Comfortable Family Home in Tropical Paradise- easy access to beach, bush and rainforest

Comfortable, suburban family home-Separate lounge and dining room plus large family/TV room-large kitchen with microwave and all appliances-Main bedroom has queensize bed,dressing table, reading chair and built-in robes, second bedroom set up for 1 person but extra bed could be added if needed and 3rd bedroom set up for 1 person only. Bathroom has shower over plunge bath and good size vanity cupboard-separate toilet and laundry. The front of the house has a small outdoor area with 2 separate seating spaces and pergola area. It is private from the street with lots of tropical hibiscus, bougainvillea and bangkok rose shrubs. The back of the house has a full length 8feet wide verandah which is scattered with comfortable chairs. It looks onto a small back garden which contains a large vegetable garden, fruit trees and tropical fruit trees ( banana and paw paws) The carport is to the side of the house, has space for 2 cars and is a cool and pleasant area. The house is airconditioned throughout, except for the separate lounge. It is only needed during summer days. As our tropical winters are very mild, heaters are not necessary. We have a large screen TV, DVD player, CD player, Internet access (broadband connection) and Austar connection.

We have lived in our suburb for many, many years and find it a very pleasant, friendly and convienent place to enjoy life. It is an older suburb so has many large trees lining the streets, and is right at the foot of Mount Stuart, and has hill views from most areas including our front patio. Public transport stops at the end of our street.It is only 10 minutes drive to the beach and a magnificiently designed "gathering centre" for the residents of our city. With children's water parks, walking tracks, pier's for fishing, grassy headlands jutting out into the sea for picnics, cafe's and ice cream shops as well as 2 protective nets for swimming, the Strand has it all. Only 10 mins drive in 2 other directions brings to the centre of the city with its mall and Sunday markets or the other way to 2 large shopping centres. We are also 5 mins drive from the local hospital and James Cook University. Daily trips take people to the Great Barrier Reef from Townsville and there are many diving schools here and wrecks off the coast to dive on. Magnetic Island ( named by Captain James Cook) is a pleasant 20mins by catamaran and is a great place for a day trip or longer. Our city has approx 150,000 people so there are all the the theatres, museums, cinemas, dining places etc that are found in a city this size. A 3 hour drive south brings you to the world famous Whitsunday Islands, 1 1/2 hours drive north takes you into the rain forest of Mount Spec, while 4 hours north takes you through cane and banana fields to Cairns and a further 2 hours will get you to the Daintree World Heritage Rainforest. If you go 2 hours west you are in bush and cattle country. so our city is a hub for a very large and diverse region

Alan and Linda are mid and late 50's and have been married for 35 years, with 3 adult children. Alan is close to retiring and Linda works as a midwife. In recent years we have started travelling a lot more, including a 9 month stint in the UK when we worked and did trips to Europe ( sort of like "almost " grey haired backpackers) We are interested in new places, new people and new experiences. I suppose "adventure before dementia" sums up our attitude to life now. We have done home exchanges before and find it a great way to travel and still have the comforts of home.