Day 16

Distance travelled today......130 Kilometres

Distance from home.......2050 Kilometres


We left Charters Towers at 9:40am for a leisurely trip of 130 kilometres to Townsville. Checked into the Magnetic Gateway Van Park, site 31 at $28.30 per night. We had a good site with a concrete pad. The Park was quite good but very close to the Bruce Highway, therefore, very noisy.
Kerry and Peggy had arrived a week before us and it was good to catch up with them.


Days 17 to 29 ......Townsville

Distance travelled........429 kilometres


During our 2 week stay in Townsville we did all the touristy things including visits to the top of Mount Stuart and Castle Hill for magnificent views over Townsville and the Coast. We also had many strolls along the Strand with it's lovely scenery and views to Magnetic Island. The weather was warm with cloudless skies every day and temperatures of 25 to 26 degrees.

Castle Hill is an isolated pink granite monolith standing in the heart of Townsville. It rises to a height of 938 ft. and dominates the city skyline. It is one of the most distinctive natural features on the Queensland coast. There are a number of vantage points from which to view the city below and also across Cleveland Bay to nearby Magnetic Island.

The "Castle Hill Road" winds for 2.6 kilometres from the northeast slopes to the summit of the second peak, on which the Hynes Lookout platform has been erected. In 1942 the memorial stone from the Sydney grave of Robert Towns, founder of Townsville, was acquired by the Townsville City Council and erected at the summit.
Locals walk up Castle Hill for regular exercise. There are many different routes to the top, by road or by goat track (rough path). Castle Hill is also a popular tourist site.

On Sunday 22nd we had a very enjoyable lunch at the Seaview Hotel on the Strand with Terry & Mary, Ken & Caroline, and Jack & Judith. They are friends and golfing mates from Gosford. Back in May this year we had spent several days with them at the caravan park in Gloucester, NSW.

Mount Stuart overlooks Townsville with an elevation of 584 metres. It was named for Clarendon Stuart (1833–1912) Townsville's first district surveyor. It is used for commercial and ABC transmission. It was also used as a Bureau of Meteorology radar station until late 2011, when it was moved to Hervey Range.

We had a farewell lunch with Kerry & Peggy on Sunday 30th July on the Strand. We then attended an evening sausage sizzle at the pool in the caravan park and were entertained by a guitarist and vocalist - Phil King. It was a very enjoyable evening under the stars.
Kerry & Peggy left the following morning for Proserpine.

We stayed on for another day preparing for our next leg to Cairns.