Day 12 – Townsville – 26 September 2017

After a continental breakfast at the Castawasy Resort we set out for South Mission Beach, stopping at Wongaling Beach on the way there. They are both lovely beaches, though quiet, residential towns compared to ‘main’ Mission Beach, and all the action seems to be in Mission Beach, where we stayed.

The drive down to Townsville, our stop for the night, wasn’t very interesting at all, though we stopped at Cardwell, which has a nice jetty and seafront where we spotted Dugong and a sea turtle.

I was desperately trying to find things to do as the trip was getting a bit boring, and the guidebook mentioned Big Crystal Creek, so we stopped to take a look. There were quite a few people camping there, which I found astonishing as it is in the middle of nowhere – and it is very dry and very hot there!

Next stop was Townsville where we stopped at the top of The Strand and had a quick look at the pool and views. As our hotel (Townsville Central) was a fair distance away we wanted to get an idea of what there was to see on The Strand so we didn’t have to walk all the way back for a look! It is a lovely pool and beach, and well attended by parents, kids and couples. After checking into the hotel we took a walk down the small high street, looking for somewhere to eat and have a drink or two. We were staying in Palmer Street which has a lot of nice restaurants, but still wanted to check out the other options down Flinders Street. We walked past the brewery but didn’t go in; eventually having a beer at the Cowboys Leagues Club, the home of the Cowboys rugby team that was playing in the final. The place is huge (with a sports bar for your betting needs!) and clearly very popular as pretty much all the tables were reserved!

We had a quick drink before legging it back to Palmer Street where we went to Cactus Jack’s so I could have a happy hour margarita – which was great as I’d only been having beer and wine for ages! Dinner was a quick burger at Grill’d that Brian was much more impressed with than I was – I won’t be hurrying back! There only seemed to be one ‘proper’ pub called The Australian Hotel in our area so that’s where we ended up after Grill’d. They had a 400g Rump Special for $10 and the place was absolutely heaving! They also have lots of drinks specials on throughout the week and I can imagine it would always be very popular!