The sun was once again shining and the temperature rising before I left Airlie Beach and I began to wonder if I should have extended my stay to make the most of the weather that I have been craving for so long during my last few weeks in Sydney. But everything was booked, so I stuck with the original plan. When I arrived in Townsville I had about an hour to wait for the ferry across to Magnetic Island. And I cannot for the life of me think why they cannot coordinate the Greyhound and Premier bus times with the ferry?! But never mind. The ferry crossing only took about 20 minutes and I got chatting to another girl so it seemed we were on the island in no time at all. From the ferry terminal I took a bus to Magnums on Magnetic - my hostel for the next two nights. That evening I joined my roommates in the bar for a few drinks and games of cards, and then we watched Cane Toad Racing - an event the hostel puts on every Wednesday. It is currently winter break for the children in Queensland so the hostel was overrun with families. I don't think I have really seen children for months so it was somewhat of a shock to the system to find them sitting at our feet watching the Cane Toads. Their parents, aided by Chardonnays I'm sure, seemed to be betting big bucks on their chosen toads and left us backpackers wishing for a handout to help fund our trips if they had all this cash to splash! After this there was a trivia competition in the bar and I learnt a very valuable lesson in life… never play with non-English speakers if you want to win! I was in a group with French, Israeli, South Korean and German people, with myself as the only native English speaker. This meant that I had to repeat and explain each question for them, often meaning that I missed the next question and then they were unlikely to know answers (at least in English anyway) to such questions as "What is the common name known for a skull and crossbones?". We came last by a long shot and on this rather painstaking occasion I cannot help but think to hell with "it's the taking part that counts".

On Thursday I hired a bike from the hostel and went exploring the many bays of the island. I feel like I completed somewhat of a triathlon - cycling to destinations, swimming in the sea, walking the inland tracks, and running back to my bike to make up time. I had wanted to go horse riding along the beach and through the bush, and then swimming in the sea with the horse, but unfortunately the afternoon ride was already full and I was leaving the next day. In the evening I played some more cards, and a couple of games of pool, trying to keep myself awake until an acceptable time to go to bed. My legs and bum were already beginning to ache and my eyelids were heavy. When I woke up the next morning with aching legs and saddle sore I was ever grateful that I had been unable to go horse riding as I'm not sure what sort of state I would be in!! I'm not used to so much exercise at the moment and I think I was pretty close to overdoing it. Luckily my next day involved catching a bus, a ferry and then the Greyhound to Cairns largely comprising sitting down and doing precisely nothing.