The Strand And The Promenade

Day 16 - Townsville - 05.09.2018

Aloha dear friends and family at home,

early in the morning our alarm clock rang. We didn't want to leave Taylor Beach too late in order to have enough time to spend in Townsville. After our breakfast - usually we have cereal & milk in the morning - we started our campervan and headed south. The drive should take about 1:40 hours. Everything went smoothly and we arrived in the city with 190,000 inhabitants. Thanks to a coupon, we were able to stay at a discounted and well-rated campground that was also centrally located. Already on the drive to Townsville, I had tried to find out the most important and interesting "highlights" of the city through our travel guide as well as some apps. Janina and I always discuss our daily schedule together, even if there are occasionally some small discussions ;)

Townsville has an almost 3 km long promenade called 'The Strand'. We drove there and parked our Liu in a shady parking lot. Without any time pressure, we strolled along the beautiful promenade. There are BBQ areas everywhere where you can grill and sit together, there are several fitness equipment where some people worked out, as well as playgrounds for children. At the end of the promenade, we came across a small water park and watched the kids play and splash around with their parents. However, there wasn't much going on because it was Wednesday noon. But our backpack was always with us and so we were looking forward to shady hours at the beach. Even though it's not jellyfish season in Queensland at the moment, there are warning signs everywhere that warn of these small, strange animals. Vinegar for first aid for jellyfish stings is available everywhere on the beach. Markings with waving flags signal to beach visitors if and where they can swim. Janina and I lay down in the shade and enjoyed the sound of the sea and the warm temperatures. After a little nap, we packed our beach stuff again and went shopping. A large shopping center was right next to our campground. Well equipped for our cooking session in the camp kitchen, we prepared wraps on a huge grill. Super delicious :) When we got to bed, we checked Maps and the travel guide to see what our next two days would look like, but more on that later.

Day 17 - Townsville - 06.09.2018

6:30 am and the alarm clock rings! By now we get up pretty early compared to the first days, as you simply have so much more of the day. Janina gets up much better in the morning than I do, but as soon as the sliding door of the camper is opened and closed, I'm awake. Another reason for getting up early was my hairdresser appointment at 6.50 am with my private hairdresser 'Dschäneina' in her first year of apprenticeship. A few days ago, I bought a cheap hair cutting set and this was the first time trying it out. Against all expectations, the result after about 45 minutes of shaving and cutting time looked more than acceptable! And I saved about 25$ again ;)

Our plan for the day was to explore the shopping street Townsville. Janina was still looking for a summer dress and I was also looking forward to strolling through some stores again. The downtown area, located near the beach, was not particularly large or worth seeing, but there were a few nice cafes and shops. By lunchtime, we were starting to get hungry. We bought burger patties and made our way back to the promenade where our camper was parked. We stored buns, vegetables, sauces, drinks, and dishes there and took them to the beach to grill at the BBQ areas right by the water. After about 20 minutes, we had delicious burgers (with a slightly dry bun) on our plates, which the many seagulls also looked at hungrily. Occasionally, you had to scare them away with a loud noise. Janina cleaned up the camper after our lunch and I cleaned the grill site. Then we went back to the beach. Today it was partly very cloudy and windy. It was slowly getting cold and we made our way home. At the campground, we only quickly changed clothes and drove to 'Castle Hill', a mountain in the middle of the city. From there, we wanted to watch the sunset and have a 360° view of the city. There were three ways to get to this mountain: walk up the road, take a steep path with over 1300 steps, or drive up by car. We chose the latter option. Many tourists and locals jog up and down Castle Hill, so you have to watch out for pedestrians when driving on the somewhat narrow road. When we arrived at the top, we had a great view of Townsville. From below, this city didn't seem particularly big. But with a panoramic view, you could see lights and the sea as far as the eye could see. You could also see the 'Magnetic Island', a lush island just 20 minutes away by ferry, lying beautifully in the Pacific Ocean. Tomorrow we will take the ferry over and go on a day boat tour. We will snorkel with a private guide, feed fish and eagles, and possibly also snorkel to a shipwreck. Reports will follow in the coming days ;)

On the hill, we met two German teenagers. Paul and Aaron are spending 6 and 12 months abroad respectively and going to school in Townsville. The two 16-year-olds were very nice and open-minded. It was nice to chat with a few German-speaking people for a bit longer. Everyone enjoyed the great cityscape as well as the tranquility on the hill, which was only disturbed by the stormy wind. After taking some photos of each other, we stayed on the hill for a while longer, said goodbye to each other, and drove down the steep, narrow road again.

Tomorrow will be a very special day for us that we are really looking forward to! We hope to share great stories and pictures with you.

Goodnight and see you soon - we miss you all!!!

J&J