queen of the hill

I'm baaaaaaack!

I have nothing particularly dramatic to tell about my trip. Most of the time it was just Mum and daughter time. We went out and saw her favourite haunts, met a few of her friends, took a look at her barracks, did some shopping, that sort of thing. Not exciting, just happy.

The one big thing we did do was conquer a place called Castle Hill. Well, maybe not conquer, but I made it to the top.

This is Castle Hill.

It is only a few Ks from the CBD of Townsville, a huge great lump of rock sticking out next to the mudflats. It is something of a local tradition to climb to the peak and hundreds of walkers tackle it every day. As a result, the local council has spent a lot of time and effort making the paths safe(ish) and stopping them from destroying the flora of the area. They have done an exceptional job (under very difficult circumstances).

The main track up the hill is two and a half kilometers long, spiralling its way through the less precipitous tracts. As the track rises 286m over its length, it is has quite a gradient, so they made it all with steps. Hundreds and hundreds (and bloody hundreds) of steps.

Some are pretty conventional, like this....

but most are a little more rustic, like this.....

We started just after dawn.....

and I lumbered my fat arse up the stairs....

taking the odd rest break on the way up.....

By the time I got to the top I was totally knackered. B usually does the climb in 17 minutes (although, I think she actually RUNS it!). I was inordinately proud of myself for doing it in 40!

We then had the 3Km down hill walk along the road to get back to the car.

As if the walk wasn't enough to make me totally rooted, after a quick shower and change, we headed into the blood bank in town for a small donation.

The things we do when egged on by our kids!