Arrived at Base hostel on Magnetic Island after a half hour ferry journey from Townsville. The journey was ok, we had a small oz bus which was really cramped but luckily we got the front seats so Simon got a bit more leg room. Our 2nd driver was Scooter and he was a really cool, surfer kind of guy, very entertaining!

Met Jo, Lauren and Dan at the hostel, they spent last night in Townsville and said it was horrible, like a council estate, so glad we didnt waste a night there. The hostel was really nice and the rooms spotless, we even got a duvet! Even though it's hot we're just blasting the a/c so we get to use the duvets, I miss mine so much! We had yet antoher dinner of pasta, I think we're going to turn into pasta before long! We sat after dinner with our mugs of goon, very classy, and a little possum came up onto the table! It was very cute but as soon as it realised we'd eaten all the food it quickly ran away. With the goon finished (and slapped of course!) we decided to stop being goon cheapskates and head to the bar where we bumped into Carol, Naomi, Tom etc from Mission Beach. Had a really good facepaint filled night!

The following day, the 5 of us rented a 4x4 so we could spend the day exploring the island properly. The first place we went to was horseshoe bay which was very pretty but there was so much seaweed in the sea that we didnt hang around for long. We then went on a little adventure of a drive to Radical bay, a definate need for a 4x4 to get there. The beach here was lovely and completely deserted so we stopped to sunbathe and swim for a bit before heading down to Geoffrey Bay. They have lots of little rock wallabies there whichw e thought would be cute, but the all looked diseased and really skanky - their fur was even falling out on most of them! We walked along to Bemner Point which was alittle bit scary, we had to jump from rock to rock with sea either side but it was worth it. We just sat on the edge of the furthest rock, watching the fish and boats and relaxing. We then headed back up the island to do the Forts walk. Magnetic islan supposedly has the largest wild koala population in Oz and the Forts walk is said to be the place to see them. Well, we saw one! All five of us were on koala spotting duties, Dan even knows how to spot a eucalyptus tree as hes a tree surgeon and tey between us we found just one! The walk was really nice though and we saw lots of sites from WW2 - Townsville was a supply base for the Pacific during the war - and we climbed right to the top of the observation tower. The veiws of the Island and the mainland were amazing.

By the time we'd finished the walk we were absolutely knackered so we stopped for a well deserved ice cream and headed back to the hostel for lunch. We hopped back into the car once more to go and watch the sunset at West Point. It was so pretty to watch it on a beach but the lady at the hostel told us the wrong time so we ended up waiting for ages and nearly falling asleep!

Early nigth tonight as we leave tomorrow morning for Airlie Beach!