More Time in Townsville

Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium

Hm should we or shouldn’t we.  After all we had been to Seaworld and Underwater world – so should we see this aquarium as well.  Mr L and Mr C were super keen – it will help they told us, it will help us when we go out to the real reef.  The weather wasn’t sensational so off we went.  Reef HQ has the largest living coral reef aquarium in a very large tank with a walk through tunnel.  

If you ever get to Reef HQ make sure you check the website before you go so that you can take in at least some of the feeding presentations and the trip (next door) to the Turtle Hospital – what you see there will of course be dictated by what injured turtles had been brought in.  They had about four when we were there but it was cool just seeing their set up and even things like xrays of turtles.  They had recently bought a really large tank for any leatherbacks that might come in, but they haven’t had to use it yet. 

We spent half a day in Reef HQ and really enjoyed it.  Some of the exhibits were a bit tired, but overall it was a great place to visit and the enthusiasm and knowledge of the staff made it more special.  As a parent it was also gratifying to see our boys often the first to have their hands up in response to a question raised.  It seems that information they are exposed to during this trip is getting into our boys brains and they are really learning about a wide range of topics.  Mr C found it very hard to leave a ‘research table’ which held information and videos on reef topics which are displayed on the table and on the wall.  We all enjoyed the more hands on talks and especially the trip to the Turtle Hospital.  And at the end of our experience, maybe Mr L and C were right and it did help build up our knowledge for a trip to the reef.  It has definitely made the boys more excited about the prospect – but very circumspect about cone shells.

Message from Reef HQ:  If you see a cone – leave it alone!

Swimming in Townsville

Yay we scored a sunny, clear, lovely warm day so we went swimming!  We loved the availability of swimming pools in Townsville.  In the last post we explored the Strand and the Rockpool, well there is another set of free swimming pools on the river further inland.  We arrived not too early in the morning and had a pick of pools to ourselves.  Eventually a few more people turned up but in chatting with a life guard we had met at the Strand, we discovered many locals find it too cool to swim at this time of year.  Their loss.  We swam for hours at the Riverview pools, ate lunch there and then took the boys to the waterpark on the Strand. 

Castle Hill

We finished the day with a trip up Castle Hill which we had been seeing almost wherever we went around town.  We drove up the hill (as we had pretty much done our dash with exercise and daylight by then), but there were so many people walking, even cycling up this hill for exercise, it was impressive to watch (especially as this is a good steep hill which really would give you a good work out).  There are a number of short tracks on the top with amazing views.  We were even treated to a small controlled fire down one path.