Townsville to Airlie Beach, Australia

December 11th –  December 17th 2011


We decided to drive to Townsville so we packed up and got on the road as it would take us three hours to get there. We filled the campervan up for the first time which was $70, not as expensive as we were expecting but still a huge chunk of our budget gone for the day. We drove on passing the crop fields and tree covered mountains in the distance before finding a campsite in Townsville and having a dip in the sites pool. The next day we drove to Reef HQ which is a huge living coral reef aquarium. We saw sharks, rays and various colourful reef fish as well as sea horses which were a highlight. The reef was good but for $26.50 we would have liked for it to have occupied a bit more of our time, you could easily see everything in well under an hour but we stretched it out as long as we could by watching sea life documentary films on the second floor.

Reef HQ

We had plenty of time left on our parking ticket so we walked along the Strand passing loads of amazing children’s play areas, my cousins Lily and Chase and Craig’s nephews Alfie and Aidan would absolutely love it here! The sea front was lovely; it was another beautiful day so the walk past the boats in the harbour was great. At the far end we found a free lagoon swimming area which we hope to take advantage of tomorrow.
As the sun was shining the following day we decided to spend the day at the lagoon in the sun. We parked up for free and found a grassy spot to sit and read. We went for a dip in the salt water pool and generally relaxed. It would be great if England had these types of free facilities although we don’t really have the hot weather to make the most of them. Even free parking in England is a rarity!

I had read about Charters Towers in the Lonely Planet and it sounded interesting so we drove the 90 minutes inland to see it. It began life as a gold rush town and has many interesting buildings and lots of history. We parked up in town and walked along the High Street. We got a walking tour map and walked by each of the architecturally significant buildings and saw some large murals too. We jumped back in the camper and went to Tower Hill.

Charters Towers

We drove to the top and saw amazing panoramic views over Charters Towers and the surrounding area. We did a little walk at the top and then went to see the old abandoned war bunkers which were very eerie and the old mines too. We saw a huge wild kangaroo watching us from a distance before it hopped away into the dry bushes. With the sun beating down on us it felt like we were in an old American town in the Wild West. In the late afternoon with the sun still very hot we found a campsite and jumped in the pool to cool off.

Views from Tower Hill

Abandoned war bunker

The next day we took one last look around town before driving back to Townsville along the highway. It was pouring with rain on the way back which was actually quite a relief from the usual intense heat. Once in Townsville we grabbed an umbrella and went to the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery where we saw an exhibition called Desert Country which included lots of colourful aboriginal paintings with fascinating narratives. We stopped at an internet café to catch up on news from home before driving our van to the top of Castle Hill. It was a bit of a misty and grey day but the views over Townsville were pretty.

Airlie Beach

After some shopping the following morning we drove to Airlie Beach which was roughly four hours away. On the journey we crossed a bridge which reminded me of my friend Sally’s beautiful paintings at our degree show. It’s on these long journeys that I think of home and my mind wanders back to what my friends and family are up to while I’m not there. Once in Airlie Beach we decided that it looks like a party town as there are backpackers, tourists and bars everywhere. We stayed at Flame Tree Tourist Park a few kilometres away which is lovely as it’s peaceful and the place is full of animals and amazing birds. After a relaxing day at Flame Tree we drove back to Airlie Beach and checked in at Base as we had a spot reserved with a voucher for just $5 a night which was too cheap to pass up! We went for a walk and to the Saturday market which was selling pretty handicrafts, sweets and food and drink, unfortunately we couldn't afford anything as we were planning to spend a good chunk of the budget taking a boat out to one of the Whitsunday Islands nearby the following day. We walked along the Bicentennial Walkway which runs along the coast and admired the pretty views and tropical flowers and mangroves en route.