Anny Chih

Sam showing the Wicked Camper kitchen to Channel 7

On the night before the Wicked Campers — Townsville Enterprise Launch, I stuck my head out of the side of the van to watch the stars. You can see so many more when you stay at a caravan park off the highway because there are hardly any lights around. To get to and from the camp kitchen and washroom I would have to bring my little hand-crank light with me to see where I was going. I thought about spending the night with the van door open so I could fall asleep watching the stars, but I’m glad I didn’t because it was the first night on this road trip where it rained!

It’s a good thing Townsville had a proper rainfall that night and yesterday morning because my Wicked Camper was really filthy and media crews filmed and took pictures of it for the Wicked Campers — Townsville Enterprise Launch yesterday.

I didn’t know what we were doing until we were actually doing it. All I knew was that I should meet Sam from Wicked Campers at the Rock Pool at 9am for this media launch. I tried looking for news about the launch on the Townsville Enterprise website but didn’t find anything. It wasn’t until that morning while I was listening to the news on the radio that I found out what it was all about: Townsville Enterprise (basically the Tourism department for Townsville) commissioned Wicked Campers to paint four of their vans with Townsville tourism inspired themes, and they were going to reveal them at the launch.

Me and Renae from Channel 7 in front of my Wicked Camper

I hadn’t expected to receive much attention at the launch since I didn’t know what it was about, so I didn’t bother putting on make-up or dressing up. Cassie at Wicked Campers said it’d be ok just to wear jeans so that’s exactly what I did. I wouldn’t have been able to wear make-up anyways because I’ve tanned so much on this trip that my make-up doesn’t match my skin tone anymore! LOL

Everyone was super-casual anyways and Sam and I were interviewed by Channel 7, Channel 9 Win News, and the Townsville Bulletin. I’m kinda excited to see the Townsville Bulletin article actually because the photographer took a lot of photos and at least one of them must’ve turned out well.

After the launch, Sam and I went to Reef HQ and had lunch at the Seaview Hotel where they serve Sam’s favourite ceasar salad. It was a massive salad and looked really good. I had the Seaview burger which was pretty big too. Then we walked it off on The Strand and made a visit to the look-out at Castle Hill. If you’re in Townsville for the day, you must visit Castle Hill. There’s nothing up there except the views, but it gives you a good idea of how big and spread out Townsville really is. Sam gave me her version of a “cook’s tour” and we headed to Rowes Bay to camp for the night.

Rowes Bay also has a really nice walking path that’s very popular among the joggers and cyclists. I learned a lot from Sam on this walk about all sorts of things and I thought I’d share a few tips from her:

Sam’s Tips for Travellers

1. Some sharks can swim backwards! I was always told that if you were attacked by a shark, to punch it in the nose so that it would drown going backwards. First of all, I learned that you can’t punch anything underwater with enough force to make a difference. Second, some sharks can actually swim backwards and in really shallow waters (I’m talking 2 – 3 inches) so making it go backwards won’t make a difference; it can still get you.
2. If you do get attacked by a shark, you should hit it right by the gills because that’s where they’re most sensitive. This is what dolphins do if they’re attacked.
3. If you get bitten by a crocodile, it will try to roll you in the water to drown you. Before it starts to roll, you should hit it between the eyes. Crocs aren’t the brightest and can’t blink and close their mouths at the same time so their reflex is to open the mouth to release you.
4. If you’re hunting kangaroo, you should shoot it in the head. Not only is this the humane way to kill a roo, but it’s the only way to make sure  your meat is tender. The area around the shot area doesn’t taste as good but you don’t eat the head anyways so shooting it there doesn’t make a difference.

After our walk around Rowes Bay, Sam made lamb cutlets with honey mustard sauce and rice for dinner. YUM! This is the first time where I’ve actually had real food cooked on the camp stove. I didn’t even mind getting my usual 3 – 4 insect bites while we were cooking.

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PS My apologies that the order of the pictures is all wonky! The NextGEN application I’m using hasn’t been letting me sort my pictures the way I want for a few days now.

Next Stop

I’m actually writing this in a bit of a rush because I’m heading off to the Undara Lava Tubes today (it takes 5 – 6 hours to drive there from Townsville)! I’m really looking forward to it. Most tourists never go there because it’s so out of the way and in the middle of Queensland but that’s the advantage to travelling in a campervan: you get to go places you normally wouldn’t be able to.