So, we are back in civilisation. That means police sirens, traffic noise and commercial television. After ten days in Ellis Beach, we are not sure we are ready for it.
We got off to a slow start today. We have discovered that Townsville is very hard to find your way around without a good map and they are not easy to find. As a result, what should have been a 20 minute, 12 k trip into the city to close on an hour as we toured around most of Townsville's suburbs until finally seeing a signpost saying "City".
The city is quite big with heaps of up-market apartment buildings. Closer to the harbour, there many boutiques, pubs and eateries of all descriptions. The only thing that is missing is people. The place is like a ghost town. We had lunch, at the peak of the lunch hour, at a very nice pub in Palmer St. It had great beer, a fantastic atmosphere and the best mediterranean pizza you could imagine and, except for us, was completely empty. We can't understand this. Right now, we are at the height of the winter tourist season in Far North Queensland. As far as we can see, all the caravan parks are fully booked at the end of each day and yet shops, beaches and cafes are mostly empty. If this what the "Grey Nomad" invasion of FNQ is all about then, with the exception of the cheap end of the accommodation market, it is contributing almost nothing to the Queensland economy and any money the Queensland government is spending to attract them here is simply being wasted.
Tomorrow, we are heading out to Magnetic Island. It will be interesting to see how many people this destination attracts. The fact that we had no trouble booking a place on the ferry and a car all at the last minute is not a good indication.
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| This cafe caters for dogs! |
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| Where are the people and where is the traffic? |
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| Me, doing my bit for the Townsville economy |
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| Downtown Townsville |
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| Walkabout Palms Caravan Park |
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| Bev's Baked Beans, Yummo! |
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