fit him anymore so either the hat had shrunk or his head had expanded.
Last Saturday morning we decided to hunt down the perfect hat for him to wear. It had to be stylish or at least not make him look like a dork and be wide brimmed. Simple prerequisites for a man. Firstly we went to Sportspower/Complete Angler where we saw plenty of hats but most had advertising logos on them which didn't impress Steve. He had told me that some of the guys at his work wear straw hats which makes them look like Colombian druglords (not that Steve would know what one actually looks like - it must be the Hollywood version). Many of the hats at this store were straw hats which must mean that boaties and fishies wear them a lot. At least somebody is wearing hats.
We returned to the car, with a slight detour to a Brumbys' bakery, which was just across the carpark from where the car was. While deciding on which tasty morsel to indulge in, Steve went next door to an agricultural supplier to try his luck and find a hat. Unfortunately the store had just sold out to a contractor for lollypop men/women at roadwork sites. The gentleman behind the counter was wearing the sort of hat which took Steve's fancy and so he recommended that we go to Damo's workwear across the road. If you need to stand out, Damos will have it. They have displays of 'hi-vis' clothing on their verandah and obviously everything else workwise. We girls sat in the car while Steve popped in to have a look. It was a pretty warm day so he left the car running with the aircon on and the girls scoffed their cupcakes in the back. Note to self......next time I buy cupcakes for Erin and Becca......buy one only. Erin ate the cupcake and left the icing and Becca ate the icing and left the cupcake. They could easily share and everyone would get what they wanted.
Anyway after an extraordinarily long time (even for me and I'm a shocking procrastinator), Steve emerged with....you guessed it....nothing! I was sure that the amount of time he was in there would result in him finding a hat.....but no. He left us where we were and went next door to Mitre 10 which he had been saying from the beginning would be the place to find a hat. After a much shorter time, he returned and went back into Damos'. By this time it was 11.55am and Damos' was ready to shut up shop for the weekend. Again, Steve was in there for ages and finally emerged with a hat. A wide brimmed hat with a mesh crown so his head gets ventilation and his ears and neck get shade. Yaay!.....and it still looks a bit akubra-ish. Anyway, Steve doesn't look like a dork in it and it does the job sun wise but there certainly was a lot of tooing and froing associated with this purchase.
You might think that there are endless options for swimming in NQ but there are things to consider when contemplating a cool off up here.
The options for 'cooling off' in our local region are something that Steve and I thought that we should look into so we did some reconnaissance over the weekend. It's not quite as simple as grabbing your towel and your swimmers and just heading to the beach like it is down south although we southerners are quite happy to do that at the moment. The locals, however, believe that it is too cold to be partaking in the recreation of swimming at this time of year. That is a personal decision, one which I am happy to disagree with. When I wake up in the morning and have beads of sweat building on my nose within an hour and have those beads of sweat all day until the sun goes down, I need to find respite in the form of water.
We had the opportunity to visit Steve's bosses house a couple of weeks ago and he lives on the beachfront at Forrest Beach, Ingham's coastal spot. Our girls and his two sons all went swimming and had a ball. No stingers at this time of year and the water was 'Goldilocks' temperature - not too cold, not too warm but just right. The sand is course and the water isn't that crystal blue you see in the island brochures but it was great for swimming.
Of course when stinger season does kick in around November, one can either don a stinger suit and swim in the sea or in a stinger netted beach area, or find other water sources to enjoy. A stinger suit looks like a thin wet suit which covers your entire body except for your face, fingers and toes. Everything else is protected and given the humidity is fairly high during these times, I can only imagine how uncomfortable these suits could be but then definitely less uncomfortable than a box jellyfish sting.
I had been told about several freshwater swimming spots and Steve had also been told about places to swim so we headed north towards Tully to investigate these spots for future use and appropriateness for small children. Our first port of call was Five Mile Swimming Hole which is just south of Cardwell. We didn't have to drive far down the gravel road which opened up into a large parking area with sectioned off picnic facilities and toilet block. We walked down the path to a large, deep swimming hole with a concrete platform and ramp with handrails and step ladder. It was fantastic for the young tourists that were using it at the time but totally unsuitable for children and non swimmers. That meant everyone in our family except for me couldn't use the waterhole although with my gammy shoulder, I might have drowned as well. Further down the creek it became shallow so we went back up the path and along the creek to see if we could find another access point which we did. Steps lead down into a dry pebbly creekbed but on the other side under some shady trees was a beautiful flowing creek with shallow pools. Perfect,...... however walking across boulders with armfuls of gear and Becca who isn't good at balancing was a challenge. We stayed for about an hour and the girls had a ball building a dam and skimming/throwing rocks into the stream. The "Achtung" signs were nowhere to be seen so the croc threat wasn't an issue here either. A tick of approval for that place although it wasn't very busy so that may change when every man and his dog is visiting in the wet.........'the wet'......mmmm. It is likely that in the wet, this creek may turn into a torrent and therefore not be swimming material anyway so we may have to visit again without preconceived ideas.
