Cape Hillsborough to Townsville

I had travelled to Townsville twice before once when I was 8 for a swimming carnival (which I can’t remember) and the last time was in the early 90’s with some friends for a long weekend (which consisted mostly of driving at night – over 800 kilometres from Rockhampton to Townsville). The drive from about Bowen seemed to get a little boring and as it was in Mackay everything was very dry, until we got closer to Townsville that is.

Although this trip was only for 2 nights we got a chance to see a bit of the town and we decided we quite liked it. It seems like a very tidy town with more shops and facilities than Rockhampton and more things to see.

We stayed just north of the town and although we were out of the hustle and bustle of the city, the park was right on the highway and just across the road from the railway line, so it was a little noisy, but bearable.

We went into the city and were very impressed by the Strand, which is a series of 4 beaches along the main coastal strip of the town. The strand consisted of walking paths, playgrounds and shops all very well maintained and fresh. One of the big attractions we had hoped to see was the Rock pool, a man made fresh water swimming pool right on the beach, but due to an algae outbreak is had been drained and was empty. The beaches too were closed due to this outbreak, so we had to rely on the pool at the park to keep us refreshed.

We also visited the Reef HQ the largest living coral ecosystem in the world (apparently), it was very impressive with a huge main tank full of coral and reef fish and a second tank filled with dangerous creatures such as sharks.

The most impressive part of this was the glassed walk through tunnel which separated the two which had curved glass viewing for 180 degrees. A hit with kids and adults alike.

What I also liked about Townsville was how they have kept and maintained their heritage by restoring and using old buildings, an example of this is the old Post office located in the Mall, which is now utilised as a café and pub. The Mall is very nice to visit with plenty of shops to keep Trish busy whilst Reagan and I enjoyed a train ride through the Mall.

I would say we will travel back to Townsville at some stage in the future as we really enjoyed what we saw and thought it would make a great place to live. One thing that would take some getting g used to is the heat and humidity, which I suppose is similar to Rocky which I like and at least the winters would be warmer also.