Townsville - The Gateway to Magnetic Island

In Townsville, we were spoilt rotten and ended up spending 4 nights here broken up on the way up and down. We were able to really appreciate the good things about Townsville (and are probably biased in our thoughts of Townsville now) which we feel really privileged to have experienced.

We first stopped in Townsville on our way north after our time at Magnetic Island. Rachel was super keen to catch up with an old university friend Jenna, who chauffeured us to their house where we stayed for the night and chatted very late into the night. Jenna and her partner Jay have the cutest Frenchies and we were in love right away.

The next morning we got up early and conquered the notorious Castle Hill (see below) which offered 360-views of Townsville and surrounds from the top. You can drive up, but we would recommend you walk if you can. We took the standard track up (there are quick a few ones you can choose from) which had a lot a few stairs - 500 one way or thereabouts. Good for the legs after lots of driving. The track itself is not very long at about a 2.9km return. From the top, you get an epic view and it's even better when you've walked up!

We followed our hike with breakfast at 'Grandmas' Cafe nearby Castle Hill, which serves a pretty good breakfast and coffee if you're looking! Shortly after returning from breakfast, were swept off to The Ville. We lapped up the sun at the 'Splash Bar' and downed several cocktails 'on the house' thanks to Jenna and Jay. A stand-out cocktail was the frozen mango daiquiri. Not only did this drink cool you down and taste like fresh QLD mangos, but the barman was rather generous with his servings - so much so, that we got an entire overflow glass full of frozen mango deliciousness. We tested our swimming abilities, albeit tipsy, to see if we could swim across the pool with 2+ cocktails in hand. Jenna was the professional here, she managed to swim across without sinking. Marcus and I both sank until our heads were underwater. This served as a bit of humour amongst the other patrons at the swim-up bar. We managed to score a cabana and ordered some food to the poolside, blue-tooth enabled hide-out. #jackjohnson

That afternoon Rachel had some work to finish off (she has some research work on the road) so they went back home, but not long before heading back to The Ville. Jay had managed to get us a room on one of the top floors, overlooking Magnetic Island and the pool below. What a legend!!! Unlucky for Rachel, she had drunk too much alcohol and not enough water and had a killer headache accompany our lush, all-inclusive stay. After checking in to our fancy room, we went downstairs to the Quarterdeck and enjoyed dinner and another drink with Jen & Jay. We both had a big steak and shared a side of super tender salt & pepper calamari. When we got back to the room we kept it going and ordered 2 lots of dessert, a bottle of wine (which joined us on the road trip), and a pizza for the road the next day. The next morning we had breakfast delivered to our room, all on the house (we were told this extravagant gift was our present for our recent ceremony). I can tell you, we felt like celebs with all this fancy stuff. It felt super unreal. Obviously, we both rate The Ville and reckon it's a must-do if you're in Townsville.

We left the next day to continue our journey north, however, we stopped back on the way back down. We ended up staying much longer than we anticipated and had to miss out on a night at Bowen, but we are quite the fans of Townsville now. On our second stop to Townsville, we stayed with Jen & Jay and then at The Ville again.

Jay was super keen to take us to Rock, Paper, Scissors which is a Fish & Chip shop in Townsville and we must admit we were pretty happy with our food. They even do deep-fried oreo spring rolls! #drool

Our second time at The Ville, our room had a view of Harbour and Castle Hill which was just as good as the view on the opposite side! It was especially nice to stay at The Ville this time as we had just returned from our dusty, dirty trip to the tip. We joined Jen & Jay for a hearty steak again at the Quarterdeck, some boujie Japanese whisky, and a couple of cocktails in the Splash Bar. This time we decided the theme was 'Tropical vibes' and wore our most tropical shirts. Rachel took it easy this time around with the cocktails though. The next day we enjoyed breakfast at the Quarterdeck, overlooking Maggie Island, and then hit the road continuing south.

A humungous thank you to Jenna and Jay and their 2 adorable Frenchies who made our time in Townsville what it was and who have totally biased our views on this town.