From: hosking@cs.umass.edu (Tony Hosking)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.australian
Subject: Re: Looking for things to do in Townsville
Date: 2 Oct 92 18:09:59 GMT
Reply-To: hosking@cs.umass.edu
Organization: Dept of Comp and Info Sci, Univ of Mass (Amherst)
In-reply-to: cook@barleywine.atd.ucar.edu's message of 30 Sep 92 21:59:22 GMT

>>> On 30 Sep 92 21:59:22 GMT, cook@barleywine.atd.ucar.edu (Forrest Cook) said:

> Howdy (G'day),

> I will be visiting Townsville from October 11 through November 11 with
> the TOGA/COARE weather project and would be interested in any information
> on the Townsville area.  TOGA/COARE (Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere/
> Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment) is a weather project involving
> 16 countries with the goal of getting a better idea of the ocean and
> weather interaction in the area North of Australia near the Solomon Islands.
> I will be helping to set up the Townsville operations center and will get
> to set up computer networking and short wave radio communications (CQ DX :-).
I understand this will be based at James Cook Uni.

> So, I was hoping to find out a few things:
> - What kinds of local places do you recommend for recreation?
>   I hear that the beaches in Townsville may have some nasty sea stingers
>   and possibly sand flies, are there any recreational beaches without
>   such creatures nearby?

Townsville beaches aren't so bad, but Magnetic Island's beaches win hands
down.  The island is a short ferry ride from downtown Townsville.  You
shouldn't have any problem with stingers while you're there---the stinger
season runs from around December (I think) through April/May.  The rest of the
year all you have to worry about are the stonefish and the crocs :-).  As for
sandflies I've never been bothered by them---mosquitoes are a different story,
but probably less of a problem at this time of year.

> - Does Townsville have any kind of local music scene?  I'd love to see
>   a concert by Midnight Oil or Yothu Yindi for instance.

A local can probably let you know what's happening on the music scene---check
out the JCU bar scene, since I hear they get a lot of different acts.  There
are also plenty of pubs downtown with live music.

>   While on the topic of music, are there any import regulations I should worry
>   about if I want to bring some tapes to listen to?
Don't think there'll be any problem with importing tapes---nobody gives a stuff
what you listen to!

> - I'm interested in seeing the Great Barrier Reef, are there any preferred
>   boat tours or methods?
Plenty of boat trips out of Townsville, from one-day snorkelling trips to
week-long SCUBA expeditions.

> - Are there any good areas to bicycle?
Plenty of cycling in and around Townsville---there are bike paths along the
river that go all the way out to the uni.  And cycling is a good way to get
around Magnetic Island.

> - How about restaurants suggestions?

Can't help too much here, but there are plenty of restaurants other than
MacDonalds!  Ask the locals.

> P.S.  I promise I won't be an Obnoxious American Tourist ;-)
>       In fact, I don't even LIKE McDonalds food...

Good on ya!

> --
>  ^   ^  Forrest Cook - <<< Have a homebrew! >>>
Do try not to drink too much of the Fosters/XXXX piss---try some of the local
"micro" stuff if you can---I forget the names but there are a few of them.

> /|\ /|\ cook@stout.atd.ucar.edu WB0RIO (This posting is my OPINION)
> /|\ /|\ {husc6|rutgers|ames|gatech}!ncar!stout!cook


PS Another poster mentioned to beware of the Friendless.  If you're at JCU you
may even be lucky enough to have a siting---the Computer Science dept. is a
favourite haunt! :)

Above all, enjoy yourself!

Cheers,
--
		Tony Hosking
Papernet:	Dept. of Computer Science
		University of Massachusetts			 _--_|\
		Amherst, MA 01003				/      \
Voicenet:	(413) 545-0256					\_.--._/    )
Internet:	hosking@cs.umass.edu				      v    /