Townsville is located in North Queensland, and happens to be the largest city in this region. Even bigger than Cairns, Townsville is close to the Wet Tropics Rainforest, reportedly the oldest surviving rain forest in the world. No wonder it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And no wonder, we have so much rain here today.
The first time we visited Townsville, it was a replacement for a cancelled stop in Mooloolaba. The spelling is incorrect, but it took a long time to learn the pronunciation. Then it was cancelled. We discovered this area very much to our liking with a small town feel about it. And this region is a vacation spot for the Aussies as well as world travelers. There are more than 300 days of sunshine a year, with the exception of now, when the seasons are changing from summer to autumn. And considering the terrible fire season the country just endured, this rainfall is most welcomed by the locals. Perhaps not quite as much as they got a few days ago, when the streets had a foot of water flowing down them.
The downtown area and the beachfront are full of cafes, bars, and restaurants. Shopping is everywhere, especially a very nice Woolworths. You can also access the Great Barrier Reef from here, as well as Magnetic Island, a 6 mile boat ride from town with wild koalas, beaches, hiking trails, WWII history, and 360 degree views. All that, and luxury resorts to backpacker hostels and restaurants.
So, as we hinted, the weather was not the best today, but eventually the rain lightened up, and we had only occasional showers. Someone recently mentioned that when it rains here, then the sun comes out, it is hotter than ever. And humidity? Big time sticky. Lucky for all of us, there was a nice breeze.
We were docked safely, after navigating the narrow channel into the harbor early this morning. The winds were not as strong as predicted, and they did a good job getting us here. By the time the ship was cleared at 8:30am, we were still eating a light dining room breakfast. The first announcement we heard requested anyone with a sore throat, fever, or other indications of sickness to go to the medical center and report it. The next thing we heard was not to take any food off of the ship…this usually has to be repeated at least twice.
We waited until after 10am to leave, and when we went to go off deck one midship, we found they were moving the exit to deck A forward. Literally moving all of the equipment down the hallway to the forward elevators. The tide must have changed enough that the gangway had gotten extremely steep. We had a long walk to reach the terminal, which was full of helpful docents directing the folks to the waiting shuttle. They had excellent maps and booklets all about the area., which we thought was pretty nice to have such a special welcome. Armed with all of the info, we walked outside and boarded the shuttle for a 15 minute ride to the Central Business District. There were even more local guides at the bus drop to direct us where we wished to walk.
We did remember the path we like to take, and that was towards the museum and aquarium. On our first visits here, we toured both, so today we did not take the time to do it again. We followed the streets towards the Strand, the beachfront drive facing Cleveland Bay. On the way, we passed by the Breakwater Marina, full of all types of pleasure vessels. Anzac Park, the War Memorial, and Garden of Remembrance are located across from the marina. It is quite an impressive spot to honor those who died in many wars.
Continuing on, we came across the public Tobruk Pool, which has been closed down for a complete renovation. The Strand Waterpark was next, and a most wonderful place for the younger set. Despite the fact that it had been raining, some little kids were still in the shallow ponds with all sorts of water features. The best one has to be the gigantic pail that slowly fills with water, then dumps on a roof, splashing wide over the wading pool. So much fun watching the little kids anticipating the pail to dump, getting them really wet. Nice to be so young.
We began to see some of the local birds, some of which we are having trouble identifying. They hung out in the palm trees, going after the blossoms or bugs on those trees. Then we heard the red-tailed black cockatoos in the mangrove trees in the strip of park along the walkway. These large birds are strictly seed-eaters, and sure were making a mess with the nuts and seeds they were chewing overhead. Of course, we got many photos.
By the time we reached the seaside restaurant where we would have lunch later, we turned and went up Gregory Street. Our destination was Queens Gardens, which was so green, and also so wet, but a nice place to stroll the paths around the mature trees and flowering shrubs. We could hear the kookaburras "laughing" as they flew, but could not locate any of them. At one end of the park, there was a section of bird cages, which had been under construction last year. They still are being worked on, but there was a new enclosure with some native parrots. There were some rainbow lorikeets, sulfur-crested cockatoos, galahs, a white and pink bird that are numerous in Australia. One of them was nervously making a lot of noise, so we talked to it, calling it pretty bird and hello. We swear on a bible that the bird said hello back to us several times, convincing us that this collection here were all hand-raised pets. Even a couple of the rainbow lorikeets displayed playful behavior with us, posing for several photos. We knew better than to put our fingers through the small gauge netting, as these parrots can sever a finger in a heartbeat.
