Days 312-315 – Townsville, Qld (22-25 July)

John spent the first day here fixing one of the back windows in the caravan that wasn’t closing properly and it took much longer than anticipated with a couple for trips to the local caravan repairer for bits and pieces and then finally giving them the job which resulted in them breaking the glass and replacing it with perspex (all that is available these days) and we suspect they twisting the window frame as it didn’t fit back in snugly which meant more work for John realigning it.  He did a good job in the end after spending close on two days on it and it is usable again even though we now have a odd window in the van.  Friday we caught up with Sue and Fred a couple we met in Streaky Bay over Christmas.  They are from Townsville and had spent 15 months on the road before returning to Townsville to sort out tenants and fix up their house after the tenants were evicted (we are hearing these stories too often – fingers crossed).  They have been here since April and will leave by November to start travelling again.  They are staying in a caravan park while they are here.  Fred and Sue picked us up and took us on a sightseeing tour of Townsville followed by a bbq dinner with them at their caravan park.  It was great that they offered to take us out for the day as it is much better to be with locals who can tell us some of the history and give us the ins and outs of the city. Townsville is a very impressive city with great views from the Castle Hill Lookout which gives you 360 degree view over the ocean, city and river, hill ranges and Magnetic Island. The day was a bit overcast but still nice views. We stopped at Jupiter’s Casino (yes there is one here as well as on the Gold Coast) for coffee, had a walk along The Strand which runs along the foreshore edge and a drive to Paradella?? which is popular with kite surfers.  There is a coffee kiosk on The Strand that gave us a water bowl and doggie treat for Coco – what a nice touch.  We visited Riverway which is a fantastic aquatic centre, free entry to two beautiful sparkling pools of varying depths, cafe’s and an art centre.  The centre sits directly on the edge of the river edge which has a boardwalk which joins the cycleway around the river.  There are many turtles of varying sizes around this area and quite easy to see.  The aquatic centre is very popular in summer.  During the summer season (November-May) the ocean is full of stingers and it really is enter at your own risk.  There are designated beach areas that have stinger nets and life guards and these are really the only safe areas to swim.  The odd crocodile has been known to be around as well so if the stingers don’t get you, the crocs or sharks might.  There seems to be plenty of swimming pools around town so no need to risk the ocean for a dip.  There are a few boarding schools in town as well catering for local and out of town students. A catholic girls school had steel bars between the balustrade and roof not to deter the boys but to to keep the girls in!  Townsville has made great use of the Ross River that meanders throughout the city with footpaths/cycleways pretty much all around it, free gas bbqs, picnic areas, dog exercise areas and green areas with lovely gardens and trees.  It is really well done and is popular with lots of people walking, picnicking, cycling, roller blading etc.  I was in two minds about the proposed foreshore development in Busselton but after seeing what other towns/cities are doing think we could really benefit from recreational development not high rise apartment blocks.  All in all we (I particularly) have been surprised how nice Townsville is.  However from what Sue and Fred were telling us the summer season here is pretty horrendous with temps around 35 and 99% humidity with everything potentially getting mouldy and damp if not catered for properly.  Looks like we have seen it at the best time of year.