Townsville

Tuesday 16 July

 

Alma Bay,  Magnetic Island

Today we decided to make our way over to Magnetic Island, only 8km off the Townsville coast. With the weather looking a bit dodgy we took the passenger ferry and hired a car over there to get around rather than take our own car over. The ferry trip is only a 20 minute trip as the catamaran ferry is quite quick. The weather limited us to some extent as there are many walks on the island we could have done but would have been saturated. Instead we looked through the shops and, when the showers broke, took some short walks. During one of the rain breaks we explored Alma Bay, climbing over the rocks and fossicking through the washed up coral. There are some very pretty areas on Magnetic Island and it would have been very nice to have been able to spend some more time exploring the island.

After lunch overlooking Horseshoe Bay and an ice-cream we decided to fill the hire car with petrol and take the ferry back. By the time we had done this, we arrived at the ferry to see the crew untying the ropes and leaving the dock - the next ferry was 85 minutes away.

Wednesday 17 July

As soon as Declan had seen the pedal carts in the caravan park we were staying at he wanted to have a go on them. This morning I took Declan down to reception and we hired them for an hour. Tom joined us a little while later and the three of us circled the park quite a few times. Exhausted after the hour was up, we returned them and headed in to Townsville to have a look around. 

After buying Tom some new runners, and then Linda and I some new tops and Declan a new beach soccer ball, we decided to go towards the beach for a bit of beach soccer. We ended up walking along The Strand, Townsville's beachside avenue, where we had lunch at the Longboard Bar and Grill. The food was fantastic and although everyone ordered something different each meal was very much enjoyed.

From here the boys and I worked off the lunch with some beach soccer while Linda caught some rays, making the most of the first sunny day we have had in a while.

Declan with his treated burns

When we got back to our campsite Declan went over to the camp kitchen and touched one of the electric stove elements that had been left on. After administering first aid, we decided that although we have a pretty good first aid kit that we should take him to the Emergency Department of the hospital to get him the best treatment. The staff at the Townsville Hospital were fantastic and after reducing Declan's pain and dressing the wound suggested we should come back for a follow up consultation on Friday. Guess we will be staying in Townsville a little bit longer.