Leaving Townsville this morning, we passed the Australian Guitar Making School, which if you had asked me, I would have said it would be in one of the larger cities. The highway north of the city had an orange warning ‘caution’sign for the stretch up to Ingham. The only thing we could see that might have accounted for this was a little bit of smoke coming from the burnt bush on either side of the road. Many of the creeks we passed over were dry at this time of year and it does not take much to start a fire.
Tyto Wetlands are right on A1 on the south side of Ingham and a little oasis from the road. It is a 110 hectare area of lagoons which are home to 240 species of birds and wallabies. Walking tracks go around the area and there is a hide. You can go alone or on a guided tour. There is also an information centre which is very helpful not just on local things but the whole of Queensland. It was very quiet when we arrived, so we explored on our own and saw a few birds:
and one wallaby.
Afterwards we continued into the centre of Ingham for coffee. One of the town’s claims to fame is that the Lees Hotel was the place the poem by canecutter Dan Sheahan which inspired Slim Dusty’s 1957 hit ‘The Pub with No Beer’ was written. American soldiers in the town had drunk the place dry. Needless to say, it is no longer dry.
After Ingham which is inland, A1 swings back down to the coast to Cardwell on the Cassowary Coast. Before we got that far, we stopped at Hinchinbrook lookout. This gap in the Cardwell Range not only allows the road and railway to pass but also the power supply to Cardwell and provides good views.
We found our beachfront motel and settled in before having a walk along the promenade. There was a guy metal detecting, various dog walkers and the odd cyclist. Several homes along the sea front were for sale. Cardwell was significantly damaged by the Cyclone Yasi, a category 5 cyclone, in February 2011 and most homes had to be re-roofed and the pier re-built. You cannot go into the sea near the motel as there are crocodiles here, so far, we have not seen one.
