Considered the unofficial capital of North Queensland by locals, Townsville is Australia’s largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, located on the north eastern coast of Queensland with a population of around 180,000. It is administered by the Townsville City Council. Located approximately 1350 kms north of Brisbane (or a 1.50hr flight) and 350 kms south of Cairns and lying on the shores of Cleveland Bay, the city sits adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef and overlooked by Castle Hill, a mass of red granite 286m high; this being the most prominent landmark of the area and a popular place for exercise. Townsville hosts a significant number of government and community business head offices and is also a major industrial centre. It also receives its fair share of major investment with the recent completion of the stadium and the current expansion of the Port of Townsville. The Port has handling facilities for importing cement, nickel ore and fuel, and for exporting sugar and products from NQ mines.

Known as a garrison city, the Australian Army bases the Army’s 3rd Brigade light infantry brigade at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville. It also has integral Artillery, Engineer, Aviation Reconnaissance and Combat Service Support units. The Army also maintains an Army Reserve brigade in Townsville comprising reserve soldiers. As with the Army, the Royal Australian Air Force also maintains a presence in Townsville – RAAF Base Townsville.

The Strand is a long tropical beach and nature strip, where families gather to enjoy dinner or takeaways at the beach, and walkers and joggers get their daily exercise. At the southern end there is the iconic Tobrook public swimming pool and at the northern end is the public rock pool. There are also beach and river suburbs north and south of the city. Magnetic Island is only 8 kms offshore and is accessible by passenger and car ferries. It has beautiful beaches and sandy coves and multiple options for accommodation and day hire cars. Beautiful parks are scattered throughout the city including three botanical gardens.

The Ross River flows through the city. Three weirs, fish stocking and dredging of the river has resulted in a deep, clean and stable waterway used for many recreational activities such as waterskiing, fishing, kayaking and rowing. Riverway is a popular riverfront parkland attraction located on the banks of the Ross River with outdoor public swimming pool. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is head officed in Townsville. It also runs the Reef HQ, which is a large tropical aquarium holding many of the Great Barrier Reef’s native flora and fauna.

CLIMATE

Townsville is characterized as a tropical climate. The winter rainfall is not as high as elsewhere in the eastern coastal tropics of Queensland, such as Cairns. The winter months are dominated by southeast trade winds, blue skies, warm days and cooler nights. The average rainfall usually falls during the wet season from November to April. December is the warmest month of the year daily mean maximum and minimum temperatures being 31.5 °C (88.7 °F) and 24.1 °C (75.4 °F) respectively. July is the coolest month with daily mean maximum and minimum temperatures being 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) and 13.7 °C (56.7 °F). Townsville experiences an annual mean of 8.5 hours of sunshine per day, averaging 120.8 clear days per year. Like most of Northern Australia, Townsville is susceptible to tropical cyclones. They usually occur between December and April. Houses are built to withstand cyclones and the Council provides effective emergency monitoring during an event. Sure, the months of December to February are humid, but the reality of life today is that we have air-conditioned homes, vehicles and work spaces and many activities involve cooling down in water. JCUVet is air-conditioned.

HEALTH

Australia has a good public health system regulated under Medicare. Details of eligibility according to visa type are included in a link at the bottom of this document. We also have many private health providers offering private hospital cover and discounts on allied health extras (e.g. physio, chiro, dental etc.) A couple of the major providers are Medibank Private and BUPA. Townsville has a public university teaching hospital, co-located with the JCU School of Medicine. It has a four-story expanded Emergency Department, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and oncology services. In addition there are two private hospitals in Townsville, the Mater Hospital and the Mater Women’s and Children’s Hospital – also with emergency departments. There are also other public health campuses. Townsville has most of the general medicine and specialist services required.

TO AND FROM TOWNSVILLE

The city is served by Townsville Airport which handles domestic flights to metropolitan cities as well as direct regional flights to destinations such as Cairns, Mackay, Mount Isa, Rockhampton and Toowoomba. Making the most of those lifestyle shifts, you can fly to Brisbane and meet up with your friends within 2 hours of departing Townsville with no less than 8 flights each way per day. There are regular specials offered through specials and happy hour discounts meaning that the metropolitan cities are only a click away. Jetstar runs a direct service between Townsville and Sydney of 2 hours 35 minutes and Townsville – Melbourne 3 hours. So there’s no excuse for missing those key family and friend events.

TRANSPORT AROUND TOWNSVILLE

Townsville is the intersection point of the A1 (Bruce Highway), and the A6 (Flinders Highway). The Ring Road circumnavigates the city. The city has a good taxi service as well as Uber. Townsville has a public transport system contracted to TransLink, which provides regular services between many parts of the city, and to the JCU Campus. The Tilt Train service connects Townsville railway station to Brisbane in the south and Cairns in the north. Regular ferry and vehicular barge services operate to Magnetic Island and Palm Island. During the whale season, there are regular whale watching trips, snorkeling trips to Orpheus Island and day trips to Cape Cleveland Lighthouse.

