Trip to Townsville

I had to fly up to Townsville on Thursday morning for work. Townsville is 1,112 kilometers (691 miles) from Brisbane and the flight normally takes around one and a half hours. I thought I'd share some photos of my journey.

Dawn breaks as I wait to board my plane

This was a great opportunity to meet with people in my organisation that I'd only ever spoken to over the phone. It turned out to be quite a busy day on Thursday with meetings scheduled for most of the day.

Our Townsville office is located in the heart of the city. That afternoon, after checking into my hotel, I went for walk to the beach which is literally only minutes from the central business district.

A marina with Jupiter's Casino in the distance

I walked along The Strand which is a seaside foreshore of Townsville. In one of the many parks I spotted these magnificent Banyan trees. Roots grow downwards from the branches to support their weight. The branches then grow quite long and create magical sylvan grottoes. What you can see in the photo below is a number of thick roots which have grown down from the branches above.

Banyan trees

It's quite amazing to see such beauty only minutes from the city.

A view from The Strand

Just offshore from Townsville is Magnetic Island. This mountainous island is a holiday destination and has several resorts.

Magnetic Island in the distance

The next morning, Friday, I awoke to a wonderful view of Castle Hill from my hotel. This magnificent 292 meter granite monolith (just 8 meters short of being classified as a mountain) looms over Townsville and can be seen from almost every point.

Castle Hill

It was another busy day at work on Friday with more meetings. That afternoon I caught a flight back to Brisbane. I was tired from the meetings and the travelling but happy to be home with my family again.