Arrived in Townsville about the 2nd week in April and the park we decided to stay at was Rowes Bay Caravan Park which is on Heatley’s Parade, this is approximately 4km from the city center and 1km from “The Strand”. Across the road is the beach and a great walking/bike track to either the strand or to Palaranda. The sites are quite big and the amenities block we were close to was almost new so great facilities; the park has 2 other smaller amenities blocks; they are older but still kept in a very clean condition.
The bad issue with the park is booking a site as they do not take bookings; if you ring after 10am on the day you would like to check in they will then allocate a site and hold it for your arrival (with a deposit). Seems a strange set up and I would be reluctant during peak periods to try and get a site. When I spoke to the park they advised about the book in arrangements (or lack of) but also let me know that with it being outside peak we would not have a problem getting in. Price for us was $195 for the week, not bad given the site size and location; no pets are allowed at this park.
The sites are quite large in most of the main area of the park but some of the trees are a bit of a pain, location wise it is well worth staying, the park has a small pool and a half size tennis court; this assisted me in keeping my abs, pecks and other parts of my tight,taught and incredibly muscular body in good shape (well at least my 4x gold can opening finger). Townsville is very big and suburbs around the city center stretch out for 30 – 40km so it is very busy (too busy for me).
Linda arrived here from the UK in 1968 so it was great for here to visit some of the places she remembered; with so many changes since then it was hard to imagine 1968 to now and the growth Townsville has had. Townsville was one important place for Linda to visit having not seen it since that time; this was a “must do” for Lin and filled in another page on her life in Australia.
Our site above; the tree was a bit of a pain with some small leaves and pods creating a bit of a mess.
One of the many views from Castle Hill, not much you cannot see from up here.
We spotted the above house (there are several of these) jutting out the hillside to take up the view. It looks incredible but not sure how I would go after a few grogs; I could see myself waking up in the neighbors yard.
We did go to the ReefHQ but not into the aquarium; we went to the dome I-max (see below model).
The seats seem to sit at about 45 degrees and viewing area is the whole top of the dome itself. The movie goes for about 40 minutes and 5 are screened a day, we watched an underwater one but there is a thrill ride movie that could be a rush to watch.
The above shows one of the stinger enclosures on the strand; these are quite common on all the northern beaches.
The above is the rock-pool on the strand which in the main is stinger free; council still have notices up warning it is not a guaranteed stinger free environment (typical council statement; “all care taken but no responsibility accepted).
Our next posts will be Rollingstone (just left there), Kirrimine Beach (just arrived) and Flying Fish Point (next park).
Stay well, travel safely and we hope you enjoy the read.
Love and regards – David & Linda – The DavLin Rig.
