Topless in Townsville

Townsville has been one of our most surprising destinations yet! From its large industrial sprawl to its beautiful esplanade we really enjoyed our short stay and look forward to going back to further explore the region in the future. One of the highlights of our time there and in fact a highlight of our trip so far was our day trip to Magnetic Island. We opted to take a visit to Magnetic as opposed to Hamilton from Airlie Beach based purely on cost for a family and we picked a winner! There are multiple ferry rides out to Magnetic each day and the ferry runs well into the night so your time is your own and there is plenty to do, see and eat! We hired a couple of topless cars to whizz around in for the day and had a ball! Watching Lesley whipping the 1.5L topless Daihatsu to get up some of the steep hills was hilarious and the kids even opted to stay in the car and drive around over playing at the park. This is a big deal considering the amount of time they spend sitting in a car!
The popular 'Forts Walk' explores WWII ruins and gives walkers a 360 degree view of the island. The walk also features a large colony of koalas who live in the trees that line the track. There are patrolled beaches with stinger nets and aquatic equipment for hire in numerous places around the island for those wanting to get wet.
We would highly recommend a visit to Magnetic Island for families travelling on a budget. It's beautiful!
No trip to Townsville would be complete without a drive to the top of Castle Hill to take in the spectacular view over the city and out to Magenetic Island. For those more energetic, you can walk it as we saw many people doing.
Townsville is definitely worth a stop on a trip to Far North Queensland.