How it should be

We didn't sleep too well as we had parked on a fairly main road. If we'd have parked 2 spaces further forward we'd have woken up to find ourselves in the market! As it was we were woken up at about 6am with lots of banging as they set up the stalls. We gave up trying to sleep so had breakfast and went to the beach. I went for a swim while Dan made a 3d sand sculpture of a crocodile. He wrote a message saying please feed me tourists. The sea was really clear and calm.

We didn't stay too long as we wanted to get to a town to buy a few bits and pieces. We tried Tully first of all but the town was dead. We found a supermarket and bought some fuses for the inverter. Dan was really happy as it came with some testing thing too. A new toy to keep him occupied. He's used it to test practically the whole van. And he calls me a geek!!!! We saw the big gum boot statue in Tully which is because it is the wettest place. That's why Dan is calling me a geek as I have been reading the guide books and leaflets so I keep reeling off random facts about places.

We stopped at Cardwell to fill up and drove onto Ingham. We stopped for lunch. The town is dead at weekends so we could park in the town centre and I got my chair out and sat outside the van. We were all ready to go but Pepina had other ideas. She took a little while to start but with a little TLC Dan got her started. I dread it each time we stop that we wont get started again. We drove onto Townsville and we realised that when we thought we were in the middle of no where yesterday we weren't really compared to the long roads we drove along today.

We found a target store and went to try and find a solar panel but they didn't have any. We set off to try and find the city. The advantage of arriving on Sunday is that the traffic is quiet but the disadvantage is everywhere is shut. We couldn't find anywhere to park up so we chose the nearest campsite on the sat nav and it took us back to where the target shopping centre was. We paid $27.50 for a site with power so we could charge everything up properly including Pepina!

Dan fixed the electrics while I went shopping. It was a 5 minute stroll to the supermarket so I bought food for dinner and a treat for breakfast. I got back and we went for a dip in the pool. It was refreshing, just what we needed. We walked back to the van via the kitchen area and made friends with some people there. They were watching the footy. St Kilda beats Collingwood so Jackie and Auntie Lina wont be happy. Most of the people here have stayed here a while. One guy met Robbie Fowler last night in a bar and got his autograph. They were very friendly and we swapped stories about our travels.

I had a shower and did some washing while Dan cooked dinner in the kitchen area. We had meatballs and pasta in a tomato sauce. It was delicous as Dan's cooking usual is. We chatted for a little while and then came back to the van. I think if we hadn't had electricity we'd have stayed longer but we wanted to make the most of it. We can actually have music playing and lights on. Small things make such a difference. We're right next to a train track so every hour the train comes through so I'm not sure how well we'll sleep tonight but I'm sure it'll be better than last night.

I've really enjoyed today and I'm hoping things will get better from now on but who knows how Pepina is going to behave. We keep talking to her and telling her we love her so she will keep going. I just want to get to Airlie beach tomorrow as I have said for a long time I would like to spend my birthday on Whitehaven beach in the Whitsundays. So whatever positive thoughts you've all been doing can you please carry on with it :-)