Saturday 16th to Monday 18th October, 2021
Well we have had a quite restful few days. On Saturday I managed to have my hair done by a lovely girl at Snippers, Ingham. I left DB in Woolworths to finish the groceries and pack them all away. He managed well as it is always a challenge to get 4 or 5 days cold goods in the 47 litre fridge. But he did a great job. My hair was a long process (wash, foils, colour, blow dry and cut) – almost 3 hours but I came out a new woman. Yeehah! David sat happily in the car for a couple of hours. By this time it was 2pm, so after a quick bite to eat we started on our way south.

Along the way we stopped at Jourama Falls in the Paluma Range National Park. We did a short walk to the base of the falls as the upper falls track was closed. It was a pretty waterfall, albeit a bit small at the base. We clambered up and over some smooth rocks to get to the waterfall. After a short break we then headed back to the car as we still had a bit of a drive to get to Townsville. We are booked in to Yongala by the Strand, a motel for the next couple of nights as we need to do our tax. Good excuse for a queen size bed and air-conditioning.

Townsville has amazing facilities along its foreshore – pools, waterparks, tree-lined paths, picnic areas, patrolled beaches with stinger nets in season and lovely views to Magnetic Island. We have enjoyed lovely walks along the foreshore, albeit very hot (daily temp range is 25° – 35°) in the day time, and still warm at 8.30pm when we go for our gelato walk. We enjoyed a lovely Thai meal at Wild Rice Laos & Thai Cuisine. We have had a couple of swims in the Tobruk Memorial Baths – a 50m outdoor lap pool. It is hard to train in the pools up here as the water temp is at least 28° and we boil over any time we put in some kind of effort. All good though, at least we are ticking our arms over at least 2 or 3 times a week. We have had a good rest, a couple of good nights sleep and air-conditioned comfort.

It is now Monday and we have both lodged our tax returns, DB has done his BAS and we are almost ready to head over to Magnetic Island tomorrow for a few days. This afternoon we went for a drive to the top of Castle Hill, a 360° view of Townsville. We passed so many walkers, runners, cyclists heading up and down the hill, it was incredible how many there were – we saw maybe 100 or more. It made me feel a little lazy for having driven up there. At the top there were about 5 different lookout points.

“Just metres short of a mountain, Castle Hill is the giant pink granite monolith that stands proud in the centre of Townsville – a perfect place for visitors to orientate themselves. Castle Hill offers vehicle access as well as a number of popular walking tracks, which are frequented by more than 2,500 locals a day! The 360-degree views of Townsville at the top are well worth the journey. Apart from being an iconic centrepiece for the city and a lookout for spectacular scenic views, Castle Hill has a significant history. The Hill’s vantage was used by visiting American soldiers during World War II. According to local legend, the visitors famously offered to demolish the hill and use the rock to build a bridge to Magnetic Island. A World War II observation bunker sits on one corner of the Hill reminding visitors of Castle Hill’s military history.”