Our next stop was Murray Falls which is just south of Tully. The drive out to these falls was somewhat further but the scenery was nice. We had to go around the back of the ranges which were east of us so drove through cane farming regions and an aboriginal community called Jumbun. The ranges themselves were devastated by Cyclone Yasi and were almost completely defoliated. What was once dense rainforest were now bald slopes or bald trees standing like autumn leaf fall. Once in the national park, it was only a short drive to some very good facilities for day use and camping. We drove through the campground which was fantastic and spacious with a shower (cold), toilets and water taps everywhere. Caravans, camper trailers and tents were all represented here. The walk to the falls along a boardwalk was beautiful with overhanging rainforest on one side and rock pools on the other. The falls themselves were magnificent. Steve and I wondered what it would be like here in the wet season as there were several smaller falls that weren't running but all had very deep pools at the bottom of them. Large granite boulders the size of cars or bigger were scattered throughout the falls area and there was no swimming allowed for obvious reasons and the cross on one boulder showed that not everyone took that advice. On our way back to the carpark, I saw a Ulysses butterfly with it's iridescent blue wings.
We then went back to the day use area where swimming was permitted and found an area of fairly fast flowing water over granite boulders. There were lots of pools which were quite deep (for a child) and the rocks were slippery. One slip and the kids could have been washed down stream so although it was a lovely spot, it wasn't ideal for the girls to play in. On our drive into the falls, we saw a section of river through which a road crossed which had sandy banks and had people swimming in it. We decided to head back towards that river crossing to see if that would be suitable for the girls. When we got there and parked the car, we walked down and there was a slight flow in the river and lots of shallow, sandy swimming holes for the girls to enjoy. Steve and I perched under a shady tree on a beachy spit and the girls, again had a fantastic time. Of course the wet season would definitely change the shape of this river as there were fallen trees and debris everywhere so again, one would have to assess the spot whenever one visited. Steve went for a wander and said that there were uprooted trees in the forest bordering the river probably as a result of Yasi again.
We have yet to explore Broadwater Conservation Park which is just north of Ingham and several waterfall parks south of Ingham as well. We just wanted to see what freshwater options were available to us around Ingham during stinger season and whether they were 'croc habitats' or not. We have had several people say that one shouldn't assume that there are no crocs because their numbers are so great nowadays that they are inhabiting areas where they have never been seen before. Anyway local advice and knowledge from season to season seems to be the key. Not that some locals are overly fussed about crocs as was demonstrated to us on one occasion when we saw some young guys (with a death wish) fishing waist deep in a billabong just south of town. This billabong, called Cattle Creek, runs through what was the largest Braeman cattle station in Australia but is now partially under sugar cane cultivation. It is also renowned for crocs and has the 'Achtung' sign very visible by the roadside.
Of course if one can't be bothered driving far to a swimming place, one can always use the Hinchinbrook Aquatics Centre in Ingham. The facilities are almost brand new with a 25 metre pool at 1.25 metres deep or the 50 metre pool which has a shallow and deep end. There is also a toddlers/babies wading pool complete with cute crocodile and spouting mushroom. The cost is negligable - the girls and I entered for $8 the other day - and there are bbq facilities as well as shade sails over most of the pool areas. The 25 metre pool is also heated.....not to bath like conditions but pleasantly cool without going into cold shock when first entering the water. I've said good morning to several people leaving the swim centre while taking Erin to school (Ingham SS is directly across the road from the aquatic centre). Many are patrons of the early morning swim and had told me that one of the pools was heated (the pool opens at 5.45am and closes at 10am then reopens at 3pm until 6pm). Of course school holiday times are different and better suited to families.
Then when times are desperate there is always the bucket of water or the sprinkler to keep the kiddies amused. Just give Becca a bucket of water and she's happy for ages. I frequently find her in the bathroom, up on her stool, with the vanity sink filled with water and hand wash to make bubbles. Up until I caught her in the act, I was wondering why my handwash was disappearing so quickly. Anyway, it seems there are plenty of options for swimming in NQ when the dreaded stingers take over the ocean although we will still have to be alert for mud geckos (crocodiles) and check whether some swimming areas will even be accessible during the wet season. All part of life up here I suppose.
