Townsville Hotels

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland.[Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census population of 143,328, and a 2007–2008 estimated population of 162,730.Townsville is seen as the unofficial capital of North Queensland as it hosts a significant number of governmental, community and major business administrative offices for the northern half of the state. Popular attractions include 'The Strand', a long tropical beach and garden strip; Riverway, a riverfront parkland attraction located on the banks of Ross River; Reef HQ, a large tropical aquarium holding many of the Great Barrier Reef's native flora and fauna; the Museum of Tropical Queensland, built around a display of relics from the sunken British warship HMS Pandora; and Magnetic Island, a large neighbouring island, the vast majority of which is national park. The Townsville region was originally inhabited by Indigenous Australians, with the Wulgurukaba, Bindal, Girrugubba, Warakamai and Nawagi tribes being the most significant local groups. The Wulgurukaba people have a claim to be the traditional owner of the Townsville city area; the Bindal group had a claim struck out by the Federal Court of Australia in 2005. James Cook visited the Townsville region on his first voyage to Australia in 1770, but did not land there. Cook named Cape Cleveland, Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island. Captain Phillip Parker King and botanist Alan Cunningham were the first Europeans to record a local landing in 1819. In 1846 James Morrill was shipwrecked from the Peruvian, living in the Townsville area among the Bindal people for 17 years before being discovered by white men and returning to Brisbane.