Townsville, Australia Hotels, Vacations, Tourism

Hot and stuffy TOWNSVILLE sprawls around a broad spit of land between the isolated hump of Castle Hill and swampy Ross Creek. While cynics describe its two biggest attractions as Magnetic Island (just offshore) and Cairns, Townsville has undergone some tasteful development in recent years, and does have its moments – above all in its visible maritime history, in the sea views from the Strand promenade, and in the muggy, salty evening air and old pile houses on the surrounding hills, marking down Townsville as the coast's first really tropical city. Townsville was founded in 1864 by John Melton Black … more »