Comfort Inn Robert Towns Townsville

... the doctors we pay even more money for the services provided. So going to the doctors this week probably cost me $500 for a freckle on my arm. Jo&#8217;s freckle was more serious so it actually cost a bit more. And as for the windscreen insurance, we had $450 excess on the policy but the windscreen initially cost $360. <br><br>We have been in Townsville for two weeks now, the longest we have stayed still in one place and it has given us time to ...

... our energy just not to get swept backwards. Eventually we made it to the prow and then were able to just relax and enjoy the drift back to the stern. Back at the stern, the Manta Ray was still there and we hovered around again whilst he/she even took a gentle swim around us to observe us from different angles! Luckily we still had a bit of air to spare to allow us to just hang and watch. What an amazing experience it was! We both agrred that this was one of our favourite dives ever!

... gorgeous palm trees, a swimming pool and an outdoor bar/chill out area where everyone hangs. Today was a great day as I got the bus to the popular 'Forts Walk', where you can spot Koalas in the wild!! We were walking through the forrest and spotted five koalas, one was really low down the tree, within touching distance!! They are so cool and really chilled out lazy animals, it was brilliant to be so close to them and fulfill one ...

... off ( we were lucky).<br>That night we had a BBQ with some great stakes and after another big drinking session and catching up on the past we went to bed hearing the ocean coming in.<br>The next day we were treated on a tour around town by Ross and he showed us all the spots we wanted to see. A lot of people don't know but Townsville has some great places around the water and they are improving still, not a bad spot with a good climate ...

... easily see 6m at times which was awesome!<br><br>During our ocean dives we saw some cool stuff; a sucker fish (which confused one of the girls for a whale ;) ), lion fish, Sgt Majors, Damsel fish (who we fed) and lots and lots of coral.<br><br>We were meant to stay in dorms for our last two nights but couldn't handle slumming it any longer so we upgraded to an ocean view room with en suite which was a lot nicer but still not worth the ...

... turns out I am just getting a cold. <br><br>Magnetic Island has so many different birds! And they are all very noisy! Most of the girls in the cabin I was in (yes, cabin, I felt like we were camping) couldn't sleep at night because of the noise. I don't know why it didn't bother me, but I am glad it didn't. Unfortunately, birds are often very difficult to photograph.<br><br>On the second day I went on a hike to a bay called ...

... police are very gentle and get them to open their bag for them to go through with no effort at all.... the couple look like they're cool and have nothing to feel guilty about,... the next few minutes feel like an eternity... they can't find anything at first... but suddenly the policeman takes my camera and my phone out of the bag....<br><br>I can't help but walk to them and say with a trembling scared and angry voice :"That's my stuff!!!! that's my stuff!!!". I am shaking all ...

... east towards Charters Towers which was to be our next stop.<br><br>The two major towns on this leg of the journey are Hughendon &amp; Julia Creek whilst we did not stop at the first town (only for fuel) we continued on to Julia Creek where we stopped for lunch again these country towns offer a lot to the traveling public.<br><br>After Julia Creek we pushed on to Charters Towers on arrival we checked into the Big 4 ...

... supermarket briefy picking up supplies again, before deciding to go out for pizza! So we had a lovely evening, and we all went to bed full and happy :-) On Saturday we woke up early to join in the Anzac Day festivites (Anzac day is basically their version of Remembrance day and involves lots of parades). So we watched the Townsville parade, which had a great atmosphere, and paraded veterans and servicemen from all the armed forces ...

... although as you can see below she wasn't exactly looking forward to the next 'surf' down to another very high tree in the distance! <br><br> <br><br>We felt safe in the hands of our 2 instructors/guides, who did a great job of ...