Touring Townsville

We loved Townsville, in the northern part of Queensland, Australia. Having good friends who live there certainly helped us love this tropical town, but that wasn’t the only reason. Townsville has miles of cycling and walking trails, an excellent selection of bars and restaurants, art and museums! We spent a few weeks touring Townsville and have recommendations if you visit. If you’re sailing Australia’s east coast, it’s likely you will.

mural, street art, Townsville
Cool art in downtown Townsville

Where Is Townsville?

Townsville is as far north as we sailed in Australia before cyclone season. It’s located on the coast in northeastern Queensland, 900 miles north of Brisbane. With a population over 170,000, Townsville is the largest settlement in North Queensland. We found a lot to do and enjoyed our time touring Townsville.

Townsville Queensland on a map of Australia
Townsville in the northeast of Australia

When to Visit Townsville

As it is part of the tropical zone of Australia, Townsville’s climate is warm. We arrived in August, wintertime, the ideal season to visit Townsville. Days are warm in winter, but still comfortable, think low 20s C (70F). We left our boat there for our trip to North America and when we returned in October, springtime in Australia, the days were hot. It gets even hotter in summer into the mid 30sC (90F).

Touring Townsville Must: The Strand

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A Layover in Los Angeles

LAX is a busy hub, with hundreds of flights to and from destinations around the world, including many long haul flights across the Pacific. These lengthy flights make most people arriving in L.A. tired and cranky. Knowing your next flight doesn’t depart for ten or twelve hours only makes it worse. On our most recent trip from Australia to North America and back, we traveled through LAX, so we can relate. We helped ourselves by staying overnight and made the most of our time. Here are suggestions for things to do on a layover in Los Angeles.

Runyon Canyon hike view
View from our Runyon Canyon hike

We recently took a break from the boat, left Go docked in Australia and flew back to North America. This is one in a series of posts about our trip to the U.S. and Canada. We’ll be back to Australia content in no time.

Pick a Neighborhood

L.A. is huge, sprawling, and has terrible traffic. If you have only a night or two, you’ll want to stay close to where you’ll be spending the majority of your time. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck in traffic.

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Top Things to Do In Charleston

For several years, my mom has lived near the lovely South Carolina city of Charleston. With a slow Southern pace, access to beaches and historic sites, and a world-class food scene, visiting Charleston is a pleasure. If you’ll be spending a day or two or three, read my tips on the top things to do in Charleston.

We recently took a break from the boat and Australia and flew back to North America to visit family and friends. Here’s one of the places we loved visiting!

About Charleston, SC

tree, Charleston SC
A moss covered tree in a Charleston park

Charleston is notable for many reasons, including as one of the oldest cities in the USA, founded in the 1600s. This port city played a role in many of the country’s wars, and battleground sites and forts still surround the city, providing history lessons to many visitors. The most populous city in South Carolina, with just over 155,000 residents, it is filled with notable colonial buildings and pretty parks and gardens.

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