Our Time in Townsville

We knew we wanted to spend some time with an old friend of Duncan’s while we were in Townsville. We had met up with Rob and Rosie briefly on our way north, but now was the time to reconnect properly.

 

Fortunately there was a big-rig suitable Big 4 very close by to where they lived, so it was a week of catching up with plenty of swims in their pool, dinners together and free-loading of wifi. LOL. We were finally able to update ALL devices to iOS8 and update all the apps, something we were unable to do with our usual paltry wifi allowance. We were all keen to get the updated camera app with the self-timer, having seen it on a few phones when we take pics for others. Jealousy is a curse... With 2 iPhones, 2 iPods, 2 iPads and 2 iPad minis, downloading the updates on our paltry 18gB was simply not an option. Thanks for the data, Rob!

We spent our days exploring Townsville and our nights socialising. We did most of the ‘hikes’ at Castle Hill. Considering they were all of about 200m each, that wasn’t much of an accomplishment. We went to Reef HQ and spent a fascinating morning looking at the aquarium and touring the turtle hospital there. We then spent the afternoon at the Museum of Tropical Queensland. We were rather taken aback at the $30odd entry fee, but the children spent hours doing the hands-on activities so it was worthwhile.

We went to Kissing Point and explored the art sculpture trail at the old fort there, before walking down the hill to the rockpool for a swim. They have an enormous sea pool which is filtered for stingers, and we had a wonderful swim there. (We also spent a day at Magnetic Island, but that deserves a whole post of its very own.)

And to top it all off, it was Sam’s birthday and we extended our stay so we could all go out for dinner and attend her birthday party. The kids had a ball bouncing around in an indoor trampoline centre. I’m amazed at just how many ‘proper’ birthday parties we’ve managed to get to this year, let alone the amount of ‘on the road’ birthdays we’ve had!

Having sucked their data and eaten their birthday cake, it was time to bid farewell and hit the road again. Thanks for the hospitality Rob - it was wonderful to catch up!!