Townsville

It's fabulous to experience a well maintained, clean, safe town with so many amenities freely available to the public and an efficient public transport system. Its an eye-opening experience for the average South African to see what could be achieved with our taxes instead of going into the pockets of corrupt officials. All along the Queensland coast we have enjoyed such towns and Townsville is no exception.

Needing to stretch our legs after a long sail, we went ashore on Sunday afternoon for a walk along The Strand promenade. It was busy with people strolling along the two and a half kilometre walkway along the beach front. There are several playgrounds for children, the usual BBQ facilities for families and a fantastic Water Park for children.

Green lawns, palm trees and a long beach - with great view of Magnetic Island across the bay.

We noticed several sculptures exhibited along The Strand and discovered that there were more than 30 exhibits - it's the biennial Strand Ephemera sculpture festival. Some of the exhibits are fragile, most can be touched and lasts the 10 days outdoors without being disturbed, removed or vandalised. Another new experience.

The following day we walked to Queens Botanical Gardens. Some interesting trees, especially the rain forest section. It was a bit disappointing in size but as Capetonians we are rather spoilt with magnificent Kirstenbosch. Queens Gardens is state heritage and dates back to 1870 and still has some of the oldest cultivated specimens in Australia. A huge multi rooted White Fig is one of the biggest I've seen.

Beer and pizza at a local pub went down well afterwards.

It's always intriguing for us to notice exotic (to us) birds such as the red-tailed black cockatoo flying noisily amongst the trees above our heads. We have only seen these types of birds in cages as people's pets. Sad really as in nature they are usually in groups clearly enjoying the social interactions.

On Tuesday we visited Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium which is the world's largest living coral reef aquarium. We had a great time and Robert managed to get up close with the cousin of the large groper that hung out under our boat in Nara Inlet. We have been told that they are curious gentle fish but we still need more convincing before swimming with these giant fish.

The Reef HQ aquarium lives up to its description of a reef aquarium and has lots of colourful reef fish, including reef sharks and rays.

We were invited for sundowners to a catamaran anchored close to us by Mike and Caroline on Vasco Pyjama. I was quite envious of their lush herb garden doing so well. I miss fiddling with my bonsais and herbs at home. Maybe next time around, I'll try growing herbs onboard too. And a bonsai or two.......

Still needing my green fix, we caught a bus on Wednesday to another botanical garden, The Palmetum. This one is spectacular. It features palm trees almost exclusively, about 300 species in a scenic setting. It covers a range of habitats from dry tropics to rainforest. I didn't know palm trees grow in a rainforest!

We heard rustling sounds in the rainforest undergrowth and discovered it was a few wallabies. Smaller and cuter than the bigger kangaroos and one had a baby wallaby in her pouch.

After my tree fix it was Robert's turn for his mountain fix so on Thursday we set off for a walk up Castle Hill. It's midwinter here but the temperature was 27 degrees. Robert chose the longest track up - over 1 km of about 1,420 steps. I felt the heat get to me immediately and regretted every 1,420 step as I huffed and puffed sweatily along the trail behind Robert who could have done it in half the time. The views at the top are super but I was too absorbed with staying in a small bit of shade to appreciate much viewing so Robert was left to climb a few more steps to a better lookout point.

The best part of the day for me was a quick swim off the beach when we got back to The Strand. The water here is murky and shark infested but I didn't care - it was so nice after the hot walk and the beach appeared to have a swimming net.

We decided that Friday would be our last day in Townsville so Robert topped up with water and fuel at the marina and we went for a walk around the oldest part of the town before topping up with provisions. We stopped at a local pub in one of the historical buildings for Queensland's favourite XXXX and enjoyed the beer and fashion ensemble of some local patrons.