McClelland Gallery Sculpture Garden Stroll - July 2022

It's been many years since Sam and I have visited McClelland Gallery, which is a little strange really as it's only ten minutes from home. With a couple hours to spare on this Friday afternoon we decided to rectify that situation and head in for a look. After paying the $6 entry fee we parked the ute and set off to see what we'd been missing, initially heading into the gallery itself to check out the visiting exhibition by Fiona Foley. 

There was a fairly confronting and thought provoking exhibition by indigenous artist Fiona Foley in the main gallery. 

After checking out the gallery we set off to explore the sculpture gardens. 

I'd managed to rope Sam in on this little adventure.

Once back outside in the gardens I fired up the Alltrails App and we set off to explore the sculpture gardens. To be honest it's really just a matter of wandering around the gardens and making things up a bit as you go here. We'd grabbed the visitor guide when we'd come in, so armed with that map we were able to identify and the art and more or less follow the path on the map. Initially though we set off around the ornamental lake in front of the gallery, checking out a few pieces of art along the way, the most notable of which (for me) was the Tree of Life by Phil Price which is otherwise known as the Peninsula Link Tree.

Alright... I need to throw in a bit of a disclaimer here. I've lost the brochure that named the different pieces of art so this post is going to really just a photo dump that will remind me of my visit.

The Peninsula Link Tree.

I'm thinking that the gardens would make a nice spot of a picnic.

It took me awhile to realise that this wasn't just another installation.

After passing by the Tree of Life, Sam and I headed around the back of the gallery building (the west side) and started around the path that visits the majority of the works here. The route that we were now following headed into bushland near the western extremity of the grounds with the art works liberally scattered through the scrub. After crossing a dry gully near a dam we slowly started to make our way back towards the gallery passing by 'The king is dead, long liver the king' by Dean Colls - another Peninsula Link piece. After making our way back to the lake outside the gallery I re-set the app and we  headed off home after a pleasant little outing.

I'm thinking that children may like this place. 

Another Peninsula Link refugee - The King is Dead.

The Dirt.

This is a very easy stroll, according to the Alltrails App we walked around 1.8 kilometres and climbed about 23 metres. This really isn't a walk as such, its more an experience, there are many options to shorten or lengthen the stroll. The gallery features visiting exhibitions and is worth checking out, there is a nice café on site and the grounds would also be suitable for a picnic I'm thinking. When we visited there was a $6 entry fee. There is a version of this walk on Alltrails although really the best bet is just to use the visitor information guide that they give you when you enter the grounds. 

Relevant Posts.

Little Boggy Creek Walk, 2021.

This is the original McClellend Gallery.

Magnetic Island Bays Walk, Magnetic Island National Park - May 2022

The idyllic Balding Bay.

No visit of any length to Townsville should not include a visit to Magnetic Island I don't think. This island is a very easy ferry ride from Townsville and once on the island there is a good bus service that pretty well covers all the parts of the island where most people go. We jumped off the bus at it's northern terminus in Horseshoe Bay today... Sam heading off for day of sightseeing and me traipsing off into the bush for a day of walking and maybe swimming.

I set off today from opposite the bus stop in Horseshoe Bay.

The stinger nets were still out at Horseshoe Bay.

My walk had me following Horseshoe Bay away from the shops east towards the headland, after crossing a creek which was mid shin deep I didn't have to worry about keeping my trail runner dry anymore. Once across the creek I soon picked up the start of the track heading inland beside some private houses where I forded another creek and then started climbing. The track climbed fairly solidly up to a broad saddle where I picked up the signposted side track down to Balding Bay, and then immediately lost all the height that I'd just gained. The walk down to Balding Bay was another wet walk (this walk was done a couple of days after Townsville had recorded record May rainfall - yet another once in a hundred year event I suppose).

I hit the beach and turned right.

Horseshoe Bay.

Horseshoe Bay... and that was the end of my dry shoes.

Looking back across Horseshoe Bay.

Horseshoe Bay.

Leaving the beach I crossed another creek...

... before climbing over the headland.

Magnetic Island is famous (in my eyes!) for it's big granite rocks - the granite probably explains the beautiful beaches.

I followed a cascading stream down a gully to Balding Bay.

Balding Bay is a bit of a Feral Favourite, whereas a lot of the beaches in Queensland are way over rated in my opinion, Balding Bay actually lives up to the hype. The beach is framed by huge granite boulders at each end and the surrounding hills are covered in beautiful native pines, casuarinas and pandanus trees. Being so early in the walk I decided to give the swimming a miss at the moment and headed back up the track to re-join the main track. Once back up on the main track I continued on down to the next beautiful beach, this one called Radical Bay. Radical Bay is a little bigger than Balding Bay and it is also the spot where the walking track morphed into an old sealed road that I'd pretty well be following for the rest of the stroll.

