Letter to a friend

My dearest friend,

The kid and I have just spent the most amazing 10 days staying at your house in Townsville. It occurred to me while I was soaking up the mid winter sun at your dinning room table that house sitting during your overseas trip have allowed me 3 of the 4 real holidays I have had since starting my business 10 years ago. Bless you and your incurable travel bug.

Firstly I have to say, you always find the most amazing abodes. A stunning second story unit with a view of Townsville and walking distance from The Strand. A beautiful strip of beach front and harbour side parks, pubs and restaurants. High ceiling and a hammock. Your presence is in every room. We were lucky to have a tour guide for our first couple of days.

Although you and your gorgeous husband had already head off on a trip that would make Bear Grylls seem like a shut in, your beautiful daughter and her fiancé were there to show us around before jetting home to Melbourne. Just as a side note, i not sure how i feel about her having a boyfriend. I know she is in her 20’s but still!

Our break having fallen right in the beginning of the pokemon go craziness, your offspring and mine spent some time over dinner near the water trying to catch the little critters, after they explained to me what they were doing. I have to say i have never felt more middle aged.

With the temperature hovering around the mid 20’s, we made regular evening visits to Juliette’s Gelateria. We would take our place on the perfectly positioned beach chairs and relaxed watching the lights across the water. I assume that someone my age is meant to think that trapping virtual animals is a bit silly but I actually thought it was nice that The Strand was constantly crawling with millennial, all stating at their phones. Although I do admit to a slight giggle when one well dressed 20 something obviously on the hunt, walked straight into the glass door at Juliette’s. Being a Shakespeare fan everything in me wanted to shout “watch out for yonder window” but I kept that to myself.

You have lived here for years now and it always felt so far away but 2 quick plane trips from Newcastle Airport (or a 3 hour direct flight from Sydney) and here we are in heaven. I always pictured Townsville as an army town and there are certainly element of that, being a block away from Jezzine Military Barracks and seeing more people in uniform than usual when you duck out to get your morning coffee.

I underestimated how beautiful it is. Public parks set up like rain forests and less than 6 blocks back from the beach is this towering 286 meter high mountain, Castle Hill. I had read about all the walking trails online and for the first several days we were there, watched a steam of Lorna Jane clad fitness buffs heading towards the entrance to the tracks.

I got all inspired and drove my car up to the summit. Lets face it, you have known me since I was 11 and walking up there was just never going to happen. The kid and I did enjoy the spectacular views of the city.

I know when you live somewhere you don’t always take advantage of it’s best features because life gets busy but you have paradise just a 20 min ferry ride from your front door. Magnetic Island was a highlight, particularly for the kid. Although the land mass is only 12 km wide and public transport will get you anywhere you need to go, we decided to spoil ourselves and rented a pink topless car, conveniently pick up across the road from the ferry terminal.

We spend the day with the wind in our hair and our hair in our mouths and the kid could not have been happier. Driving through the hills it felt a lot like Hawaii without the loud American tourists. Being animal lovers we headed straight for Bungalow Bay Koala Village. The only resort in Australia with its own wildlife park. We cuddled a Koala, nursed a baby croc and had 30 rainbow lorikeets descend from the trees and eat directly from our hands. All this within steps of a beautiful open air bar with Red Hot Chili Peppers on the sound system. I could have moved in.

A collection of stunning uncluttered beached surround the island , the best of which was Horseshoe Bay where we watched the sun go down. Around 7.30pm we headed to the Arcadia Hotel for the traditional Wednesday night Cane Toad race. Eight toads were auctioned off to punters, each with a distinctive ribbon and a story about their history and personality told by Verne Jack our animate and very funny MC.

The race has run since 1980 with Verne’s involvement beginning in 1987. Having raised more than 350,000 over the years for Arcadia Lifesaving Club Juniors and the Magnetic Island Kindergarten. The kid and I placed the highest bid on a toad with a pink ribbon and she named it Salicia. Our new amphibian friend didn’t win but it was still money well spent.

Our last full day in Townsville happen to follow the airing of the 4 Corners story Australia’s Shame, detailing abuse of predominately indigenous juvenile inmates at the Don Dale detention centre in the Northern Territory. Children, some not even yet in their teens, beaten, abused and humiliated.

As we sat in the park eating our fish and chips in a cone from the best takeaway in town Rock, Paper, Scissors, two aboriginal women sat at the table next to us. The story had obviously been a topic of discussion in their office that morning as I heard one woman say to the other “I don’t know why people are so shock, it’s not like it’s new information”. The truth of that took my breath away. Facing away from them I felt myself start to cry.

On the long delays during the plane ride home, I thought a lot about why that exchange had upset me so much. No one should be unprotected against that kind of horror. It is heartbreaking that sections of our community aren’t shocked by stories like that because it’s an ongoing reality for them. It’s not enough just to feel bad. I used my time in the air to pen a letter to my federal member and to make a list of organisation where I could volunteer my time or my skills. Maybe we can’t fix every problem but if we are all doing what we can it has to be a start.

So all in all my friend, a holiday in the sun, quality time with the kid and revelation. Not bad for 10 days in Far North QLD. Thanks again for the bed. Love your old and grateful friend xo