Tag Archives: Townsville

A Walk Through Townsville

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The day after our trip to Maggie Island I took a half-day off to myself without the Mr. We were staying in Rowes Bay so I walked along the boardwalk to Kissing Point and into the Strand.

Rowes Bay

Rowes Bay

The Council had really excelled in the design of the facilities along the bay to the city. There are lovely parks, a brand new wooden boardwalk, local artist installations, mainly relating to Aboriginal culture, an outdoor museum at kissing point and then the Strand. It really was a stunning walk.

Castle Hill from Kissing Point

Castle Hill from Kissing Point

I was so invigorated that I decided to walk the track up Castle Hill. Just for some context, I was on my own, it was really hot, I had no water. The climb was hell! But the views at the top were worth it!

Magnetic Island View from Castle Hill

Magnetic Island View from Castle Hill

Then I did the very thing that everyone should do after a long hard walk, I walked to the brewery and had a beer or two at Townsville Brewery.

This walk was definitely the highlight of my time in Townsville!

The Brewery, Townsville Brewing Co

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My Paddle

My Paddle

I really like to eat and drink and unfortunately Queensland isn’t really known for its gourmet food and alcohol products, they do exist, they just aren’t well known or as predominant as other states. So to satisfy my cravings I did some research into breweries and wineries in Queensland that I might be able to visit and Townsville Brewery came up as the only boutique brewery in Far North Queensland.

Townsville Brewing Co

Townsville Brewing Co

The brewery is located on Flinders St, Townsville CBD. The building was originally a postal and telephone office, the military communications headquarters during World War 2 and then back to a post office before being redeveloped into a brewery, restaurant, bar and function centre.

I knew that they brewed on site so I was completely unprepared for the dark and opulent feel of the venue as I walked in. The inside was all high ceilings with simple chandeliers gracing the roof, heavy wooden tables with intricate designs carved into them and bar tables made from old barrels. There were dark leather couches scattered around the space, a ceiling to floor wooden bookcase, a simple and understated fireplace and a gold gilded mirror, I was in love.

The bar staff were lovely and yes they do have tasting paddles, my favourite. For $12 I was able to sample  their 7 beers on tap that are made onsite.

  1. Townsville Bitter Premium Light
  2. Townsville Bitter Premium
  3. Bandito Loco, Mexican Lager
  4. Belgian Blonde, Wit Beer
  5. Digger’s Golden Ale
  6. Ned’s Red, Red Ale
  7. Flanagan’s Dry Irish Stout
The Belgian Blond

The Belgian Blond

My favourite, the Belgium Blonde. “A naturally cloudy ale brewed with pilsner malt, unmalted wheat, malted wheat and flavoured with coriander and ginger. It is bittered with Saaz hops and fermented using a Belgium yeast strain resulting in light-bodied refreshing beer with a slightly fruity and complete aroma.”

They also had a lunch special going with a chicken BLT and a schooner for $10, bargain. All in all a great place, great beer and great service.

Townsville Brewery_A Girl A 4WD And A Trailer.JPG-4

The island affectionately known as “Maggie”

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Magnetic Island, Townsville

Magnetic Island, Townsville

From Mackay we continued northward to Townsville. We did stop along the way at Bowen and took a couple of pics with the big mango. A local news crew accosted us on the way back to the car and asked us some questions about what we thought of the local area from a tourist’s perspective. Having not prepared for the interview and not seen anything of the local area, our responses were somewhat lacking and rather embarrassing ‘cringe!’

Anyway we arrived in Townsville and we did a day trip over to Magnetic Island, also known by the locals as “Maggie”.

We found that as we are RACQ members we were able to get a 10% discount off the ferry to Maggie, bargain! We caught the early ferry across and waited until the car hire place opened. We wanted a Moke to get around the island, but they were really expensive so we hired the Topless instead.

Me in a Topless, Magnetic Island

Me in a Topless, Magnetic Island

Picnic Bay Wharf

Picnic Bay Wharf

The island is only 12kms long so we drove From Nelly Bay down to Horseshoe Bay to see if there was any good snorkeling to be had. Unfortunately there was a strong breeze and the lifeguards told us that there probably wouldn’t be any decent snorkeling that day.

Undeterred we drove down to Picnic Bay, changed into our snorkeling gear and attempted to go in. Dammit, the lifeguards were right, we could barely see a metre in front.

So we had a quick stop off at the local museum and the island’s memorial park and drove back to Horseshoe Bay for some lunch.

Lunch at the local pub was lovely and after a quick lie down on the beach we drove back to the ferry and called it a day.