Grey and ominous skies met our start out to Townsville....basically it tipped it down. This was a reminder that cyclone Hamish was on his way - great name. Oz was flooding in the North and burning in the South - craziness.

Got to Townsville and walked off the bus straight on to the ferry - zoomed over to Magnetic Island through the choppy seas, a bit concerned we would get stuck here if the weather got worse! Checked in to the Base backpackers, great bar - right on the beach - not so great if a cyclone hits. Otherwise, not much else around. Cyclone predicted to hit around 10pm tonight.

Cyclone Hamish missed us - hurrah! The next day the skies were blue and the sun shone - nice. Went for a walk in the bush to a lookout - saw a snake, very small but still scary - went round to the neighbouring beach, chatted with an eccentric guy from Ipswich, came back for beers and food then bed. Before that, saw one of our shipmates from the Whitsundays - she'd found loads to do on the island - guess Sharan and i weren't looking in the right places?

The next day we caught the ferry back to the mainland and then hopped the bus to Mission Beach.