We wanted to spend a week on housekeeping after 2+ weeks in a world of red dust. We chose the coastal city of Townsville because it is has a Ford dealer and we needed a 15,000 kilometre service on Ranger.  With a population of 170,000 it would have anything and everything we might need for Silver. Our last visit to Townsville was in 1981 during our honeymoon.  Our friends there now live in Burleigh Heads (our first stop in QLD and reported in our 3rd post). My memories of T’ville (then half its current size) were not vivid but I didn’t expect much this time since it’s just another city.  It’s prominent pink granite monolith still rises up in its midst. And offshore, the beckoning Magnetic Island is visible from everywhere along the waterfront.

It came as a surprise that Townsville has grown up to be quite nice and we found things to see and do that we weren’t expecting. Most notable was the outstanding display of public art stretching several kilometres along the waterfront, many on the boardwalk of the redeveloped Jezzine Barracks precinct.

 

We stayed at a caravan park across the street from the sea which suited us because the sites were large and laid out at an angle. This meant we weren’t looking directly at our neighbors. Our morning walk was not on the beach but along a path that followed the coastline.

Only 8 kilometres off Townsville’s coast lies Magnetic Island. It is a blend of untouched National Park, small residential enclaves and holiday homes within a World Heritage Marine Park. There are 24 kilometres of walking trails and a similar amount of paved roads. Mt Cook is 500 metres high and covered in forest. Most of the secluded beaches are accessible only by boat or foot. Luckily we took Ranger on the ferry (an extra $30) because the buses were filled to capacity and waits exceeded 30 minutes.