 

Balding Bay.

Balding Bay, Magnetic Island National Park. 

After leaving Balding Bay I had to climb up to the saddle to re-join my on going route. 

Coming from Melbourne I just don't get sick of this tropical vegetation. 

Climbing away from Balding Bay. 

Radical Bay.

Radical Bay.

I'm thinking that there use to be some kind of resort at Radical Bay? There is a semi cleared area behind the palms and there is also an old closed bitumen road that accesses the bay.

Radical Bay.

After taking in the views at Radical Bay for awhile I set off along the old closed road to my next bay, Florence Bay. The old road made for marginally easier walking I guess, although it still had to climb and descend and it was still very wet in some sections. Arriving at Florence Bay I enjoyed another beautiful casuarina lined bay. Sitting in the shade of the casuarinas I enjoyed a bit of a break as the gentle wind sighed through the she oaks and I took in the beautiful scene in front of me. I did this walk on a Saturday and the beaches that I visited today had a few jet skis and boats anchored up at them which is fairly unusual based on my previous experiences here - I'm thinking a weekday visit would probably be a lot quieter, although having said that the beaches were hardly what you'd call crowded.

Climbing the old road between Radical Bay and Florence Bay.

Sitting under the Casuarinas at Florence Bay.

Florence Bay.

Florence Bay, Magnetic Island National Park.

After a bit of a break at Florence Bay I grabbed the pack, re-joined the old road and set off towards my last beach, Arthur Bay. Once again the old road climbed fairly solidly over a headland, although this time instead of dropping straight down to Arthur Bay I took a side track east out to the historic Search Light Site. The search light is part of the old military history of this island and nowadays the old bunker makes for a very nice lookout with views both south and north as well as across the water to Cape Cleveland. Retracing my way back to the old road it was only a few minutes before I reached the Arthur Bay lookout track and it was time for another detour. As the name implies this lookout looks down over Arthur Bay although the views do stretch further south over numerous rocky headlands.

I left the old road for awhile to check out this side trip to the old search light bunker. 

The old bunker makes for a good lookout now days.

Looking across towards the main land.

Florence Bay is down to the left behind the trees. 

Magnetic Island - have I mentioned the big rocks?

Looking across the Coral Sea towards Cape Cleveland.

Magnetic Island National Park. 

Back on the old road I continued on over to...

... the Arthur Bay Lookout. 

When I was at the lookout I could hear the sound of rushing water cascading down rocks, so when I arrived at Arthur Bay I went looking a bit to see if I could find some freshwater to cool off in (I was still a little dubious about swimming in the ocean as we were at the back end of the stinger season). After following a creek up stream for a few metres I found the perfect freshwater infinity pool, and about three seconds later I was up to my neck in cool clear water. Arthur Bay itself is yet another (ho hum) beautiful palm trees and casuarina lined bay and it makes for a very nice spot to hang in the shade and enjoy the cooling breeze. 

Arthur Bay, Magnetic Island National Park.

Arthur Bay.

More big rocks - this time at Arthur Bay. 

I found a nice spa bath sized freshwater pool to soak in at Arthur Bay.

My first swim of the day.

Leaving Arthur Bay the old road took me up the last climb for the day as I headed up to the bus stop on the Horseshoe Bay Road. After sweating my way up the hill I arrived to find that the next bus wasn't leaving for almost an hour so not wanting to twiddle my thumbs at the bus stop I decided to head up The Forts Walk to the first lookout and check things out. This lookout was only a round trip of around ten minutes however I was once again able to get some great views out towards Cape Cleveland to round off my days walking. 

The access road crosses this creek, which made for a good spot to wash the sand off my feet. 

It was a solid climb from Arthur Bay up to the bus stop.

Once again I had a nice creek cascading down beside me. 

Arriving at the trail head / bus stop I found that I had around an hour to wait...

... so I walked a bit of the Forts Walk...

... to check out one last lookout down over Arthur Bay. 

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 10 kilometres and climbed about 417 metres on what I'd call a medium grade walk. While the walking tracks and old road all make for easy walking there is a fair bit of climbing and descending on this stroll as each bay is separated by a decent sized headland. While it looks like most people weren't concerned about the Box Jellyfish I was little more cautious about about swimming in the ocean (the season normally finishes around the start of June) and decided to give it a miss today - a decision made easier when I found some freshwater to soak in. Tyrone Thomas has written this walk up in some of his old books, I used his book 50 Walks in North Queensland World Heritage Wet Tropics & Great Barrier Reef  as well as my Alltrails App and my GPS topos today.

Relevant Posts.

Alva to Cape Bowling Green, 2022.

Cape Bowling Green to Alva, 2022.

This is a very nice national park - it kind of reminds me of Rottnest over in Western Australia.

Heading back to the mainland late in the afternoon...

... we were delayed a little as we waited for this ship to head out.