What a stunning place Townsville in the dry tropics region of North Queensland is!…
With a population of over 180,000 people, this city has the most amazing lookout atop a rocky outcrop, with 360 degree views direction over the coastline, city and surrounding ranges.
Such a neat, tidy city with everything you could need, including a HUGE sport stadium. This series of photos shows the cities main waterfront area and the stunning views from the lookout.
Plenty more to see here! We probably should have booked in for a longer stay at the Townsville Ingenia Holiday Parks to see it all properly!
Whilst exploring Townsville we stayed at BIG4 Ingenia Holidays Townsville. This is a great park for families! with some really fun facilities …… Waterpark, BIG 18 hole mini golf course, two swimming pool areas, camp kitchen, bbq areas, jumping pillow, movie nights on the outdoor screen, playground, an assortment of cabins, ensuite powered and unpowered sites, it’s s dog friendly and they have Go-cart hire for the kids!
A short drive or bike ride from the holiday park is Bushland Beach Tavern and Bushland Beach. The bush picnic grounds were full of nesting birds. A great opportunity to capture a few photos.
Down on the beach, the mud flats were exposed by the low tide for as far as the eye could see. Quite a picturesque landscape.
Kissing Point / Jezzine Barracks and the Casino…Townsville
Covering 15 hectares the Kissing Point Headland area is a precinct that commemorates the aboriginal and military heritage of the area. During WWII Kissing Point housed training encampments with the Kennedy regiment returning here after WWII.
The fort was established in 1870 and was in continuous military use from 1885 to 2006. A community trust was established in 2007.
The area includes coastal boardwalks, artworks, parklands, bbq areas and picnic shelters, traditional plantings and restored elements of the Kissing Point Fort complex with observation decks and lookouts.
We had a nice lunch at the Townsville Casino while we were out and about exploring. The below photos are of the Casino Swimming pool.
If you are planning a visit to the Townsville area, a great place to check out is Paluma Range National Park - but don’t go up the the wrong washed out goat track like we did at the southern end of the park!
This track is so rough that we actually came accross a few trail bike riders and unfortunately one of the riders had come off his bike. We did stop of course, to make sure everything was ok (at first we thought they were just resting on the side of the track), his mates had already called for an ambulance and the injured rider was in good spirits despite thinking he fractured his hip..... the poor guy!
Instead, head to the northern end of the park - the Little Crystal Creek end. Some really great places to discover!
After leaving Townsville we headed north, stopping off along the way before heading on to Mission Beach.
Below is Jourama Falls. It's a great 3km hike to the falls. The trail is really well maintained and you will find yourself passing through different landscapes along the way.
We loved the cycads which were growing on the higher hillside. Some of which were in seed, the first time we had seen this.
There are swimming holes along the way in the boulder covered river bed on the walk up to the waterfall. The waterfall is much more impressive than we had imaged - even without huge amounts of water flowing over it. There is a series of large cascades descending to the valley floor below.
We definitely felt it was worth stopping here to do this hike !
What a fantastic stay we had in Townsville! Time to head to South Mission Beach now....
https://www.big4.com.au/caravan-parks/qld/townsville-surrounds/townsville-woodlands-holiday-park