It was a bit of a trek to our next destination so we hit the road early in order to get to Townsville in time to do a bit of exploring. Townsville is one of the larger towns in Queensland and until Cairns became the favourite holiday destination Townsville was the place to be seen! We arrived around lunch time and after a quick sandwich in the van we took to the esplanade to explore. The whole beach front area has undergone massive regeneration over the last few years and with two stinger net areas there were plenty of people around the beach sunning themselves. They had play areas for the children, picnic and BBQ areas as well as a separate outdoor swimming lagoon for those who wanted even more protection from the jelly fish. After taking in the sights at the beachfront we decided to take a walk into town. Every Sunday morning there is a market on the main street in the town centre unfortunately we arrived in time to see a few of the vendors packing away and heading home. Rather strangely most of the shops in the town were closed and those that were open only put in a half day and so they were preparing to close too. We were both very surprised as it has been the first time in a long time that a town has closed all its doors on a Sunday! Nowadays a Sunday is just like any other day when you visit a town, normally all the shops are open and if anything it is busy as it is the weekend but not in Townsville. It was like a ghost town with only a few homeless hanging around so we quickly bailed out back to the beach. Our campsite was on the outskirts of the town centre about a five minute drive from the beach so when we were done sunning ourselves it wasn't far to go.The next day and we had a few chores to do in the town so we got in early so as to get what we needed before it got too hot. We were ever hopeful that the town would have a bit more life about it too however on arriving we soon realised this was not the case. The only people hanging around were homeless and beggars. The whole town centre had a really horrible feel and we couldn't get round it quickly enough. It was another scorcher so I am afraid to say that we spent most of the day down at the esplanade as it is just too hot to do anything else. Rather than go to the beach we opted to spend the day on the grassy embankment around the lagoon. Whilst there is still a stinger risk as it is filled with water from the ocean, it is considered a little safer than the nets on the beach. As it was Monday the beach and lagoon were both lovely and quiet and whilst Townsville hadn't exactly captured our imagination there were certainly worse places to spend a Monday afternoon!