Townsville

Had a couple of days in Townsville exploring what North Queensland's largest city has to offer beyond being a jumping-off point for Magnetic Island.

The Strand is Townsville's signature attraction - a 2.5-kilometre beachfront promenade that locals clearly take pride in. It's lined with parks, swimming enclosures, cafes, and restaurants, and provides excellent views across to Magnetic Island. The rockpool and water park make it popular with families, while the walking and cycling paths attract early morning exercisers. It's the kind of well-maintained public space that gives you a sense of how seriously Townsville takes its lifestyle appeal.

Jezzine Barracks sits on the headland overlooking the Strand and deserves proper exploration. This former military site has been transformed into parkland with walking tracks through tropical gardens and along the clifftop. The views across Cleveland Bay are spectacular, and the interpretive signage does a good job explaining the site's military history stretching back to the 1940s.

The WWII memorial at Kissing Point is worth the visit for anyone interested in Australia's wartime history. Townsville was a crucial staging point during WWII, with thousands of Allied troops passing through on their way to the Pacific campaign. The memorial overlooks the port and provides context for just how important this city was to the war effort - the largest garrison city in Australia at the time, with more American troops stationed here than Australians.

Standing there looking out over the harbour, you can imagine what it must have been like during the war years when the port was packed with naval vessels and troops. The strategic importance of Townsville's position relative to Papua New Guinea and the Pacific theatre becomes obvious from this vantage point.

Between the Strand, Jezzine Barracks, and the WWII sites, Townsville offers more than we expected. It's a proper regional city with decent infrastructure and enough historical significance to warrant a couple of days exploring. We also did the Magnetic Island day trip (covered elsewhere), which rounds out a solid few days in North Queensland's largest centre.Lue lisää