Townsville...gateway to magnetic island :)

As we left airlie beach it was a lovely sunny morning our bus was at 7am and we were walking to the bus stop and I decided this was a good time to take a couple of pics of the amount of luggage we have to carry!....

......Luke in front with all his luggage!

.....me with my luggage

......all of our luggage together !

Nothing was more exciting at this point then the thought of getting a suitcase ! And not having to cart around all our food! However it was all experience!

As we drove into townsville we was pleasantly surprised it looked like a lovely town :) we got dropped off at the ferry terminal this is where we would catch a ferry over to magnetic island. We waited for our shuttle to our hostel but I couldn't remember what time it was coming so we waited half hour and then decided to walk .....it was about 2kms as we got half way we found out it was much hotter then we thought ! And we were sweating! We walked all the way along the strand...it was lovely.

When we got to our hostel around 35 mins later we were quite literally dripping with sweat! And the owner came in around 5 minutes after us ....he had been waiting for us at the ferry port! We must have just missed him! We checked in......we had a four bedded dorm with aircon! It was really spacious one of the most spacious hostels we have been in actually :) we settled in and went next door to where there was a Coles (Ozzie supermarket !) stocked up....they had a oven and freezer :) Luke decided he would make me chilli con carne as I have never had it! We used quorn mince and it was delicious! The hostel also had free wifi and free computers :) it wasn't very busy at all,they had comfy sofas and a big tv, nice kitchen and lovely cold rooms :) we decided that night to walk up castle hill :)) it was around a 5 mile round trip and we decided to go In time for sunset....it would be a lot cooler then :) it looked like a bloody steep climb but compared to mount iron in wanaka we was up for anything ! ....

.....castle hill !

The start of the hill wasn't too bad...we kinda power walked up the first half! I don't know why ! But it felt great! We came to an opening where there was some stairs .....you could either continue up the hill or use the stairs ! We was going to use the stairs but I didn't think I could manage it.....

....the beginning of the stairs 

We continued up the hill and it just seemed to get steeper and steeper ! Although maybe it felt a lot steeper because we were getting more tired and just wanted to get to the top! Although it was a tough walk we had lovely views all the way to the top! People were driving up and I can just imagine what they were thinking watching all the walkers struggle up! However there were some super fit people that were jogging up this hill! We just couldn't understand it!

We were getting closer and closer to the top And I was loosing hope we would ever make it! So I asked a couple walking down how far it was other top and they said we were two 3rds of the way up ! They also said the view was very worth it....so we continued.....

 ....half way up....

.....two thirds up!

.....and finally the top! We made it!

The views were stunning ....

......we stayed up there for around 45 minutes until the sun went down then we started our descend ! It got dark super quickly and that's when all the bugs, mozzies and other huge flying things decided to come out! So me and Luke were quite literally having a slow run down the hill whilst slapping ourselves all over to kill the mozzies! it must have looked really funny to anyone walking passed us or people that we went passed!! Looking back it was funny but it wasn't at the time!

A good first day in townsville :) we were looking forward to our stay here and to go back to a room that was ice cold from the aircon was simply perfect :)

We had a good sleep and a lazy morning just chilling and using the internet.....we decided in the afternoon to go and fish off of the fishing jetty....

......the fishing jetty on the strand

When we arrived there was another bloke there fishing and he had six rods out! The limit was three! He had taken up the whole of the front and sides of the pier! Another clear example of Ozzie fishermen and indeed some fishermen in general....this is our view on fishermen!....fishermen that are obsessed with the hobbie that work all week and then fish every spare minute I found to be very arrogant and selfish, they look at you like shit when you turn up to fish as if to say "why are you fishing here"! they take everything so seriously I find it hard to believe they still find the hobbie fun! We have found a lot of these sorts of people in australia but there are also many in the uk! Some people need to lighten up a bit and enjoy it! Anyway back to the subject at hand! This jetty was quite good actually as it had cover over it to protect you from the sun.....we had recently found out that Queensland is the skin cancer capital of the world so they provide all types of shade everywhere which was nice, however the wind was pretty strong today and we were quite literally getting blown to pieces ! The wind was dragging our lines in so it made it quite difficult, we carried on but gave up after a few hours. We had a wonder further down the strand and found another great fishing spot by the rock pool but it was occupied with people just two guys that took up the whole fishing spot! Need I say no more! We had a lovely stroll back :) and lovely evening, so far townsville we are impressed :)

.....one of the artistic features of the strand!

The strand is a long stretch along side the sea front...it has various arty features and gorgeous views of magnetic island.....it also had two netted areas for swimming ....the nets were used to project swimmers from box jellyfish as it was the dangerous season....there was also a huge rock pool at the end of the strand which you could swim in...there was a sign there saying they take every measure to ensure no jellyfish are in there however its not 100% proof! 

The third day we decided to get on with our list of stuff that needs booking, researching and also look at our excursions for our cruise :) to a lot of you it may seem like a wasted day however there is still a lot that needs to be done for our trip! We booked and plan as much as we could before we left but unfortunately there is a limit on how much you can book etc for a year long trip! An example of things on our list would be.....choosing our excursions for our cruise, looking into car hire for USA, emailing upcoming hostels confirming bookings etc, we had to research fiji as we had two spare weeks there and couldn't decide on an island to visit! The list goes on....although it takes a lot of time and brain power! It is quite fun because it's giving us a little insight to our future travel!

Our days at townsville were spent wondering down on the strand and fishing in different spots it was a lovely relaxing time and of course we loved having the wifi when we came back from our days out. One day we decided to fish near the harbour we had been advised by a local that there were big fish there infact he had caught one that morning! We headed there and after a couple of hours my rod went! We originally thought it was a fish but luke decided it was a eel! It went under the rocks and regurgitated the bait! Something a fish wouldnt normally do! 

We had a great time in townsville.....we liked it so much we decided to come back here after our trip to magnetic island for a week! 

We were excited to go to magnetc island i was so desperate to see and hold a koala and we were staying at a koala sanctuary so i couldnt wait......

Next stop magnetic island :)