Magnetic Townsville
Well it wasn’t well planned but it was a magnificent 5 days in Townsville. After the bush fires pushed us back to Melbourne we were able to bring forward a catch up with our friends in Townsville. We are so glad we did.
Our team of five staying with their team of five made for a fun house. All the kids were amazing, their three boys (12, 11 & 9 years old) were so good to Scarlett, Nora and Hazel. It made for a wonderful five days. And yes, of course, with six kids in the house there were plenty of laughs, tears and clusters!
Our five nights in Townsville helped us return to the core of this experience. Time together, time with friends, and time to relax. Townsville is in far north Queensland and in addition to being a beautiful city (~180K people) it is also a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Some of the activities we enjoyed in Townsville included:
Magnetic Island. We did an afternoon trip to this beautiful island just off the coast of Townsville. The 35 minute ferry ride was stunning. Even better because we took the slower of the two ferry companies by way of a mistake by me. Then we hired a car and drove for 15 minutes across Magnetic Island to Horseshoe Bay. We played on the beach, playground and had a drink before catching the ferry back. This island is worth a trip on its own!
The Strand (oceanfront boardwalk). It is an amazing waterfront that we came to every day of our stay in Townsville. We went to the free water park playground twice, ate a couple of meals looking out on the ocean, picked up takeaway (to-go) food, kicked the football around, went for a 5 km (3 mile) run, and wished we had time to do all the other things along The Strand!
The Ville Resort-Casino. Our friends organized a fantastic birthday dinner at the Miss Songs restaurant. It was an awesome afternoon and evening of family and friendship. A birthday to remember and one that looked like it would be very different a few days earlier as we sat in a smoke-filled room in Canberra.
Great Barrier Reef Aquarium. It was a fun visit. We learned about the reef’s ecosystem and saw a lot of fish. It is not huge, but was great for us.
Castle Hill. This is a spectacular hill that sits in the middle of Townsville. The city literally wraps around it and you can drive, walk, or bike ride up it and look out over the City of Townsville, Magnetic Island and the the vast ocean. Whitney and I could have sat up there for a while, I think we got about 5 minutes before Scarlett and Nora were pressing for home
Otto’s Market Precinct. This place is a culinary heaven. Seriously, look at the pictures. The most amazing sweets. This felt like something you are really unlikely to do unless you are with a local. Our friends thought we would enjoy it and sure enough we loved it! We loved the food so much we jumped back on our last day to buy a few boxes of treats to share with everyone at home on our last day before our evening flight.
Home. Our friends have a wonderful home. Lots of rooms, a pool in the backyard, and a concrete open air ground level that is perfect for playing ball games and riding little push go-carts. We just loved hanging out with them and savoring each day.
Our Townsville days were a great family experience, made even better by being with such special friends. We caught the evening flight back to Melbourne, ending our wonderful stint in Queensland. The 11:30pm arrival time into Melbourne wasn’t ideal but what a great week it was. Whitney and I were recharged a bit, Scarlett and Nora were exhausted from a 24-hour a day play date environment, and Hazel was cruising along. Next stop is my home town of Naracoorte, South Australia.
Also, a mini (but crucial) milestone for Hazel this week when she successfully ate Vegemite for the first time. That makes it 3 children out of 3 that love this Australian delicacy!
