Hey! So we arrived in Townsville a bit late and hung around for the ferry. We finally got onto Magnetic Island at 4.15! Partly because we couldn't be bothered to carry our bags and partly for style reasons we hired a tropical topless car for the 3 days we were on the island! They are little cars with no roof - very cool! So we loaded up our stuff, signed our lives away and headed off into the sunset. Within minutes we had driven the length of the island to our accommodation - Bungalow Bay. We were staying in a little bungalow in the camping area - very nice place thoroughly recommend it! We dumped our stuff and then went to get some food before going back to the hostel and eating in the bar (logic)! The next day we had our first lie in for a very long time! Bliss! We drove our little car right to the bottom of the island to Picnic Bay where we had a look around and then sat on the beach have a good old session of doing nothing! We then drove to the middlish of the island and did the 'forts walk'. Its a walk up to - yes you guessed it - some forts! We were told in the late afternoon we would see koalas but didnt see any. We did see an Echidna though - very cool! We sat by the pool for a bit and met up with some people we met in Hervey Bay! We had burritos for dinner a la Emily - a nice change from pasta! Then we entered the quiz and came first!! We won a bar tab which i spent my part on ice cream! The next morning we did our horse ride much to Steve's delight! We rode for a bit through the bush which was good but the horses obviously did the same route each time and knew when to trot etc. We even tried a bit of canter which I wasn't too pleased about for Steve's sake also my horse was just following the leaders horse so i just had to sit there and feel the Gs! The best bit was when we rode along the beach and then de-saddled the horses and stripped down to our swimmers (or boxers in Steve's case!). We rode the horses bare back into the water and rode along in water up to the horses back! We stopped half way and stood up on their backs and did 'round the world' (Steve's holey boxers didn't leave much to the imagination)! We then rode back and redressed and resaddled and then rode through the 'bush' some more! We did a bit more cantering and Steve managed to fall off (only 6 more times and he will be a good rider!)! He wasn't hurt though and got straight back on (the lessons will soon sort him out!)! After our ride, hardly able to walk, we sat on the beach for a bit but mainly chilled out in hammocks by the pool! That night we had curry and steak in the hostels restaurant - very yummy! It was also coconut bowling night - yep just bowling but with a coconut! Steve got to the second round but lost to a 10 year old boy! On Friday morning we had 'Bush Tucker Brunch' - a huge breakfast in the wildlife park. We got to touch a crocodile, a snake and a koala! We then drove to Horseshoe Bay and walked to Radical Bay. It was 1.6km but I'm sure that was as the crow flies as it was one huge hill we had to climb! We chilled out on the almost empty beach for a while and then trekked back! Unfortunately we had to check out of our hostel and drive Betty (our car) back to the rental company and catch the ferry back to Townsville! We got the bus to our hostel (from hell)! Globetrotters our hostel was so badly laid out that all of the comunal areas were right outside the rooms. We were kept awake by the TV, people on the internet and the laundry! Next morning we had to get up 6 to get our bus on to Cairns! Speak soon! Ems and Steve xxx