City guide
Everything you need to know about Townsville
Daniel Scott explores far northern Queensland, where rugby league, beach culture and an exciting food scene have the town buzzing.
Less than 1100 kilometres from Port Moresby, and now served by twice-weekly direct flights, Townsville is strongly connected to Papua New Guinea through business, education, sport and as the base for Youth With a Mission (YWAM) medical ships, which provide vital medical support to the regions.
A sparkling, tropical seaside city at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, it’s an excellent destination for a short break, perhaps built around a North Queensland Cowboys home game, in the National Rugby League competition.
GETTING AROUND
With the airport only five kilometres from the city centre, taxis and buses (sunbus.com. au) will get you most places in Townsville. Regular ferries service Magnetic Island, 20 minutes away (sealinkqld.com.au). Once you reach ‘Maggie’, as locals call it, an entertaining touring option is hiring an open-top Mini Moke (tropicaltopless.com).
SIGHTS
Enjoying 300 days of sunshine per year, Townsville is the epitome of a tropical Australian seaside city, with an outdoor lifestyle at its heart.
Begin your exploration with a stroll along The Strand foreshore, which, with its waterpark, playgrounds and waterside cafes, was voted one of Australia’s top 10 beaches by TripAdvisor. Backing the city, like Table Mountain looming over Cape Town, is Castle Hill, a red granite knoll from which the views of the sunset and of fit locals puffing up to the top in joggers or on bikes, are sublime.
Offshore, the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef beckon. One thrilling way of seeing its many shapes and colours is from the air (townsvillehelicopters.com. au), while another is to do a day trip to snorkel on Lodestone Reef (adrenalindive.com.au). Divers also flock to one of the world’s top wreck sites, that of the SS
Yongala, that sank off Townsville in 1911, with its prolific marine life, from swarms of tropical fish to sea turtles and sharks.
Back on land, the Reef HQ Aquarium (2– 68 Flinders Street,
open 9.30–5pm daily, reefhq. com.au) has extensive coral gardens and thousands of tropical fish on display in a 2.5 million-litre tank. The adjacent Museum of Tropical Queensland (open daily 9.30–5pm, mtq.qm.qld.gov.au) also has exhibits on the reef and on the region’s rainforests and indigenous heritage. Townsville has a busy sporting calendar. In addition to being home to North Queensland’s NRL team (cowboys. com.au), the city hosts Australia’s second-oldest marathon (August 5, townsvillerunningfestival.com), the Supercars Townsville 400
(July 6–8, supercars. com/townsville) and the Magnetic Island yacht festival (August 30–September 5, magneticislandraceweek.com.au).
TOWNSVILLE SPECIAL
The jewel in the crown of Townsville’s enviable location, is the presence offshore, close enough for some to commute by ferry, of Magnetic Island. Surrounded by palm-fringed bays, much of the island is covered by national park and numbers koalas among its residents, which only adds to its impression of tropical torpor. Yet, with hiking trails, excellent snorkelling in turquoise coves, a lively cafe scene, particularly behind Horseshoe Bay – try the Early Bird (facebook. com/theearlyb) – and the annual sailing extravaganza (see left), appearances can be deceptive.
CULTURE VULTURE
Taking place in Townsville and on Magnetic Island between Friday July 27 and Sunday August 5, the 28th Australian Festival of Chamber Music brings musicians from around the world to perform in 25 concerts and events (afcm.com.au). Year-round, the newly opened Jezzine Barracks (queensland.com/en-au/attraction/ jezzine-barracks), on Kissing Point Headland, at the north end of The Strand, is a commemorative precinct with insights into this region’s extensive indigenous and military heritage, as well as art works and coastal views. In town, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Centre
(2– 68 Flinders Street East, open Monday–Saturday 9.30am– 4.30pm, cctownsville.com.au) has traditional and contemporary artworks and artefacts, and regular performances.
