Townsville QLD

About Townsville

The elegant city of Townsville can correctly call itself ‘The Tropical Capital of North Queensland’. It is a city of great charm and style which has not, like Cairns or Port Douglas, been overwhelmed by tourism. It is too big and too devoted to serving the tropical north, to be a slave to tourism. Even Reef HQ, one of the city’s premier attractions, is relatively low key. It makes little of the fact that it is the only living coral reef in captivity – a fact which means that visitors can actually see the Great Barrier Reef while safely on land. The result is that its gracious buildings and old pubs give it a sense of sophistication.

Recognise that Townsville is the largest city in Australia lying north of the Tropic of Capricorn and you will quickly realise that it is a thriving metropolis with lots of accommodation, a vibrant nightlife, and large numbers of excellent restaurants (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Townsville was selected as a location for no reason at all, except that it was a pin on our map. Glad we chose it and also glad we had a last minute change in our accommodation selecting BIG4 Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park (closest to town – maplink) for 4 nights.

Castle Hill Lookout

First touristy thing to do is to head for the nearest viewpoint of your location and Castle Hill Lookout really did impress. From various points around Townsville you see this massive red granite monolith, which you just want to get to the top of – that’s Castle Hill Lookout.

Townsville Sea Aquarium – ReefHQ

ReefHQ is a great place to catch up on some of the beautiful creatures from the Great Barrier Reef without getting wet. We spent a few hours here checking out this well designed aquarium. Put it on you “must do” list when you’re in Townsville.

Townsville Street Art

I came across a brochure (view in PDF) about the Townsville Street Art Program which caught my interest; so I spent a few hours around Townsville discovering some really brilliant art pieces.

Street art is growing more an more popular these days and it really does bring a place alive. We totally enjoyed the Mallee Silo Art Trail in Victoria last year (view the post) and it’s great to see this type of art moving into city spaces as well. One of the Townsville Artists, Adnate, also painted the Sheep Hills silo’s in Victoria.

Artist’s name are in the caption of the photos below…

Day trip to Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island is a short 20 minute ferry ride from Townsville (maplink) and is a great day trip to take.

I must say, that after visiting the island it would have been more fortuitous to actually book some accommodation for a couple of days so we could really explore the place – it has heaps to offer.

We took the hop-on hop-off bus for a whirlwind trip, stopping at Picnic Point and then Horseshoe Bay for lunch.

Summing up…

• Accommodation – BIG4 Rowes Bay Beachfront Holiday Park (website)
  • Cost per night – $32.50 (@ 17-Oct-2020 – we got a special!)
  • Facilities – standard type facilities
  • CP Location – 46 Heatleys Parade, Belgian Gardens – a great location close to town (maplink)
  • Our rating/score – 8/10
• Was it a nice town to visit? – a great location with lots to do. We could have easily stayed longer
  • Activities & places of interest – plenty – check out TripAdvisor
  • Tourist info centre? – Bulletin Square, 340 Flinders St, Townsville (website)
  • Would we return? – yes
  • Overall Score – 8/10
• Summing up – Townsville is a great town.