We arrived in Townsville around 11.30am only a four and half hour journey on the Greyhound, nice and easy. The bus terminal is right outside the ferry we went inside and got our tickets for the ferry ride over to Magnetic Island unfortunately we had an hour and half wait. We had bought a Maggie Island package which included 2 nights at the YHA Bungalow Bay Koala Village, free beer or pizza voucher, half a day snorkelling, free wifi and return ferry tickets :) We chilled in the ferry terminal reading about things to do on Magnetic Island then 1pm we boarded the Sealink ferry. Only a half hour journey over to Nelly Bay terminal then we hopped straight onto a local bus to Horseshoe Bay which stopped right outside our YHA. All good timing as it was 2pm ready to check into our room, we upgraded our shared room to a double for only $36 for both of us for 2 nights happy times. It was a lovely place so excited, little bungalow to ourselves with palm trees, lots of wildlife, pool, bar and beach was just 5 minutes down the road. It was such a hot day so we opted for a dip in the pool right away to cool down, very nice and relaxing then we had a nap on the hammocks in the area which then continued into our bungalow. Both bit poorly with colds so was nice to have some spare time to nap in the room. However, we didn't set an alarm and woke up 4 hours later at half 8 :( I was gutted felt we wasted most the day. We got dressed and headed to the bar for our free pizza and beer was nice enough but we were both tired and weary from our nap so didn't stay out at bar long before crawling back into bed. An exciting last night of being 24!!

Happy Birthday to me, yeah today was Thursday 21st Feb, I am now 25! Talked to mam and mandy at home in bed for a couple of hours which was really nice. Gary surprised me with tickets for champagne breakfast with the Koalas for tomorrow. Midday ish we headed to reception to grab our snorkel gear and walked down to the beach having a look at the few shops there and grabbing a hot dog as we went. Horseshoe Bay was a gorgeous beach, pretty big, lovely area and even had a netted off pool bit in the sea so you could swim in there without worrying about the Jellyfish! We had to wear a stinger wetsuit every time we went in the water, in Whitsundays, Cairns and here. Snorkel was fun we couldn't see much but did find some interesting things and a sting ray yay! We fitted in a dip in the netted pool area and a milkshake before heading back to our bungalow. Showers and dressed for night, Gary treated me to a meal down in Horseshoe Bay, burger and choc cake yum yum but very filling. All went down nicely with a few drinks at the YHA bar and some coconut bowling fun! It was a very hot, sticky night though so again we didn't stay out at the bar to long before returning to our cosy room with air con. Talked to home again briefly and my Dad before bed. Lovely day.

Up early next day, bags packed checked out of room and in bar area for 8.30am for our champagne breakie. A lady came out and lead us to the wildlife centre where there was a buffet breakfast awaiting and we were handed Guava champagne!! The food was awesome bacon, eggs, grilled lamb loins with spices, fresh mackerel with lemon myrtle, french toast, poached eggs in toast which they called toad in the hole. Pancakes with syrup and honeycomb fresh from the beehive. Cereals, juice, fruit and toast yum yum. We definitely made the most of the all you can eat breakfast and the animals that came around. We had a alligator join us, a snake, koala asleep and 2 cockatoo's, a Black Red Tailed and Sulphur Crested. After our breakie we went on a guided tour around the centre for 2 hours, only a very small centre but it was a great tour the keeper brought the animals out to be handled if they wanted to be and give a thorough talked about each one, was really good. After our awesome morning I went for a swim in the pool to cool off, so hot!! 1pm we got bus back to Nelly ferry terminal for the 1.30pm ferry back to Townsville. We had a great time on Magnetic Island, lovely very tropical place, there was much more there than we thought a lot of restaurants, shops and over 2,000 people living on the island. The reason it is called Magnetic Island is that Captain Cook, when he discovered this island, felt his compass be pulled by a magnetic disturbance. However, many scientists have since tested the island with numerous instruments and found nothing to describe the strange phenomenon that Captain Cook experienced haha.

Our Greyhound was due at 2.40pm but it didn't turn up until 3.50pm which meant we were over an hour delayed which was pants as we then didn't arrive in Cairns until nearly 10pm. This was our last Greyhound journey to which was quite sad, our East Coast adventure is coming to an end, but so excited about diving the Great Barrier Reef eekkkk!!!