Located about 1,300 kilometers north of Brisbane, Townsville is the unoffical capital of North Queensland. Declaired a city in 1903, Townsville has several attractions including The Strand, a large tropical aquarium, the Museum of Tropical Queensland and Magnetic Island.
During WWII Townsville was also a major staging area for battles in the South West Pacific, and was host for over 50,000 Australian and American troops.