The Woodies Travel

Townsville is a very different town from Cairns as it is in what is called the dry tropics - it gets less rain and so there are no rainforest areas close by. The town is built around a hill called Castle Hill which is made of "pink" granite and it affects the layout of the inner city. When we first parked in town on the Strand we observed the gardens along the waterfront and the old buildings. We then wandered around the Cultural Centre which had a display related to the aboriginal people of the Townsville area and of the Torres Straight Islands. Next stop was the Museum of Tropical Queensland which had a very interesting exhibition on the ship Pandora which sank off northern Australia when returning to England with 14 mutineers from the Bounty. Archeologists have recovered many items, both personal, and needed for supplying the ship, and these were displayed most effectively. There was also a section of the museum devoted to the various environments found in tropical north Queensland. We then walked along the Flinders Mall which in the process of being redeveloped but it seemed deserted and with many empty or closed businesses; drove along the seafront for the length of the Strand; then went to the Lookout on Castle Hill which offers fantastic views and would be even better on a sunny day. After lunch we visited the Perc Tucker gallery which had a Chinese themed exhibition and also an exhibition from the National Gallery in Canberra of Australian prints influenced by Japanese wood block prints. They had for sale some expensive but very interesting fabric handbags. Tomorrow we are heading for Airlie Beach.