Townsville

Introduction

Townsville

© marc-elise

Townsville is a small city in northern Queensland. It is adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, making it a popular launching point for divers and those wishing to explore the reef. Magnetic Island, half of which is a National Park, is located just offshore.

Sights and Activities

• Reef HQ (formerly the Townsville Aquarium), which includes a big section of living coral reef.
• The Museum of Tropical Queensland includes relics from the British warship HMS Pandora.
• Magnetic Island - a holiday island 10 kilometres from the coast.
• The Strand is a long tropical beach.
• Castle Rock - On the top of Castle Rock, which is accessible by car, is a lookout showing views out to the islands and surrounding areas.

Weather

Getting There

Greyhound buses stop at Townsville on the East Coast route.

By Plane

The Townsville International Airport has flights from Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Canberra as well as some regional centres like Cairns and Mount Isa. It hasn't had any regular international flights since 2002.

By Train

Several trains travel to and from Townsville:

• The Inlander between Townsville and Mount Isa
• The Sunlander between Brisbane and Cairns
• The Tilt Train between Brisbane and Cairns

Sleep

You can use the form below to search for availability (Travellerspoint receives a commission for bookings made through the form)

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés are very common in the larger Australian cities and popular tourist destinations. However, once you leave the major population centres, you might have trouble finding somewhere to log on. Free wifi is getting more and more common (either with or without a code) in places like restaurants, some bars and coffee places and hotels. Sometimes a fee is required.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Australia is on a GSM 900/1800 network, so if you have an unlocked phone that works on those frequencies, you will be able to buy a prepaid SIM-card and stick into your phone when you're in Australia. You will receive a new Australian phone number with the SIM-card.

To dial out of Australia use the prefix 0011, followed by the calling code of the country you are trying to reach, followed by the area code of the city/town (without the 0!) and finally the phone number.

Within Australia, it is necessary to add an area code to the phone numbers if you are calling from outside the area. Below are Australia's area codes:

• 02 - New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory (Sydney, Canberra)
• 03 - Victoria & Tasmania (Melbourne, Hobart)
• 07 - Queensland (Brisbane)
• 08 - Western Australia, South Australia & Northern Territory (Perth, Adelaide, Darwin)

000 is the emergency telephone number in Australia, but the international GSM mobile emergency telephone number 112 also works on mobile phones.

Post

Australia Post is the government's postal service. Most suburbs will have at least one post office. Opening times are mostly from around 8:00 or 9:00am to 5:00pm though larger ones keep longer hours sometimes. A standard letter or postcard sent within Australia will cost $0.70. Internationally, it costs $1.70 to send postcards anywhere in the world. Letters cost $1.85 to send within the Asia Pacific region and $2.60 to anywhere else in the world.^[1]. It is also possible to send things as parcels or by express mail. You can also use use private courier companies like TNT, UPS or DHL as they are competitive and reliable.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website