I don't remember a lot about our accident which, as I said in my last blog, is probably a good thing. We had lunch in a parking bay half way between Rockampton and Mackay. There were lots of caravans parked and mains roads workers were building new facilities for the parking bay. A new toilet block was in its final stages of construction so everyone was using a transportable toilet block. We found a nice spot which is difficult when you are 40 odd foot long and you arrive late for lunch. I think I mentioned before that the grey nomads converge anywhere from 10am onwards so if you're late getting into a parking bay, parking is a premium. There was grass and a concrete table setting with shady roof. We probably stuffed around for about an hour there, me making lunch and Steve organising the girls and the cats for a much needed leg stretch in the grass. Karki spent nearly her entire stop in the van while Pirie was constantly tangling herself around the permapine bollards. The girls just ran around.
Once we left, I remember taking photos of the cane fields and cane trains travelling along the highway. I had made a batch of brownies the night before to snack on while we were driving along and Erin couldn't get enough so I was rationing them so that they would last all day. I remember Sarina, our last populated town before the accident. All I can remember about the accident itself is the bang which made the Nissan drop, Steve steering us out of the oncoming lane to try to correct our direction and then hanging onto the 'jesus bar' in front of me and watching us dive over the edge of the road. I didn't say anything, scream or make any sound and to be honest, I wasn't panicked at all and I don't know why. I just hung on. In fact I don't remember anybody making a sound, not even the girls. It may go some way towards explaining why people say that a split second seems like forever.
I didn't have any memory after that although I have some recollection of voices around me which must have been the ambulance officers and the emergency services people talking to Steve. When I finally opened my eyes, the Nissan was on its side with Steve against the ground and I was suspended in my seatbelt above him. He says we were cut out of the wreck by emergency services but I don't recall any noises of cutting or crumpling of metal as they did that. I do remember the ambulance officers trying to slide a spinal board under me while I was hanging in the seatbelt. Once they had it in position and there were several hands on deck by then, they cut my seatbelt and gently lowered me onto the board. I remember them pulling me out of the Nissan and being put in the ambulance but I don't remember the walk to the ambulance.
In hindsight, I feel like a really bad mother because at no time did I wonder about the girls or where they were or if they were ok. It was almost as if I was given an amnesiac drug which stopped me from worrying about those things. Steve assures me that the morphine was administered pretty quickly and that was why I have no solid memories or worries at the time. Still doesn't change the fact that I didn't ask about our girls which makes me feel really bad.
Our ride in the ambulance was uneventful although I remember us stopping at some stage and Steve has since told me that they had to stop to put an intravenous feed into his hand because they couldn't do it while we were moving. I can't recall any sirens either but then there is probably no point when you are travelling on a major highway and can do 100kph. Again, when we arrived at the hospital, everything was vague. The only thing I do remember is them asking my permission to cut my clothes off me which at the time I didn't care. However I was quite miffed when I later remembered that I was wearing my favourite bra, nice undies and one of my favourite tops and cargo pants, all of which are now rags. Now I know why mothers say always wear clean undies in case you get hit by a bus.
Steve has spent the last two days driving between Townsville and Ingham with loads of fertiliser for his employer to manufacture a liquid brew for the cane farmers in the region. This afternoon he was turned around by his boss near a place called Rollingstone which is about 30 kilometres south of Ingham due to another serious traffic accident on the Bruce Highway. We have been here for about 7 weeks now and there have been 4 major vehicle accidents between Ingham and Townsville with unfortunate fatalities. It astonishes me how people can be killed so often on one stretch of road but the highway is closed regularly because of it. On either side of the town are huge electronic signs showing whether the Bruce Highway is closed or open in both the north and south direction. I presume these signs are more useful in the wet season when flooding and cyclones cause road closures but they are used with regularity during the dry season for traffic accidents.
We have driven to Townsville in our car and see first hand the risks and idiot behaviour which 99% of the time gets drivers to their destination but for that 1%, there is no going back. It is a combination of factors which lead to this road being so dangerous and Steve experiences it first hand in the truck as well.
We live in Far North Queensland which is a mega tourist destination for grey nomads, backpackers and anyone else who wants to escape the cold of the south. As a result, the amount of caravanners on the road is incredible. A small proportion of these travellers have experience dealing with heavy vehicles and other road users of which there are many up here. After all, the Bruce Highway is the main thoroughfare between Brisbane and Cairns for tourists and freight. Unfortunately, a great many caravanners have no awareness outside the cockpit of their own vehicle. Their speed is inconsistent which is a constant source of frustration for truck drivers and people doing business between Townsville and Ingham. Steve has relayed stories of caravanners doing 80kph along the single lane sections and then speeding up to 100kph at an overtaking lane and so making it almost impossible for a heavy vehicle to overtake.
This region also has many trucks working from depots and farming properties. Naturally many of these land owners either don't have the money or don't wish to spend the money on updated equipment. As a consequence, many local trucks on the highway are not efficient or quick because they are 'old technology'. Steve has had to drive some fairly old machinery which can do little more than 80kph. In both circumstances, it is the speed issue which frustrates people and makes them do silly things. It seems that when it comes to driving, a human beings' lack of patience tends to cause accidents.
