Tuesday, September 14, 2010

My morning walk...

Scenes from my morning walk in Townsville... I do think I'm lucky to have one of the loveliest places to walk each morning -- relatively free from exhaust fumes...

... although to begin with, our mall doesn't look too pretty at the mo. It's being dug up and changed back into slow-flow traffic in a bid to liven up the City heart, but while the suburban malls continue to thrive and grow, I'm not sure what kind of results we'll get here.



Flinders Street East has lots of lovely old heritage buildings. From here I turn left ...








...past Molly Malone's pub (left) and the ABC offices, to The Strand... where we come to what was once the Queen's Hotel. (below) This lovely building, looking out across Anzac park to the sea, is built in the grand old Victorian style. There were only two hotels in the world built to this design. The other hotel is in India (possibly Mumbai) and all the bricks were made in England and brought out by ship. This building is now owned by Channel 9.
. From the Strand, we get our first view of Magnetic Island. Maggie is a lady of many moods and looks different every day, depending on the sea, the sky, the clouds, the weather.


The Strand is beautifully landscaped and I love the lush tropical growth.

And each spring and summer I look forward to these gorgeous fallen flowers. I don't know what they're called, but they start off bright yellow and then open up to look like ballerinas, then fall on the ground like dying fairies. I love them.
Coming home again, I cross Ross Creek, always full of sailing boats and a constant reminder that the Great Barrier Reef and beautiful tropical islands aren't far away. The whole walk takes me between forty minutes and an hour, depending on which route I take. The only downside is the heat. I have to get up at six and be home soon after seven, or it's just too hot.

2 comments:

2paw said...

What a fabulous route you take. The people of Yore were really into taking buildings apart and transporting them half way across the world, and re-assembling them.
I love the hot weather look your buildings have, though some look just like the ones here in town, except with tropical trees!!
That is a very wide creek!!
I am not looking forward to Summer, but I am glad you like the weather and live where you can appreciate it. I will appreciate the cold and rainy weather for you!!

JoyfullyHis said...

Thanks for the tour. What a beautiful walk. So much better than staring at the wall while on a treadmill. I loved getting a glimpse of your world. Are you a people watcher? Do you see people on the boats or gesturing with their cell phones and create little scenarios for them?