Townsville Qld August 7th 2023

 Townsville Qld August 7th 2023

We came down to Townsville, only a 50km run from Rollingstone, for our week-long stay, which is a bit of a novelty for us. This is day 3 and we haven't got bored yet. Mind you, it's a 20km drive into town and to the Strand, which is pretty well the main attraction really. 

Just wandering around really, I took a couple of snaps for posterity:

Main Street, Townsville Qld

The Grand Chancellor Hotel, aka The Sugar Shaker. Townsville Qld

Everyone waa just hanging around, so we did the same. Townsville Qld

The marina seems much larger than last time we were here.  Townsville Qld

Our van park is in one of the northern-most suburbs of Townsville, a place called Deeragun. When we first came here in 2017 the van park was just nestled off the side of the Bruce Highway at a nondescript crossroad. At this point the highway runs next to the railway line. There were two trains a day, one up to Cairns and one back. Over the years, they started to do road works behind and around the park. Now it is nestled in between the Bruce Highway, the Railway line, Mount Low parkway and The Ring Road!

Here's a view from up on The Ring Road, for some reason or other there is a set of steps that lead up to, but not onto the RR. Odd.

Caravan Park on right. Major intersection Bruce, Mt Low and Ring roads. Train line just past The Bruce

You would think it would be noisy, but it isn't too bad. Gets a bit busy during morning and afternoon peak hour, but surprisingly quiet except for the odd hoon and the odd police siren. The trains seem much more frequent, hauling all manner of goods into the port for export. Sugar, phosphate, nickel, copper even molasses are the main ones. 

Friday 11th August

We're on holidays, we treat ourselves occasionally. Today's treat was a whale watching cruise on board the Kalinda, a time-worn old timber vessel working out of the marina. It wasn't cheap, but sometimes you have to splurge. Unfortunately, the vessel isn't particularly comfortable when you are expected to sit for hours on end while it plows its way through the rising swell and chop. 

We saw turtles for two seconds. More hours of hanging on and watching others succumb to motion sickness. The clue is to stay outside in the howling wind, focus on the horizon and think of England...

We actually saw the backs of a whale or two, taking snaps was just a waste of time given the extreme motions of the boat and the distance between us.

Lunch was nice though.

Judy sustained a nasty bruise to her elbow from being thrown against a table and back across onto a lounge in the saloon as a larger than normal wave smacked into the side of the already reeling boat. The crew member worked hard to make her comfortable, but what can you do? Still 3 hours to go before we can get off.

Judy on board Kalinda. Townsville Qld

Cape Cleveland Lighthouse Townsville Qld

Turtle. Cape Cleveland. Lighthouse Townsville Qld

Just have to tough it out. Ended up in Townsville Hospital for an ex-ray, a sling and some reassurance.

Saturday 12th August

I did the newest of the the three Parkruns in Townsville : Aplins Weir. And very pleasant it was as well. Even did a 1/2 respectable time.

Later we went exploring and found the Palmetum (yes, that's a real word apparently) Botanic gardens, called thus because it theoretically only has palms, 300 plus varieties of them. Actually, a very pleasant place to visit and a well hidden secret of Townsville. We had lunch in the attached cafe and the meal was excellent. We even has a sunbird come and visit its nest, right behind my head!

Palmetum Botanic Gardens, Townsville Qld

Palmetum Botanic Gardens, Townsville Qld

Palmetum Botanic Gardens, Townsville Qld