Our first swim this trip - in Bowen

We had our first swim at one of my favourite beaches - at Horseshoe Bay in Bowen.  It is a lovely small, perfectly shaped beach.  We spent a couple of days here at the caravan park right opposite the beach when we did our around Australia year trip back in 2009.  This time around we only spent the afternoon, but it was quite heavenly.  The water was reasonably warm and it felt especially good as it was the first time on this trip that we really felt the urge to get in the water.

This is the lookout above the beach from where the bay photo was taken.

We then drove on to Townsville where we have an appointment to fix the fan in Winnie.  A photo of Townsville from the lookout.

A Townsville beach north.

Another view of the town with Magnetic Island in the background.  We visited the island on our last trip 9 years ago and you can often see koalas there - we did.  Not often one can see koalas in the wild.

This is a shot of the rockpool at the end of The Strand.  It is netted against stingers which are a curse around here from November to May.

I do like Townsville although I have never been here in the summer when the humidity would, I am sure, get to me.  But in the winter it seems a very lovely place to be.  The Strand is a beautiful promenade.  On Saturday, we plan to have a game at the Townsville Bridge Club.  We have been able to get quite a few games in as we travel along, popping in to the local clubs, where we always receive a warm welcome.

Dinner out at Sizzlers was our treat for ourselves.  We had a lovely steak and lots and lots of healthy salads which were excellent.  Not as good value as the $10.00 deal at Maryborough but higher quality.