There were more of these colorful lorikeets in some street trees, but the wild ones. They were eating flowers or seeds, but because the leaves were about the same shade of green as the birds, they were impossible to see. This is nature at its best. It was almost comical, because the only time the lorikeets could be spotted, was when they showed their red, yellow, and blue undersides.
Time to head back and continue our hike on the Strand. Further up, we saw the enclosed area of beach, where people can swim safely within the netting. Signs were posted everywhere warning the beach goers of stinging jellies, specifically, the box jellies. We have heard the these stings can be most serious, not to mention extremely painful. Hard to believe with all of the beautiful beaches, they are not swimmable between November to June, more or less. We have even heard that you are not safe walking on the sandy beaches, because you could step on a box jelly, and also be stung if it is still alive.
One thing worth mentioning is the fact there are well maintained restrooms along this entire beachfront. In the park area there are barbeque facilities and picnic benches and convenient playgrounds for the little kids. Then at the far end of The Strand is Kissing Point Lookout and Jezzine Barracks and Army Museum. We were told that local buses offered a free ride back to town and the ship's shuttle, which is great because it is a long walk to here.
We back-tracked to the Longboard Grill and Bar for much earned Longboard draft beers and a shared Margherita pizza. We added one order of waffle fries with catsup, which is called tomato sauce in Australia, we were advised. This restaurant happens to be the only one opened that is near the water's edge, but there are many more nice spots across the road on and around Gregory Street. We also found more suitable spots back on Flinders Street around the Central Business District , near the local market shopping.
There were many more sightings of the black cockatoos on the way back, as they noisily devoured the seeds of the mangrove trees. These birds do not need camouflage, because we doubt they have many predators, except perhaps….people. Back in town, we located their quite nice Woolworths and bought a few essentials, one of which was a carton of Hokey Pokey, the creamy delight. The best thing was that this whole complex was air-conditioned. No wonder so few locals were out and about on super-humid days like this one.
Lucky for us, the shuttle was waiting up the street, and we hopped on to find friends Barb, Susie, and Ellen already there as well. Greg and Heo were on their way to join us, but were not fast enough, as the driver pulled away. All we could do is wave to them. Greg did say that another coach was coming up the rear. So we made a beeline to our room to stash the ice cream after getting back to the terminal. There were a lot of nice souvenir items being sold there, but there was nothing we needed.
Now before going up the gangway, everyone is required to use the hand sanitizer. This is good, because we need to keep our ship clean from any virus. In addition, we all got a message that some changes will be made to the self-service food stations in the Lido. Also great, since there were too many commonly-used things, such as tongs, to get your food.
There was precious little time to recover before the sail away activities began at the Seaview Pool at 4:30pm. The rain had stayed away and we were all dry as the ship backed out of the tight confines of the harbor. We noticed that some of the staff had joined us, such as the tai chi instructor. He came over to chat with us, and indicated he had a hard time getting here via Tokyo from New York. Mostly due to visa problems. Travel has been more complicated with this unfortunate virus.
We watched as the pilot and Captain kept the ship within the buoys of the channel as we sailed back into the ocean on our way towards Cairns. There was a promising sunset within the following hour, but we had a cocktail party to attend at 6:30pm, so we would miss it. With a quick change, we met with our travel companions and other similar groups in the Explorers Lounge for tasty canapes and drinks of our choice. Even without requesting them, the drinks kept coming to our stand-up table of four. Howard and Gyl had joined us, with our tablemates Barb, Susie, and Woody at the next table. Conversations taking place these days all revolve around the changes in the itinerary, and tonight was no exception. So many folks like us have independent plans for Africa, and would appreciate knowing in advance if we will be going there or not. Henk, the hotel director, did join us, but could not offer any new info on the subject. So far all we know for sure is that the ports in Australia are still on, but after the 25th of March, who knows? That's when we are due to head towards the continent of Africa. Sure hate to miss it, but none of us has any control over that.
We were all at dinner tonight, sharing stories of the day. And we were all in agreement that Townsville had been fun and most welcoming. Except for one of us, Woody, who had chosen to stay onboard. Too much walking in the heat and rain for him, he was happy as a clam staying home. Entrees for us were the BBQ ribs, but was not the best choice. It was something different from the usual dinners.
Showtime was a Brett Cave pianist with an all new show. We really would not know, since we missed him the first time around. We are waiting for the Aussie harpist to come back.
And we had gifts waiting for us in the room. They were two world umbrellas, and most useful with this current wet weather. Actually, they are rather nice, because the world map is printed under the umbrella with the solid color on the top.
Tomorrow……Cairns.
Bill & Mary Ann
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Report # 125 Townsville, Australia March 11, 2020 Tuesday Chance of thunderstorm & 85 degrees