Lack of judgement seems to be another factor. We, as a family, have seen countless incidences whereby someone doesn't overtake when there is plenty of room and it is safe to do so and instead tries to overtake when it is not safe. People's uncertainty or lack of confidence in their decision leads to risk taking. This same judgement is essential when overtaking vehicles on the single lane sections of the highway. At least two of the four accidents in recent weeks have occurred because a driver misjudged the distance between themselves and oncoming traffic in an overtaking manouevre which has lead to people leaving the road to avoid colllision.
Unfortunately trucks have been involved in a couple of these road accidents and in these cases they were unfairly targeted. I know of one case where the truck driver was the poor bugger doing the right thing and got caught up in the cars' misfortune. Interstate drivers are heavily policed today with log book regulations and hourly limitations for driving. Department of Transport rangers are constantly patrolling the Bruce Highway between Townsville and Ingham performing checks on heavy vehicles. Steve says they (truck drivers) are a cranky bunch of buggers but then he understands why when they have to deal with tourists and poor road conditions.
The Bruce Highway, as we have experienced already, would have to be one of the worst maintained roads in Australia considering the level of traffic that it supports. Lack of overtaking lanes, overtaking lanes in the wrong places, poor camber or road slopes, narrow sections and shoulders, rough, patchy or non existent bitumen (potholes) make this highway a fatigue hotspot. It certainly isn't a road you can relax on and drive in comfort. One is constantly chasing their vehicle so as not to end up in the oncoming lane.
I feel the same way that I did when we settled at Mapleton and I was nervous about driving down the winding road to Nambour. That trip, however, was only ten minutes and experienced no accidents while we were there. This stretch of road between Townsville and Ingham is far longer and busier and, as we have seen already, not an entirely safe road to travel on. In saying that, it is probably safe considering the traffic which uses it compared to the accidents which occur. As newcomers to the region, it just seems more dangerous. I find myself watching oncoming traffic with trepidation. I don't think it has anything to do with our accident simply because I don't remember anything which is probably a good thing, so I am not overly nervous about being a passenger in the car. That sense of not being able to control others around you is, however, a reason for me to stay in Ingham for the time being unless we all drive to Townsville as a family. Perhaps in time my confidence will improve especially when my shoulder allows me to drive more freely. Until then, I am quite happy for Steve to do the driving when going to Townsville.
After a while, we all decided to head back to Lucinda where some food and drink stalls were set up and we could have something to eat. Naturally, at the last minute, Becca had to 'come a cropper' on the slippery edge of the pool and fell backwards cracking her head on the concrete. This expediated our departure as she needed consoling and we wanted to get she and Erin out of their wet swimmers. Again, Becca's resilience showed through and after a short time, she had calmed down although we kept a close eye on her after that for fear of concussion.
Another night of itching and discomfort followed. On the holiday Monday we drove south of Ingham to Jourama Falls for a look. These falls are only about 30 kilometres away so we had a casual morning and headed out after lunch. I made sure that both myself and the girls were lathered in sunscreen because it was quite a warm day and I didn't want sunburn on top of bites. The national park was, again, at the back of the ranges and was drier than other areas but the creek had lush vegetation. We parked the car and walked the 1.8 kilometres return to the falls lookout. On the way we detoured down to the creek which ran over large granite boulders. There were plenty of rockpools where people were taking a dip but it was quite slippery and steep for the girls and us to navigate. After finding a safe spot to dip our toes in for a while, we continued up to the lookout. The track was in good nick but wound it's way around the contour of the hill. Becca insisted on being miss independent which stressed Steve and I out as the drop off from the track was fairly steep. It was hot and when we got to the lookout, it was reasonably secure but we had to watch Becca again as there was a gap along the side of the railings. On the way both up and back from the lookout, we saw numerous lizards and butterflies of different colours. The lizards, in particular, stayed still for long enough for the girls to see them. We had promised the girls a swim while at the falls but not knowing what the terrain was like meant we probably shouldn't have. As I said earlier, the rockpools were too slippery and quite deep for the girls to use and when we got back to the carpark, we drove back through the park to a picnic area we had seen on the way in. When I got out to investigate, the creek was deep and black with a ladder up from the steep bank for people to climb out. I apologised to Erin in particular and said there was nowhere suitable for them both to swim. As a compromise, we promised them both an icecream when we got back to town. Erin was happy with that as she was fairly exhausted from the walk. It was a tiring walk because it was quite hot and I realised afterwards that it was the first descent walk we had done as a family since Mapleton so it had been a while between bushwalks. Anyway our family long weekend had come to an end and it was back to work for Steve and back to school holidaying for us girls. 
