Magnetic island

We got the ferry over to magnetic island from Townsville and stayed at the YHA, anytime we stay at the YHA you know it's going to be a little luxury. I mean we have our own reading lamps at our bunk bed and your own private...............wait for it..............plug socket!! and in this case it was a double! We chose this hostel because it had a koala sanctuary located on the grounds and it was set in woodlands so it had a nice camping feel to it!

We arrived in the morning and decided to go straight out and explore the island. We heard that Arthur Bay was the best place for snorkelling and was a secluded beach area so secluded we couldn't bloody find it!!!!! Even now thinking back it gets me vexed! This day was boiling hot and we headed down this steep hill which was sign posted Arthur bay! For starters......the signpost was rubbish it didn't say Arthur bay this way we had to assume which is always a bad start.....as Louise always says.......if you assume it just makes an ASS of U and ME! Anywaywe reached the bottomof this hill expecting to find a path or maybe a sign saying Arthur bay but no nothing! We saw a stream and our hours of watching bear grills told us that we needed to follow the stream and it would eventually lead us to the sea! but there was no path or a walking trail that's what was confusing and this stream was murky and it had all sorts of dead leaves and twigs and crabs and it was rather deep. We searched a way through this stream but it lead to a lake which i wasn't swimming through and we still couldn't see the sea so we tried another route and another and another but dead end after dead end! So we gave up and thought we might not have reached the path yet!

At this point we had been walking about 40 minutes and seen nobody. So we decided to keep walking but the path started to go up hill....i mean.....I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed or whatever the saying is but even I know that the beach wouldn't be up a hill!!!!! However Louise happens to be an even blunter tool than me so we continued to walk haha Finally a car passed so i flagged it down......lo and behold we were going the wrong way so we turned around and headed back down the hill at this point we had been walking for what seemed like 2hours! We got told the walking track had been demolished in the cyclone and we got told to just follow the stream so back we went to try again!

Me and Louise never really argue at all but if there is one thing.........its over directions so you can imagine at this point we were well on our way to a fisty cuffs haha I was getting so frustrated......is it me??? Am i thick? Why can't i get to the beach? It was like the bloody crystal maze and all we wanted to do was snorkel!I thought i found a way but we had to cross this murky, dirty, twiggy and maybe crocodile infested water but i was so frustrated that i was getting beat that i was willing to take on a croc if it meant i would win, and the mood i was in the croc would think twice about picking a fight haha Slowly did it.....we both edged our way across this stream only to find ourselves on a steep sandy embankment. Now we were fighting our way through vines and forest like terrain with spiders webs everywhere. Things got worse my great flip flops from Malaysia got caught on a vines and snapped AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! THATS WAS IT!!!! i was about to go mental so i let off this manly roar as i clenched my fists and looked up at the heavens!!! Louise will say it came out as a littlegirly scream but .......it didn't let's just set the records straight! Before Louise twists the story hahai managed to fix the flip flop and feeling a little relieved from my scream i mean ROAR!! We carried on, soon enough my flip flop had snapped off again ahhhhhh!! so to show who was boss i snatched my flip flop off my foot and launched it into the bushes of no return still fuming I looked back at Louise only to see her angry face give off a little smurk which was a good way of knowing we were one step closer to making up. I soon realised that the flip flop stunt had been a big mistake since all the ground was littered with stones and creepy crawlies and i suddenly realised the walk back is going to be a killer on that red hot tarmac and it wasn't even the smooth tarmac it was the pebbly one where you couldn't roller blade on when you were younger. Seriously regretting my decision then i imagined walking home with one flip flop!! haha

We concentrated on the job at hand............finding the beach!! 10 more minutes of struggling we finally arrived only to find an empty beach hardly surprising I thought..... It made me feel better knowing I wasn't thick after all and we soon made up and put that traumatic experience behind us.

I would love to say the snorkelling was worth the wait..............but that would be lying......i would love to say the snorkelling was mediocre but..........again.....that would be lying. It was terrible we got told that there was a lovely coral garden ..........we've seen more colour in my dad's front garden and that's saying something haha Anyway at least the beach was nice and there was massive granite boulders to climb. After a couple of hours on the beach we headed back to the hostel.......one less flip flop than we came with, it was slightly embarrassing getting on the bus!

That night we ordered a free Thai green curry with our package deal to treat ourselves it was just what we needed to get over the ordeal. The next morning we booked to visit the Koala sanctuary! It was brilliant we held a Koala,3 lizards, a parrot, a snake and a salt water crocodile! Well worth the money! Then after we treat ourselves again to potato wedges with sour cream and chilli sauce (free again). Helps ease the pain!

That day we saw lorikeets which are the birds we saw on the great ocean road that sit on your shoulder and you are able to hand feed so while Louise was in the room i thought i would feed them....... 6 of them were on me at one point so i ran back to the room to tell Louise of my success and we ended up feeding them for ages..... lost count how many slices of bread we used.....turns out.....too much......we didn't have enough for breakfast in the morning Louise had to do without haha this is when Louise reverted to acts of desperation......next thing i know........LOUISE are you all right????????? Whats happened???? Blood all over her hands......... turns out - its tomato sauce!!!! She thinks it might attract more lorikeets because she has to be the one that has the most .

That evening we thought we would carry on the wildlife day by going to feed the rock wallabies. Wallabies are like small kangaroo's that live in the rocks and it was great hand feeding them. Great way to end the day and the trip to magnetic island!

Love Adam and Louise xxx