Travel Australia, Townsville - Part #1

Hey travelling Steemians! Welcome to my beloved home town of Townsville, Australia. We have a population of around 190,000, which is nice cosy sized city, and we are just a 1 hour boat ride away from the world's largest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef. Sunshine nearly 99% of the year and a positive atmosphere makes it a great short-term holiday destination for anyone who just wants to relax.

Popular attractions in Townsville include Castle Hill, The Strand, Riverway, Magnetic Island and tropical rainforests such as Paluma. These areas are popular for families to enjoy as well as outdoor activities such as hiking. Our city is very homely and peaceful so if you are looking for a relaxing place to holiday with nice people and a calm vibe then it's well worth the visit for a week or so. It's hot, so bring your hat and sunscreen

Source

Castle Hill

!steemitworldmap -19.258360 lat 146.803218 long 'Castle Hill, Townsville, Australia' D3SCR

Castle Hill is the centrepiece of our city and stands tall in the middle of our otherwise quite flat lands. The story goes it is officially a 'hill' as it is a couple of metres short of being a mountain. The originally indigenous name was Cootharinga Mountain. The hill has become a great attraction for tourists to view the city and across the ocean to Magnetic Island. It is also very popular for locals to exercise up the road or goat track.

Here is the story of "The Saint", painted by Townsville James Cook University students on the cliff face. It has previously been considered to remove the painting but locals overwhelming wish it to stay. Also someone tried to trademark it for their own greedy profits which was met with fierce opposition.

This is the goat track which is a huge attraction for tourists and locals who enjoy a bit of exercise. It has various routes up the hill which range in difficulty. Total time takes around about an hour depending on your fitness level and the time of year as it gets very hot.

Source

Here is myself and our Belgium exchange student, Antoni. Our students always have a great time staying with us and often come back to Australia to see more of our country.

Here I am again with our other exchange student from Japan, Yutaro.

While you're doing the Castle Hill hike you can often see Rock Wallabies and on occasion I have even seen Echidnas, though you're very lucky to see one.

The Strand

!steemitworldmap -19.246044 lat 146.811179 long 'The Strand, Townsville, Australia' D3SCR

Our main beach in Townsville is named The Strand and underwent major renovations after a devastating cyclone in 1998. Since then it has become an amazing place to take the family for lunch or a twilight dinner. People love to walk long the paths for exercise or just a relaxing stroll. There are many food shops to stop at for an icecream, fish n chips, coffee, full lunch or dinner as well as cold beer. The place just has a calming and beautiful vibe as you chill out and watch the kids play on the various playgrounds, the waterpark, build sandcastles on the beach or swim in the rockpool.

Let the kids have fun at the newly renovated waterpark while you chill out and relax on the grass and soak up the year-round sunshine.

Source

Source

There are always activities going on from paddleboarding or even skydiving.

Source

Do some tourist shopping from local sellers at the night markets.

The Strand boardwalk looks stunning at night, looking out at Magnetic Island.

Source

When I started this post I thought it would be written in just 1 blog post but I am even discovering for myself how wonderful this town is and how much I'd love to write about. I will post more on Riverway, Magnetic Island, Paluma rainforest and much more in the coming days. To be continued....