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Townsville
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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 the muggy, salty evening air and old pile houses on the surrounding hills, which distinguish it as the coast's first really tropical city.
Townsville was founded in 1864 by John Melton Black and
Robert Towns
, entrepreneurs who felt that a settlement was needed for northern stockmen who couldn't reach Bowen when the Burdekin River was in flood. Despite an inferior harbour, the town soon outstripped Bowen in terms of both size and prosperity, its growth accelerated by
gold
finds inland at Ravenswood and Charters Towers. Today, it's the gateway to the far north and transit point for routes west to Mount Isa and the Northern Territory; it's also an important military centre, seat of a university and home to substantial Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal communities. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Australia,
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