Above the ear splitting roar of the V8 racing cars in Townsville, a man who had just arrived on the Spirit of Queensland train from Cairns stood out at the taxi rank . He wore an eye catching shirt with a pattern of guitars , a sensible straw hat , shorts. Nearby , his luggage included what looked like a large hatbox . On closer examination, the painted side revealed the Confederate flag and a metal strip which read Valiant . Engaged in conversation above the roaring cars, he said he was a muso , the metal piece on the hatbox off a Valiant car he once owned , his latest auto a 1954 Holden . And inside the hatbox was his squeezebox .
In Cairns recently , this scribe discovered the place frequently jumps to ukulele music , about 40 players seen strumming away outside an hotel in the CBD one night , a real hoot . Ukulele playing has a large following in North Queensland and groups feature in street parades and festivals .
At the ferry terminal in Townsville a man with a guitar , intent on getting to Broome , Western Australia , was waiting for a lift in a car going to Darwin in the Northern Territory .