DOING BUSINESS
For meeting rooms with a view, head to the waterfront Ville Resort – Casino (Sir Leslie Thiess Drive, the-ville.com.au), while in town, James Cook University’s city campus (383 Flinders Street, jcu.edu.au) has meeting spaces with video conferencing facilities. In the CBD, the North Queensland Club (146 Denham Street, northqueenslandclub.com.au) is a versatile venue for connecting and socialising with business colleagues.
RETAIL THERAPY
Running off the Strand, Gregory Street has an array of independent boutiques, selling everything from homewares to the latest fashion items, and cafes and restaurants in which to intersperse the shopping with coffee and a bite to eat. On Sundays, the central Cotters Street markets (8.30am–1pm) have everything from jewellery and woodworks to stuffed toads, as well as plentiful food stalls.
PILLOW TALK
Undoubtedly Townsville’s hippest accommodation option is Rambutan (rambutantownsville. com.au), a glampacker resort that runs the gamut of room types, from eight-bed mixed dorms
to luxury king-sized hotel boudoirs. The top floor bar/restaurant and pool are its major draw, bringing together visitors and locals, for drinks, slow-cooked meats from an imported smokehouse and stellar views over Townsville. For the business traveller, the four-star Hotel Grand Chancellor (grandchancellorhotels.com/ hotel-grand-chancellor-townsville), aka ‘the sugar shaker’ due to its unusual shape, is close to the CBD, and the Ville Resort Casino (theville.com.au), is completing a $A40 million facelift, which will return it to the pinnacle of Townsville accommodation. Finally, for oldfashioned hospitality in an historic Queenslander, try Classique Bed and Breakfast (classiquebnb.com. au) located beside Castle Hill.
EATS
Townsville’s food scene is evolving rapidly. For an award-winning breakfast head to Jam ( Good Food
Guide chef’s hat 2018, 1 Palmer Street, jamcorner.com. au) on the city’s ‘eat street’, where you’ll also find Michel’s (7 Palmer Street, michelsrestaurant.com. au), melding contemporary French and Australian influences in dishes like bouillabaise and the ultimate in slow food, escargot.
Along The Strand, both Watermark (72 The Strand, watermarktownsville.com. au) and the new Shore House
(118 The Strand, North Ward, shorehousetownsville.com.au) are light-filled restaurants putting an innovative spin on local sourced seafood and meat.
Off the main Flinders Street, City Lane is Townsville’s answer to the laneway craze sweeping Australian cities, with outlets offering sushi, dumplings and Korean spiced pork, along with Italian and Americanstyle diner fodder (citylane.com.au)
WATERING HOLES
Also in City Lane is the Tap House (373 Flinders Street, thetaphouse. com.au), where you can pour your own beer and taste the latest seasonal brew.
On Flinders Mall, the Brewery (252 Flinders Street, townsvillebrewery.com.au) is the place to sup Townsville Bitter within metres of where it is produced and sample varietals like Bandito Loco Mexican lager and Belgian Blonde wit bier.
A stroll up Flinders Street leads to Hooch and Fellow (181 Flinders Street, facebook.com/ hoochandfellow/), Townsville’s first dedicated cocktail bar. For a more traditional night out in tropical Queensland try the Seaview Hotel (56 The Strand, seaviewhotel.com. au) before adjourning to the night club strip on Palmer Street East.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Mervin Dean is from Madang, PNG, but moved to Townsville to start an apprenticeship as a boilermaker. I love Townsville because … it is spread out and has a country feel to it, which reminds me of home. The beach is amazing as well. A great night out is … Monsoon’s Bar and Grill, Cactus Jack’s Saloon, Molly Malone’s Irish Pub or Flynn’s Irish Bar. There is also a new place called Rambutan.
To let loose a little bit there is always Mad Cow Tavern.
We all gather at … The Strand near the oval or the water park where the kids can have a swim.
The best sport is … rugby league. Not going to lie, I go for the Brisbane Broncos but my second-favourite team is the North Queensland Cowboys. Don’t forget to … check out Maggie (Magnetic) Island. Also, don’t forget to check out the fishing spots in and around Townsville.