Climbed a big hill
Trip Start
Sep 16, 2008
1
7
52
Trip End
Apr 02, 2009
Townsville,
Queensland,
Australia
Saturday, October 11, 2008
I really only wanted to stay one, but there was a 'Full Moon Party' going on over on Magnetic Island which was my next stop. I was a bit confused by this, since the moon was only about 2/3 full. But I think they wanted to hold it on a weekend instead of during the week when it was actually full. Supposed to be a good time, but you need to book a room on the island way in advance to go.
There wasnt much that interested me in Townsville, but the first day that we got there Alan and I went and climbed Castle Hill. At the top you had excellent 360 degree views of Townsville and the coast. And it was definitely not an easy hike. Having climbed a few hills in Australia now, Ive come to the conclusion that they dont believe in gentle sloping trails and switchbacks. Instead they just create a path straight to the top, with tons of big rock steps. It can be kinda tough on the legs, even for someone in pretty good shape, which I like to think I am.
The next day we went to the Museum of Tropical Queensland. The big draw there is the wreck of the HMS Pandora. This was the ship that was sent out by England to capture the mutineers from the Bounty. They actually found some of them, living on one of the islands in the south pacific, but the mutineers had already burned the ship. And then they went and wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef on their way home. So the museum has been excavating the wreck site, and they have a lot of artifacts and info on it. Other than that though, it was a pretty regular museum.
Townsville does have a pretty active nightlife it turns out, at least on Friday and Saturday, but it doesnt get started til 11 or 12 at night. I caught some of it after watching a replay of a Dodgers Phillies game in a bar. All these places that I thought were out of business when I saw them during the day had lines out the doors at 1 am. Crazy.
