Cudtheringa QLD

This ‘second summer’ business is starting to wear a bit thin. Where’s the sunny dry season we signed up for? C’mon Kwee-lan… do better.

Undeterred, we set off this morning to explore Townsville, beginning with the iconic Castle Hill Lookout. Rising almost 300 m above the city, this enormous pink granite monolith right in the heart of town provides spectacular 360° views across the city, Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island.

Next stop was The Strand, Townsville’s stunning waterfront promenade. With palm lined beaches, a water park and swimming lagoon, it’s easy to see why it’s regarded as one of Australia’s best urban foreshore precincts. Had it not been blowing an absolute gale, we would have gone for a swim. Instead, we took turns on one of the hire e-scooters - once we’d finally worked out the app 🙃

From there we did a drive-by of the marina before checking out Queensland Country Bank Stadium, home of the North Queensland Cowboys. Sadly (for the boys), there was nowhere to safely pull over for a photo with JT - the statue that is, not the man himself.

In the spirit of embracing cowboy country, we browsed through the local western wear stores including Ringers Western, Ariat and Donohues. We briefly entertained the idea of dressing the part until we discovered a shirt from Donohues was $450!

Honourable mentions for the day go to the constant Chinooks doing laps overhead from the nearby RAAF base and the pit crews busily transforming the city streets for this weekend’s Townsville 500. Nothing quite says “tropical Queensland” like helicopters overhead and race cars warming up around the corner.

P.S. Cudtheringa is the traditional Aboriginal name for Castle Hill.Read more