Townsville - Boxing day with great lookout, breakdown, shopping and BBQ

G’Day mates,

Today is the second day of Christmas, called Boxing Day. And like in Great Britain here are massive sales on everywhere. We agreed with the two Taiwanese people to drive together to a big mall for shopping at 12pm. So in the morning Markus and I had a look at the internet what we could do on Magnetic Island. This is an island just 8 km offshore of Townsville and supposed to be nice. But taking the car on the island is far too expensive (178 AUD return) and we could not find a tour that would show us enough of the island. So after a while we gave up on the idea and headed with the car for Castle Hill, a giant rock formation in Townsville where you can overlook the whole city. The street up there is very winding but you really have a fantastic view:

After nearly an hour we got back to the car and we were surprised to find out that we could not start it. We could not even turn the key around. Markus tried everything that came to his mind and what was written in the manual. Then we called the service hotline who could not help us either. We needed the rental agreement number which we left in our room. I think, I have not posted a picture of our car yet, a Toyota Camry:

So in the middle of the day, the hottest part with about 33 degrees Celsius we walked down the hill (luckily I left my jogging shoes in the car and did not have to walk down in sandals). It was a steep track:

At exactly 12pm we were back at the hotel where the Taiwanese people were waiting for us. Greg, the Australian guy drove us four back up the hill where he tried to start the car as well while Markus phoned the service hotline again. They told us that the Roadside Assistance will come within the hour, so Greg left and Markus and I waited patiently. 30 minutes later someone from RACQ arrived, tried to turn the key and was surprised as well. He looked at the front console and tried the gear box and after fiddling with the key for two minutes the car started! HURRAY! Apparently the key has to be put into the ignition with a bit more force than usual, that’s all...

Anyway, we were of course very relieved as we already thought about all sorts of problems with the rental company that would delay our journey. So we went back to the hotel for lunch and then set off for Stockland Mall, 15 minutes drive away.

It does not look that big from the outside but it is HUGE inside! And it was full of people, it was packed and sales wherever you went. After two hours we found two trousers for Markus, unfortunately nothing for me :-( But we bought us some nice dinner:

Our second aussie BBQ! And this time we did not forget to take pictures. So, this day was not really an exciting one but probably still one to remember for us. In the evening the Dutch guy talked to us again and he could not really convince us to visit Magnetic Island. Yes, it is an island and has beaches and rocks and rainforest and wildlife. But we already had that all in the last days. To be honest with you, all the travelling (3000 km in 12 days!) and sightseeing is taking its toll on us. Therefore, tomorrow we will take an easy approach, go to the beach of Townsville and have a swim in the Rock Pool. Good night everyone!

Yours shopping Stefanie