WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE 2005 - DEPART CAIRNS FOR TOWNSVILLE. Today is a sad day. I think Sig even had a tear in his eye as we left the luxurious dorm that had been our home for 5 nights. we said goodbye to a sleepy Susan and Jiny. Then the lovely people at the Asylum gave us a lift down to the Greyhound Bus Station. It was liek saying goodbye to family, honestly. The staff had made us feel so welcome. They even gave us big hugs and kisses when they waved us off. Our initial opinion of the Asylum wasn\'t great. To put it nicely the place needed a new coat of paint (or 2). I felt especially bad for Susan. We\'d recommended the place to her and to be honest it was probably the worst place to stay for your first few nights in Australia. We\'d heard such great reviews though and it seemed like the perfect place to make new friends. Ok, so back to the story. We have booked Greyhound bus tickets (thanks for the advice Zana!) and our first journey was from Cairns to Townsville, only a 6 hour trip. The bus was fine and we got to watch \"Toy Story\". We arrived in to Townsville and settled in to the Adventurers Backpacker Hostel. There were so many school kids, I think they must be on a school trip. We don\'t really mind though as the room is ok and we aren\'t having to share with 4 other smelly boys and girls. We were quite surprised by the size of Townsville. We didn\'t know it was the capital of North Queensland. Tonight we decided to head out and investigate what the city had to offer, however, we only made it to the pub next door. Just in time for the rugby as well, I think Sig must have planned this. Sig donned his Leeds Rhino\'s shirt especially for the occasion and as we walked in the door we were greeted by the landlord who just so happened to be called Wayne Mac Donald! We watched the game with some rather rowdy ladies. It was great fun and they told us all aout State of Origin and the local team the Cowboys. It was a great night, only down side for the locals is that Queensland lost to NSW 22 - 32. I think they needed big Barry Mac to help them out! They still have 1 more game and its 1 -1 on aggregate. THURSDAY 16TH JUNE - FERRY TO MAGNETIC ISLAND This morning we took the ferry to Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Townsville. Planned to spend a few days topping up the tan but the weather is a little cloudy, in fact this may be the only time it is hotter in England than Oz! We are staying at Maggies and room with some rather funny German girls and Rosie and Greg, who are also from the UK. Its rather strange as Rosie and Greg are doing the exact same trip as us but the other way round. It was a golden opportunity to swap info and we each wrote down a list of things to do and see. We spent tonight out with them too. I think they were on a bit of a budget too and so we went to the bottle shop and got a few bevies and sat out on the pic nic area on the beach. We even saw some possoms, bats and some old people dancing! FRIDAY 17TH JUNE 2005 - BALDING BAY (MAGNETIC ISLAND) Weather not great but we decide to head out to the beach. for some reason Sig is really keen on going to Balding Bay. He tells me we might be able to see Koala\'s in the wild if we walk up and over the hill to the beach on the other side. Great! I thought. He\'s extremly keen and even wakes me up at 9.00 am so we can make an early start. It was quite a climb to the beach and unfortunatly we didn\'t see any koala\'s. I did however see a naked man! YES, Sig conveniently forgot to tell me that Balding Bay is in fact a nudist beach. As the man stood against the rock with all out on show it really was back to nature. SATURDAY 18TH JUNE 2005 - MAGNETIC ISLAND FORT WALK Weather still not great and so the Koala search continues. No naked guys today thought. Instead it is a climb up to the old fort. It was much further than I expected. We were however rewarded with amazing views over the bay and 2 koala\'s!!! Our first sighting was actually a tip off from an aussie couple. It was sat up in a gum tree just off the main path. It reminded me a little of Grandpa Maisey snoozing in his chair! the only difference was this koala didn\'t have any Brylcream in his hair! SUNDAY 19TH JUNE 2005 - DEPART MAGNETIC FOR TOWNSVILLE Before we left we stopped by at Brett\'s parents house. Unfortunatly they weren\'t in so we left a note and made our way back to the harbour. Its back to Townsville today. MONDAY 20TH JUNE 2005 - BILLABONG SANCTUARY! What a day! We were so excited. We booked a trip to visit a wildlife sanctuary. We got picked up at 9am and drove about 17km south of the city. On arrival we were greeted by 4 kangeroo\'s that we hand fed! It was a great start to the day. We literally just walked in to the park and they came bouncing up to us! It just got better from there. First stop was at Willamina the Wombat. She was quite an old wombat and had a very large butt and a liking for nibbling toes. After stroking Willamina it was on to the Koala\'s. I think we were more excited than the kids and were the first in the queue to hold them. They had very sharp claws but didn\'t hurt us. They did however have a little poop on us! We also held crocodiles, blue tongued lizards, a very large python, a kukaburra and many more.