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With over 300 days of sunshine each year, everyone enjoys the outdoors and laid back tropical lifestyle. Here are our ‘top twenty’ great things about living in Townsville:
1) The Strand - a seaside and popular leisure attraction includes walkways, parks, sea views, beaches, cafes, the rock pool and even a water play ground for children.
2) Magnetic Island - our own tropical island getaway just 5km off the coast of Townsville. ‘Maggie’, as the locals refer to it, offers an easily accessible place for a tropical getaway as do other places within close proximity such as Mission Beach, The Whitsundays and the Hinchinbrook Channel.
3) James Cook University - a world class university offering a broad range of higher education opportunities. A number of private and public education options such as Registered Training Organisations and TAFEs offer vocational studies on an ongoing basis.
4) Major Events - key events during the year include the V8 motor race, Townsville Cup (horse racing), Music Festivals (Groovin' the Moo, Full Noise, Palm Creek, and Charters Towers Country Music), cultural events (Australian Chamber Music Festival, Barrier Reef Orchestra, Strand Ephemera Public Art), Speed boat races, Cultural Festival and Ingham Australian Italian Festival.
5) Townsville Hospital - the hospital has some of the best facilities in Queensland and is comparable to capital city facilities. The Mater and Park Haven Hospital provides excellent private facilities.
6) Schools and Day Care facilities - there are a number of quality and well renowned private (Cathedral and Townsville Grammar), catholic and public schools in Townsville. Childcare places are available and not as scarce as other places in Australia.
7) Modern shopping centres - there are 4 major shopping centres (Stockland, Willows, Castletown and Domain Central) in Townsville and major retailers are well established in the region. Myer’s are building a store in Aitkenvale and are due to open in mid 2012. Flinders Street in the city has been redeveloped and is building towards becoming a high street of unique and quality retailing.
8) National sporting teams - Townsville hosts a number of national league sporting teams; the North Queensland Cowboys (Rugby League), the Townsville Crocodile (men’s basketball) and Townsville Fire (women’s basketball). QN is a proud sponsor of the Townsville Fire.
9) Dining out - fine food precincts include Palmer Street and Flinders Street in the city, together with a selection of quality cafe style eateries just over the hill in North Ward and along the waterfront at the Strand. Townsville is also spoilt for choice with a number of seafood wholesalers and has several excellent butchers if you fancy yourself as a budding masterchef or prefer eating at home.
10) The Arts - Townsville is privileged to host Dance (Dance North), Theatre, Galleries (Perc Tucker, Pinnacles, and Umbrella Studio, Libraries, an Orchestra (Barrier Reef Orchestra) and the Museum of Tropical Queensland. QN proudly sponsors performances by the Barrier Reef Orchestra and the Enchanted Rainforest Exhibition at the Museum.
11) Short day trip drives - exploring the diverse landscape of our region is just an hours drive away, with the World Heritage listed Wet Tropics region 60km north in the rainforest hinterland of Paluma, historic towns of Charters Towers and Ravenswood to the west, the sugar industry and mighty Burdekin River south at Ayr and Home Hill and the tropical town with an Italian influence - Ingham 100 km north.
12) Cooling off - in the warmer summer months the best spots to escape the heat for a swim include the waterpark and rockpool at Strand, Riverway Lagoons, Northern Beaches Leisure Centre, Long Tan Memorial Pool, Kokoda Memorial Pool and Tobruk Memorial Baths. Waterholes for freshwater swimming include Alligator Creek, Crystal Creek and Jourama Falls.
13) Fishing - It’s just great! Chase a mighty barramundi, throw a crab pot or two in the Bohle or Haughton Rivers, hook a Spanish mackerel in the colder months or head to the reef for a lazy day out. Boat or no boat there are many options for you and for the kids.
14) Hotels and nightclubs - for those wanting a night out on the town and the opportunity to let their hair down, there are plenty of places in the Flinders Street precinct to enjoy a cold drink. Take the chance to get out and about and meet your fellow thirsty North Queenslanders!
15) Camping – camping spots ranging from Caravan Parks to quiet bush camping locations are to be found all along the coast and inland from Townsville. Swimming holes such as Crystal Creek, Jourama Falls National Park, Broadwater State Park, Wallaman Falls National Park, Alligator Creek and the Burdekin River are wonderful places to get away and relax.
16) Water Sports - sailing on Cleveland Bay around Magnetic Island at sunset is a popular pastime, whilst water skiing on the Ross River is a fun day out.
17) Museum of Tropical Queensland – visiting the Museum is free for Townsville residents, and it is a great way to spend a few hours learning amazing things about the recovered Pandora shipwreck items, view Torres Strait Island and Indigenous cultural items and experience life in the tropics via the QN sponsored Enchanted Rainforest
18) Local sport - well established in Townsville, with junior and senior AFL, Netball, Soccer, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Touch, Tennis, Hockey, Squash, Shooting, Cycling, Golf, Triathlons, Running Clubs and Mountain Biking all thriving in the community.
19) Walking and running – as a way to keep fit doing ‘the Hill’ (Castle Hill) is an obsession with Townsville folk. The spectacular views at the top of Castle Hill are worth it!
20) Horse Racing - the winter and spring carnival are popular events attracting thousands of spectators to the Cluden racecourse. |