Inkerman Hill, Queensland.

Inkerman Hill, a 10 minute drive south of the township of Home Hill, provides an excellent vantage point to take in the surrounding countryside. With an elevation of around 215 metres above sea level at the summit, local farms, the township of Home Hill, and some waterways around the Groper Creek area and Cape Upstart are visible.

We sat here for quite awhile taking in the view.

The view of some of the sugarcane fields.

Below one can see the Coral Sea.

Still a long way from home in winter 2016

The smoke and burn.

On our travels in the Ayr area in Queensland had to stop and take photo of this Australian Scene.
This taken with my phone camera.

Whilst in Ayr many cane farmers were burning their sugar cane.  Burning it leaves less rubbish and gets rid of the unwanted debris, it allows the next crop to be sewn quicker instead of waiting for the sugar companies removal.
Burning of cane has it's rules, don't burn between 10am and 2pm.  Neighbours are to be informed of the pending burn, they are just a couple of rules.

Each morning there was fine black ash covered our vehicle which we left there, if a little breeze it all came off with no harm to the paintwork, going for a drive it came off.  Amazing as Mr. B was concerned about the paintwork.

We set out one evening to see if we could find cane burning, plenty of smoke in the sky, many roads to travel but never found the cane burning but took these photos

Plantation Park, Ayr

On Tuesday Cyclone Debbie is expected to hit Townsville!  Hope everyone will be safe.

On the way up to Cairns we stayed in Ayr as we did on the way back down the East Coast of Australia, Winter 2016.
There was a gorgeous diamond ring in a jewelers shop in Ayr rather pricey but it was simplistic and took a lot of will power by me not to buy it.

Link to previous post about Ayr and photos and Another link 

Went for a drive whilst staying in Ayr, Queensland and on a corner is this lovely park called
Plantation Park is of a great significance to the Juru people who wandered this district for thousands of years before European settlement - children were born on the banks of the creek, Elders were buried here and ceremonies held.

Gubulla Mundo (Carpet Snake) is the Aboriginal Totem and the protective Spirit for the Biri Gubba people.  It's construction on this site is for the honoring of this sacred burial site where many Aboriginals ancestors are buried.

The Carpet Snake at the park. 

Across to the left of the photo is a big parking area.

More Buildings-Streets in Townsville, Queensland.

On a Sunday when in Townsville we walked a few streets in Townsville in Winter 2016.
The below house looks over the sea, can't imagine living in it.

The main street in the city - remembering it was Sunday

Castle Hill, Townsville

Castle Hill is 286 meter (938 ft) above sea level in Townsville, Queensland, great view and good for walking if you are inclined.
The first photo is taken from the carpark, the remainder is the view.

A peaceful place.

Down near The Strand in Townsville is the Marina then behind me is a large lawn area where the Cenotaph is.  'Tis a beautiful area.

There were children playing here with the boys climbing up these old trees.

Buildings in Townsville, Queenland

Went window shopping in several areas of Townsville, Queensland and what a surprise when we came across a picture to hang on your wall of home :) Just had to take a photo!

A shopping complex which wasn't that large compared to others we had seen.  Just two stories so we parked on the roof.

In the city a few buildings.

Along the Strand, Townsville

From Lucinda we travelled to Townsville, Queensland and decided to stay for 7 nights in the caravan park we stayed in on the way to Cairns on our holiday in 2016 in the winter.

We liked Townsville however it's rather spread out, there might be one shop you wish to look at but it's about 20km one way, and another about 20km in the opposite direction.  The streets are not necessarily set in squares either.

Census night was whilst we were in Townsville, the caravan park owners had the forms which we filled in and returned the next day - no trouble for us.

The Strand is really a lovely place to walk along and see by the sea.  One can swim at a couple of beaches that are patrolled by life savers even in winter.  There are 'nets' to help keep out the unwanted sea creatures.

A view of Magnetic Island from The Strand, the island is 8 klm offshore from the city of Townsville and has just over 2,000 permanent residents.
The name came about because of the apparent ''magnetic' effect it had on the ship's compass of Captain Cook as he passed the island when sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770.
All has been investigated since, nothing was found to cause this magnetic effect.

A good hill with a view on top - photos in a future post.

Cemetery at Ingham, Queensland.

From Lucinda we drove to Ingham for the day.
A church and a few graves on the way to Ingham.
Ingham had a lot of Italian people living there and now of course their children.  Some of the graves are really beautiful.
The Cemetery depicts the area's strong Mediterranean influences with a magnificent display of tile mausoleums.
In the Catholic section the older style mausoleums are constructed from white stucco and marble, the traditional materials, and contain Gothic style windows and doors.  More recent ones are flat-roofed with parapet surrounds and finished with terrazzo and tiles.

Transporting of Sugarcane, Queensland

Many of the sugarcane farms have train lines so the small trains which are usually ever so long can travel to collect the cut cane to take to the mill.
We saw many mills on our travels but this one was the closest to take a photo of.
Some areas burn sugarcane and some don't burn it.

Here comes the small sugarcane train going to the mill.

The sugarcane train goes forever it seems.

Cut cane

Sugar growing near the graveyard at Ingham, Queensland.