Townsville Day 1

This morning we awoke to a nice morning of around 18 degrees. At last we are into warmer conditions such as sleeping with windows open and only a sheet over us. Prue did some washing early.

About 0900 we drove into the Townsville CBD and located a free parking area just to the south. I remembered where it was from last year.

We crossed over the Victoria Bridge to the CBD. There is a lot of work happening at the end of the bridge. It is all pedestrian friendly with no vehicles at all. It is a bit messy with all this work. Last year it was the Mall being done and I must say it is beautiful.

Old Railway Station

Great Northern Hotel

Our morning coffee was at the Verandah Cafe. My cappuccino was among one of the best since leaving In the Pink at Lennox Head. Prue had some poached eggs and I had fruit toast.

After our morning tea, we set off and located the Tourist Information centre where we picked up a few items. Our collection included the 3 walking tours around the CBD and the southern side of Ross Creek.

Our decision was to walk the Civic Trail which covers the CBD. There are some lovely older buildings with discs on each of the buildings numbered in the pamphlet. A lot of the cities history emanated from within some of these buildings and most likely the 2 old hotels on the western end of the CBD. They are very close to the original railway station. No train movements are in the CBD anymore.

Port Townsville

On our way around, we noticed quite a number of vacant shops. Like many towns and cities, the old original CBD has died off due to the growth of suburban shopping centres, like Stockland, Centro and Westfield. Some of these shops are now becoming offices for professional services like law firms, banks, development businesses and so on. So the old CBD is becoming the professional centre of some of these communities.

The Strand

Magnetic Island in the background

After wandering around the CBD, we returned to the Mazda and then drove through the eastern part of the CBD which seems to house quite a few eateries and club venues. We continued to the Strand which is on the foreshore with lovely views across to Magnetic Island and to the Port of Townsville.

Following our 'cruise' along the Strand, we then crossed over Ross Creek again. As we joined onto the main road, it is very apparent that the Townsville 400, motoring racing, venue is being returned to its normal function. The pit area and stands are still all standing as are the massive black tyre marks from the race cars.

The next stop was the large shopping centre, Castletown. Some groceries were purchased and then we dropped into Baf and Sharon's "White Poppy" shop and chatted with Sharon for a while. Then it was back to the Coral Coast Caravan Park for a late lunch and a bit of relaxing.