The tropical coastal city of Townsville is your ‘Gateway' to the very best of North Queensland's impressive attractions. Townsville is positioned 1,400km from the Queensland capital of Brisbane and 500km north of the Tropic of Capricorn in the Dry Tropics of North Queensland. The city is the centre of one of Australia's most captivating and scenic regions, famous for its pleasant weather and coastal beauty.

Townsville boasts major attractions such as the world's largest living coral reef aquarium, one of Australia's best casinos, the largest wildlife-park in the region and a host of museums and galleries. The city's fabulous white sandy beaches and island views have combined to produce a relaxed lifestyle, which is the envy of other cities around the world.

Townsville provides one of the main access points to the Great Barrier Reef and Magnetic Island. The city centre offers a perfect blend of modem architecture and historical buildings, carefully restored as landmarks of a bygone era. The city offers an assortment of both natural and man-made attractions. The Great Barrier Reef, rainforests, national parks and world heritage listed areas are all available via day tours or cruises from the city of Townsville.

Tropical Magnetic Island lies just 8km from the city centre, and is easily reached via ferry (20 minutes). The island is particularly popular for water sports and bushwalking with a range of accommodation available on the island including self-contained and backpacker facilities.

The seasonal changes in Queensland are not really the destinct changes of summer and winter. The changes in Queensland are generally the hotter the climate the wetter it is or the cooler the climate the dryer it is.

In the northern parts of the state the hot/wet season is between November and May, particularly in January, Feburary and March where daily temperatures reach around 35C to 40C. This time of the year is also the time for cyclones and flooding with Cairns getting around 1300mm of rain during this period. In the southern parts of the state Brisbane and other major cities average around 450mm of rain in the hot/wet season with temperatures rarely droping into the 20C's.

In the cool/dry season the state still has relatively warm temperatures compared to the rest of Australia during the months of June to October. Temperatures hardly drop below 20C and the nights are still warm as well unless you are in the inland/outback regions of the state where it can be cold during the nights.