Generally speaking, after three months you would need to transfer your current vehicle license to a Queensland license. Townsville has a large range of quality car dealerships to choose from for the purchase of a new or used vehicle. The process for buying a second hand car involves ensuring that the car you are purchasing is registered and that it is sold with a safety certificate and that you are issued with a bill of sale indicating that the vehicle is not encumbered. This is a popular site for purchasing new and used vehicles. For most countries, the cost of a vehicle in Australia will seem higher than what you are accustomed to

When you register your vehicle with Department of Transport Queensland, the registration includes a third party only insurance. Compared to many developed countries, vehicle insurance is well priced. Comprehensive insurance for vehicles aged less than 10 years old is readily available.

EDUCATION

Townsville offers a large choice of state and private primary and secondary schools, offering world class education. James Cook University is a public university established in 1970. It has a strong and internationally recognized expertise in marine and tropical biology. The JCU Medical School was established in 1999 and is linked with the adjacent Townsville General Hospital. The Veterinary Sciences undergraduate facility is the newest in Australia. CQ University has a purpose built campus offering many courses including nursing, paramedic science, business and psychology as well as supporting a growing number of online students. Technical and Further Education College (TAFE) has two campuses, a technical and further educational college, a campus of Queensland Agricultural Training Colleges and Tec-NQ.

SPORTS AND RECREATION

Townsville hosts several sporting teams that participate in national competitions including North Queensland Cowboys (National Rugby League) and Townsville Fire (Women’s National Basketball League). The impressive Queensland Country Bank Stadium is home for the Cowboys, within a short walk of the city’s restaurants and bars. Rowing occurs at the JCU Rowing Club and Riverway Rowing Club. Both clubs cater to competitive masters, social; learn to row and school-based rowing programs. The Townsville Street Circuit is located in Reid Park. Each July it hosts the Townsville 400 for the Supercars Championship. For the children or children at heart, there is also a go cart track and motocross track. Townsville has three tennis clubs and each year the Townsville Open is hosted. These tournaments see Australian and international players competing for up to $10,000 prize money and the opportunity to improve their Australian Tennis Ranking.

ENTERTAINMENT

Townsville has a vibrant feel with lots of restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs and casino.
Townsville has the Entertainment Centre which hosts many national and international music and entertainment shows, as well as sporting and trade shows. The Townsville Civic Theatre hosts entertainment and performing arts.

Famous festivals include the annual Greek and Italian Festivals, Annual Palmer Street Jazz Festival. The Cultural Fest is currently held on the JCU grounds. Those interested in history and art will enjoy the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery. Every second year the gallery presents sculpture artworks and art festival called the Ephemera, exhibited over the 2km strand beachfront. There is the Maritime Museum of Townsville and the Tropical Queensland Museum of Tropical Queensland, built around a display of relics from the sunken warship HMS Pandora. Townsville has a large range of quality accommodation options ranging from back packers, Airbnb, park cabins, caravan parks, motor inns, house rentals, motels to luxury resorts and serviced apartments.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

There are so many ways to enjoy the great outdoors of Townsville and surrounds. From swimming at the rock pool or at swimming enclosures on the strand, to soaking up some rays on any of the beaches to four wheel driving at national parks and fishing, snorkeling and diving on wrecks, off Magnetic Island and on the reef itself. Townsville and its surrounding waterways and reef offers one of the world’s fishing, diving and snorkeling meccas. Owning a small tinny or boat is affordable and opens up a gateway of exploring and discovering.

There are still bunkers at Cape Pallarenda, reminiscent of World War II and lots of well-preserved old buildings in Townsville dating from the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, especially in Flinders Street which is the oldest street.

HOUSING

Housing in Townsville varies from low and high rise urban city living to family homes in central and beach suburbs to rural properties surrounding the city. Housing in Townsville remains affordable and offers excellent value for money. There are a large number of real estate agencies offering purchase and sales and rental options. As can be expected, a large number of purchase and rental properties in Townsville may have a swimming pool. Often there is concern as to how to maintain a swimming pool, however there are a number of pool providers in Townsville that would carry out a monthly service for approx. $60 + chemicals. A number of rental properties include pool servicing. Same goes for mowing and gardening. So far, Townsville has been relatively unaffected by COVID-19 and this has seen a swell of activity in the housing market with families seeking to move away from the metropolitan centres in search of an idyllic lifestyle.

There are currently new home owner grants and significant building/renovator grants available. We would be happy to provide you with further information and insight into living options in Townsville.

YOUR PETS

Australia is a very pet friendly country, although Queensland still has a way to go to accepting of pets in cafes and on public transport etc. That said, there is no shortage of places to walk and exercise animals. Every morning and evening, many people exercise their dogs along the Strand, in dog parks, on walking trails and along the beaches. Many back yards are ample in size and are often fully fenced for children and pets.

The Townsville City Council is the authority responsible for registering pets. It allows two dogs per suburban block, and applications can be made to keep more. Quarantine restrictions into Australia are stringent, and vary depending on the country you are bringing your pets from. Townsville has a number of quality pet resorts where your pets can stay while you are off exploring during your time off. Beaches Pet Resort has a good reputation as does Yapper Valley.