Cairns to Townsville ...

We didn't see cane trucks on the road but saw plenty of cane activity as we drove along.  There was lots of lush countryside. And so many bananas!

We had a later picnic lunch at Vincent 'Bushy' Parker Park, near Rollingstone. It was a lovely spot, with quite a few people enjoying the free camping.

Vincent “Bushy” Parker was a local lad who became a spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain; was later captured by the Germans.  He attained renown for his role in British escape attempts from Colditz Prison. 

Bushy had trained to be a professional magician at one stage and those skills aided his lock-picking efforts - enabling him to raid the prison store-room where Red Cross parcels were held.  They yielded materials he used to build a glider, as a means of escape!

We chose a van park on the Northern side of Townsville, closer to the boarding kennel where Bandit would be staying over the weekend.

Highlight of our stay were the bush stone-curlew family, that greeted us on arrival and often sat behind our site. Lovely!