Bushland Beach is a suburb north of the Townsville CBD. The weather is ideal for 10 months of the year. The best time to visit Townsville is July without a doubt. Townsville is the business centre of North Queensland with a major university specializing in marine biology. The CBD has many Art Deco style buildings which have been well maintained or renovated. Townsville is the business centre for the Great Barrier Reef and hosts the Great Barrier Reef Museum. The city was a major Second World War garrison city and is now home to a large military garrison and an air force base. The city has several wartime museums and commemorative sites.Townsville City has two viewing lookouts; one being up Castle Hill which can be driven or hiked using the free walking track, and the second being Mount Stuart. The Mount Stuart road was the training track for Townsville's only Bobsled Olympian. One of our favourite picnic spots is the historic Cobb and Co horse changeover building situated on Harvey's Range about 20kms north. The heritage building is now a coffee shop with meals and a small, but interesting free public museum explaining its 150 year history. There is a short nature walk behind the complex. Townsville has more than beaches and eco-tourism though. There are paved walks, along Ross River, guided and self-guided city walks, important historical sites, art galleries and museums, art deco buildings in magnificent condition, many different swimming options, ice skating rink, sailing, bi-plane flights, ferries across to Magnetic Island for day trippers, several high-end shopping malls, modern movie theatres and fine dining precincts. High energy social activities include plenty of dancing options, swimming, athletics and ice skating. There are clubs for sailing, rowing, tennis, motor sports, lawn, tenpin and carpet bowls and many others. If you want them you will find extreme sports such as fishing, diving, sky diving, four wheel driving etc. July and early August is a high activity period for sports and cultural events including Australia's foremost annual Chamber Music Festival. Participants herald it as a world class event. The same period is a general cultural time for Townsville as there are other artistic events that get most of the general public interested. Then of course, Townsville is the home of the North Queensland Cowboys National Rugby League team and the Townsville Fire Women's National Basketball team. Both the Fire and Cowboys have won their national competitions. It isn't expensive to see their home games. Consider it a maximum 25 minute drive to anywhere in Townsville from our home. Townsville's public spaces include a casino, a magnificent 2km long Strand development plus other quiet beaches, heated swimming pools with water slides, art galleries, museums specialising in different themes, Great Barrier Reef Museum and Aquarium, historic buildings of art deco architecture, night and day clubs and alfresco street dining, modern shopping malls and century old pubs that engage your historic senses. There are beautiful flora and fauna habitats, which include Botanical Gardens, Billabong Nature Reserve, Koala Habitat, Paluma Rain Forest are just some of the scenic attractions outside of the city limits. WW2 relics are found on Magnetic Island and in the Townsville area. Townsville is a relaxing holiday city in its own right or it can be part of an extended driving holiday through North and Far North Queensland. Visitors have plenty of options to choose from. We invite you to visit.