V8 Supercar Weekend

Well we can now cross a weekend at the V8's off our bucket list.  We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Townsville 400 and saw everything from V8 Supercars and utes, to Porches and Lotus' as well as classic cars in the Driver's Parade.  Friday was practice so we spent the day exploring Pit Lane and the track and finding the best position to watch the racing from for the next two days.  The kids had a ball and Haydan really loved it when the V8's would backfire on the corner near where we sat.  Haydan and Glen also liked getting their photos taken with all the girls in Pit Lane!!!!  On Saturday morning the kids were keen to see the cars again so we were there bright and early to see all the action.  We found a few more highlights such as free fairy floss in Pit Lane and Mack the Truck from Cars.  Haydan even got to ride a bike around in the Disney Cars display area.  Glen found the King Gee Pit Stop where you got timed to change a tyre like you were in Pit Lane.  His first attempt was just over 26 seconds to change 2 tyres, but he and his mate Jason got a little carried away and had a 'few' attempts over the 2 days.  By the end of the second day Glen had his time down to 12.45 seconds to change the 2 tyres, which was the second best time for the Sunday!!!  The kids also had a great time in the Family Fun Zone where there were games and show rides and giveaways and it was all for free!!!!  Emmalisa I'm afraid is a true rev head.  She LOVED the motor bikes and utes that came out in between races to do burnouts and play cat and mouse.  She would laugh her head off at it and clap and cheer every time she saw them.  The other thing she liked was the safety car and would make the siren noise every time it came out too.  However the main events of the weekend were the two 200km or 72 lap races.  Saturday ended on a high note with Holden's Garth Tander taking home the win in the first 200km race.  But things got even better on Sunday when Holden's Jamie Wincup won the second 200km race.  So that was 2 from 2 for Holden.  Yay!!!!  Glen was very excited and it was a great way to top off an awesome weekend at the V8's.   

Car Trucks in Pit Lane - Go Holden!!!

Some of the girls the boys met in Pit Lane

The Burnout Utes that Emmalisa loved

Glen, Haydan and Emmalisa at the track

Emmalisa on the Bouncy Castle

The Tyre Change Leader Board - Glen in Second Place!!!

Glen and Emmalisa were happy with the results - Go Holden

On the Road to Townsville

After leaving Cairns our first stop was Paronella Park.  This is a castle that was built in the 1930's by Jose` Paronella.  His dream was always to build a castle and that is what he and his wife did.  He even built his own hydro power station from the waterfall that was on his land to power the castle.  His vision, drive and determination was incredible.  Paronella Park opened to the public in 1935 and was the social place to be with a Ballroom for dances, Movie Theatre, Tennis Courts and Swimming Holes not to mention the gardens that in one year he planted around 7500 plants!!!!  Sadly he died in the late 40's and then his wife and son took over. Jose`'s wife died in the 60's and then his son died in the 70's it stayed in the family for a few more years but then the park was sold out of the family in 1977.  In 1979 a fire destroyed most of the Ballroom and the owners then abandoned the property.  A few cyclones came through which further damaged the property and it just deteriorated to a crumbling castle.  In 1993 the current owners bought the property and now have the park open to the public once again.  The castle will never be able to be rebuilt but they are maintaining what is left and bringing the gardens back to something like what Jose` had dreamed of.  This was a fantastic tour and the stories that are told during the day and night tours are just so incredible.  If you ever visit Far North Queensland it is worth a look.  We really enjoyed our day and night here and is a place that we will definitely come back to.  Once leaving here we did some bushing camping at Toomulla Beach where the kids had a great time playing at the beach and just running around in the dirt again.  We then spent a couple of days with friends at Blue Water before heading into Townsville to watch the V8 Supercars arrive in the truck parade.  It was all very exciting and Haydan loved seeing Mack from the Cars movie.  Then next day we went to look at the V8 utes and classic cars at the car show and by then Haydan was soooooooooooooooooooo excited about the Townsville 400!!!!  V8's here we come.  GO HOLDEN!!!!! 

A Castle a Paronella Park

Emmalisa at the waterfall that powers the Hydro Station

Glen and Emmalisa at Isabella Falls - Paronella Park

Glen and Haydan with a Peter Brock replica car

Haydan was impressed with the V8 utes

Mossman, Daintree and Cairns

After leaving Cooktown we headed to Mossman.  This is where we based ourselves to explore the Daintree.  The first part of the Daintree we explored was the Mossman Gorge section.  This was so beautiful and definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far.  There were waterfalls, swimming holes, rainforest walks and boardwalks that took you through the rainforest.  The part Haydan liked most of all was the swinging bridge and yes Glen made sure it was swinging as we walked across it.  The second section of the Daintree is from Daintree to Cape Tribulation.  It was a very exciting ride for the kids as we sat in the car on the ferry and went across the Daintree River.  We completed the 4 walks through the rainforest and mangroves and were amazed to see where the rainforest meets the sea.  The kids enjoyed a play on the beach at Cape Tribulation after we ended up having our picnic in the car due to a sudden shower.  While on this exploration we certainly got all four seasons in one day.  As you drove you went from fog and mist to find around the bend in the road bright sunshine.  It was amazing.  While in Mossman we also went to Port Douglas to check out the markets and still no doughnuts!!!!!  We had a look around but it is very much a resort town full of resorts, coffee shops and restaurants.  Haydan was also pleased to find the best park yet in Mossman he had a great time on all the equipment.  From Mossman we headed to Cairns and here we encountered our first stint of wet weather. So for four days we just went out in between showers to try and see some sights and sat in the caravan to watch TV and realised how small 16ft is.  However ABC 4 Kids was a lifesaver!!!!  We walked the Esplanade and found the Endeavour (Captain Cook's replica ship) which is on its Australia Tour. It was great to see after just being in Cooktown.  The next day we went to a park that even beat Mossman.  We had hoped in the weather the kids would want to play on the swings and slides, but no, they ended up in the water park in jocks and nappy having a great time.  Emmalisa was an ice block but she would not get out of the water until I wrapped her up in a towel and she conceded defeat and thought that her dry clothes was a much better option.  Finally on our last day we got some good weather and we went on the Skyrail and Kuranda Scenic Railway.  It was a FANTASTIC tour.  We caught the Skyrail to Kuranda where you got off at 2 different stops to do a rainforest tour and go to an interactive rainforest centre.  Where the kids loved playing on the computers.  We then walked around Kuranda.  This town has markets 7 days a week and is literally market stall after market stall (although most you would really call shops)  However the Heritage Markets and Traditional Markets are still like the good old days.  We then caught the train back down to Freshwater Station.  This is a Heritage Listed train line that was built basically by hand 120 years ago.  It has 15 tunnels (dug by shovels, picks and dynamite) and 55 bridges.  It was just hard to imagine what they went through to build the train line. The scenery was just breath taking too as it drove around Barron Falls and Gorge and over looked Cairns in the background.  That wrapped up our stay in Cairns.  We start heading to Townsville now ready to see the V8's!!! 

Glen and Emmalisa at Mossman Gorge

Playing at the beach at Cape Tribulation

Where the rainforest meets the sea - Cape Tribulation

Haydan on Skyrail Gondola

"All Aboard!" Ready for the train ride.

Barron Falls

1 of 55 Bridge Crossings