gilliancallcott.com — Travel and Walking Blog

Castle Hill

Must Conquer the Hill

For years I have been travelling north to Townsville and every visit I promise myself to check out Castle Hill. (I always called it Telstra Hill for some strange reason)

Anyway Castle hill dominates the Townsville landscape with its pink hues and from some angles it resembles a scene from Jurassic Park with the Palms in the foreground and the hill rising from the ground.

The view from The Strand…

The best view of Castle Hill on the ground in my opinion is from The Strand at the roundabout looking up Gregory Street this huge pink granite monolith is fascinating and you can’t help but wonder how to get to the top.

Here it reminds me of Palm Springs California where at the end of every street there is a mountain to climb.
After conducting some online research and asking some locals how to access the road, I finally decided at the very least I would drive to the top.

The thought of walking up the hill was very appealing, the weather was cool, but unfortunately this wasn’t a holiday break, I was here on business and couldn’t afford to be tuckered out!

How to get up Castle Hill

View Castle Hill Townsville in a larger map

Take a good look at the map to get your bearings, I drove from The Strand up Gregory Street and turned right onto Castle Hill Road. Walking this bitumen road seems the most popular route.

However be careful of the walkers and runners there is a lot of them. Many seem to be unaware that the road is also for vehicles, there are a number of blind corners and you don’t know what will suddenly appear, cars or pedestrians. Take care!
Walking wasn’t an option this visit, the walk is 2.6km up a bitumen Road, the same one you drive up.

There are also a number of trails at various points, one named the ‘Goat Trail’, can’t talk much about this until I walk the walk and then I can talk the talk.

This hill is only few metres short of being classified a mountain.

However I was astounded when I started driving up this narrow road late in the afternoon, the amount of people toting their water bottles starting the 286 metre hill climb was amazing.

Is this what the Townsville locals do?

Every shape, size and age was represented; some running others on bikes and locals taking their dogs seemingly for a late afternoon stroll it was a sight to behold.
Driving up and watching the locals take on the hill, my calf muscles instinctively started to ache, if I had attempted to do this, I would have been in agony and my 1,500 kilometres drive home a torturous end to a business trip.

Why Townsvilleans love Castle Hill this is a great read…

The view is spectacular…

The views from the top of Castle Hill were magnificent the south side of the hill reminded me a little of Cooktown with the Endeavour River below.
What’s so interesting is the amount of lookouts there are, you envision just one, with spectacular views of Magnetic Island, however there are a number of vantage points, all with a unique vista of the location.

If photography is your thing you must come here, the hill undoubtedly will take on a different appearance at sunrise and sunset.

Townsville will definitely be on my list of walking destination….

Hopefully next time I write about Townsville I will be recounting my experience of taking on Castle Hill like the locals.

Useful Links about Castle Hill

Townsville City Council

Facts about Castle Hill on Wikipedia

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Finch Bay and the Botanic Gardens Cooktown Australia

Finch Bay Cooktown Australia

After hiking down to Cherry Tree Bay it was time for a break, so we returned to Cook’s Landing Kiosk for lunch and to plan our last afternoon in Cooktown. Because of limited time we decided to drive to Finch Bay instead of walking and then visit The Botanic Gardens.

Finch Bay was first on the agenda, so it was down Walker Street around 2 kilometres from Cooktown, on the way you will see the Botanic Garden on your left continue on and follow the dirt track to Finch Bay.

Finch Bay is apparently Cooktown’s swimming spot although the signage warning of crocodiles was enough to put us off entering the water.

Signage Reads…..

Keep away from the water edge and do not enter the water
Take extreme care when launching or retrieving boats
Do not clean fish or leave fish waste near the water’s edge
Camp well away from the water

The small creek called Alligator Creek convinced us that the hotel swimming pool was a better option, none the less there was a small group having a great old time in the bay.
The beach was beautiful, surrounded by mountains and huge granite rocks on the northern end and rainforest meeting the deep blue Coral Sea.

A huge granite boulder that looks like a beached whale…

Whale Rock Finch Bay

The massive size of these boulders is not apparent when you first arrive at Finch Bay, you can see them in the distance, it’s not until you make your way up the beach that you realise their immense size.
As we approached the northern end of the beach one of these large granite boulders embedded in the sand, started to resemble a huge beached whale. Conducting some research later it was learnt this rock was called ‘Whale Rock’. Finch Bay is definitely worth the effort and one of the things to do in Cooktown.

Cooktown Botanic Gardens

After investigating Finch Bay it was time to stop at Cooktown Botanic Gardens. These gardens were established in 1874 and are amongst the oldest in Australia so I have heard. The Botanic Gardens have the same feel as The Garden of the Sleeping Giant in Fiji, similar flora.
Remnants of the garden’s original design still lingers, this garden laid neglected for over 60 years until 1979 and rediscovered when the site was cleared for an event and it’s former glory was revealed. The Botanic Gardens feature some sweeping lawns and you can imagine the scene here in the 1880’s with the locals picnicking on these lawn and the ladies with their parasols up shading themselves from the hot tropical northern Queensland sun. Perhaps during picnic conversations during the 1880′s thoughts drifted to the tragic circumstances of death or disappearance of Mrs Mary Watson and her son.

Walks on the ‘Welcome to Cooktown’ tourist map

If you are in Cooktown plan to visit Finch Bay and Cooktown’s Botanic Gardens you can walk to both of them these location, however instead of walking or driving down the dirt track to Finch Bay you can take the scenic track through the Botanic Gardens.
Don’t forget to pickup your ‘Welcome to Cooktown’ tourist map from your accommodation, they are also available at many of the local stores. Cooktown is only a small town; all the walks are outlined including the walk to Mt Cook which unfortunately time didn’t permit us to do.

Visit Cooktown and Cape York Peninsula for more information on this location

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Cooktown – Mrs Mary Watson Story

September 29, 2011

Mary Watson Story This tragic account of Mary Watson a 23 year old with a four month old infant living on Lizard Island in 1879 still echoes in Northern Queensland today. Visiting the local cemetery and finding Mary Watson’s grave site was one of the activities we had planned to do while visiting Cooktown in [...]

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Cooktown to Cape Tribulation – Daintree National Park