Rolling Stone–13 to 17 September 2011

Rolling Stone is a new caravan Park about 40 kilometers north of Townsville. It has a great location right on the beach.  At high tide one feels like one is on a boat.

We spent a day in Townsville getting the CV Boots replaced on our car.  While we were waiting we toured the CBD.

There was strong competition to become a Capital here with the contenders being Cooktown, Cairns and Townsville. Townsville is now the Capital of North Queensland.

The Railway helped it to become preeminent and provide service to the inland towns. Once it was possible to freeze meat and transport it safely, it was possible to ship frozen beef overseas. This enabled the opening of the hinterland.

Townsville was a major staging Post during WW2 and many soldiers passed through here. The Railway Station was extremely busy. Sea was considered unsafe so everything went by rail. The fleets fighting in the Pacific and the Coral Sea sheltered in Cleveland Bay while they were awaiting engagement with the Japanese Fleet.

In the words of our guide, they walloped the Japanese Fleet in the Battle of the Coral Sea.

We spent a day on Magnetic Island. Magnetic Island is so named because Captain Cook thought it interfered with his compasses. However extensive research failed to prove this.
It is funny though how one slows down and moves immediately onto Island time so maybe that is what happened to Cook. We did an interesting tour to see around the Island which is at present a quiet and pleasant holiday back water with appealing Restaurants. Magnetic Island was a defensive location during WW2 as it overlooked Cleveland Bay.

There are gun emplacements now minus the guns, built to protect the American Fleet.

These are the first forts not protecting us against the Russians. Later as the War moved North the 'Resort' such as it was, was commandeered by the Americans for Rest and Recreation. The Americans were responsible for the roads which replaced the footpaths and travel by boat.

The ferry trip to and fro is an enjoyable journey with the evening trip right on sunset.