Townsville

Townsville has grown enormously over the past 10 years.  I suspect it's because, like Darwin, the growth in military personnel has a lot to do with it.  The city is small and seems wedged between the Ross River and Castle Hill and therefore the suburbs have spread out with huge shopping centres acting like satellite cities and welding the whole area called Townsville together.  

Looking down across the city from atop Castle Hill, a striking anomaly on a flat landscape.

Visiting American soldiers used it as a lookout during WW2. The Townsville area was known as Base Section 2 to the Americans.

We were unable to take photos of the main street as there are major renovations going on there. They hope to be finished in time for Summer. On the South side of the river old Townsville still exists but also with a bit of updating and certainly all the trappings of a city such as jazz music outside the bistro where we had lunch.

looking across to Magnetic Island from Castle Hill

On the South Side. Typical old Queensland building.

The  upgrade of the Strand, a 2.2klm stretch of beachfront was opened in 1999 and is fabulous. 

The Strand

Activities on the Strand

The Rock Pool at the north end of The Strand

The fountain in Anzac Park on The Strand in one of it's colours.

  Known in Australia as the Banyan Fig. It's botanical name Ficus Benghalensis.  I've Google d this and find it is also called the Bengal fig, Indian Fig, east Indian fig, Indian banyan etc.  You will notice in my favourite books a book I picked up in the Cooktown museum called 1421.  The evidence being collected suggests the Chinese discovered and charted the world long before the  Europeans and while doing so move plenty flora and fauna around the globe.  This doesn't sound like an Aussie indigenous tree to me?!

A perfectly comfortable 50 minute trip to Magnetic Island in Bugalugs on the barge.