Magnetic Island

So after arriving at the Townsville bus station, we walked through the terminal building to the other side, where the ferry across to Magnetic Island would collect us. I organised the tickets and then we had 30 mins or so to kill, so Becki and I sat down for a DIY lunch of avocado and tuna on crackers - I'm such a lucky boy!

The ferry arrived shortly after that and we boarded it and made our way to the top deck to sit inside in the shade. Now the Summer is really on its way, it's almost too hot to sit out in! I'm gutted as I am losing my tan faster than Michael Jackson did in the 90's!!

There was a TV in the cabin and on it, was the horseracing - it was Melbourne Cup day and we'd sat down just in time for the big race. Having not put a bet on it, I wasn't too interested, but there was a woman in the seats in front that was getting just a tad bit too excited! She was jumping up and down all the way and as her horse came in first, she started a speech on the ferry saying 'Thank you! Thank you!' to everyone and running in and out of the cabin...nutter! Assuming she'd won a fortune, we later laughed when we heard her on the phone saying she'd only placed a $5 dollar bet for it to win!! and it was a 10-1 shot..... I'm telling you - all the Ozzie's I've met some far are weird.....

We arrived in Magnetic 25mins later and waited for the bus to pick us up from the station. It took us about another 30mins to get to our stop - we were the last one, in Horshoe Bay, on the North of the island. We were dropped off at Maggie's, which was an alright hostel - the room looked like a bit of a prison cell, but the beds were clean and comfy...and there was a nice bar downstairs that looked out across the beach. To be fair the room reminded me of a Russian Othinage - I felt like consistantly banging my head against the wall to fit in.

We had a lazy afternoon sorting our bags and then made the most of Happy Hour in the bar with a few pints of the good stuff! We had a free meal with the package we'd bought, so got a nice jacket potato with beans and cheese with a hefty salad to feast on. It was an earlyish night after that.

The next morning, we got up and did the saddddddddddest thing ever!! (I enjoyed it really!!) Just up the road from the hostel, was the Koala Sanctuary. We decided to go on the 2hr tour there, where we were able to hold crocodiles, snakes, lizards and...the sadddest bit - a koala!! I paid $14 for this too. The bush ranger collected us from reception where we were waiting with some other girls that we had met the previous day on the bus. The tour began and first up, were the crocs! They were baby crocs and had tape around their jaws, so they couldn't have bitten us, but it was still quality. They were wriggling around a bit, but I was surprised at how smooth they were - they felt more like a snake and I had expected them to have really hard skin and be quite rough.

After that, we had a look at the lizards - which were cool....but just lizards! Then - I got to put a big pithon around my neck!! I've held snakes before because I had one as a pet but this one was a bit bigger!

After looking at a cockatoo, it was time for the party piece. It was Koala time! I was first up and the ranger marked out an 'x' spot where I had to stand and showed me how to hold my hands out. Apparently, Koalas are one of the thickest animals alive (and christ they really are), with a brain the size of a pea. Each time someone holds them, the koala thinks that it is holding onto a tree, which is why it just sits there and stares into space. The poor little fella doesn't know it's arse from its elbow!! I held my arms out and lowered my hands....and the koala was placed right on them. It's arms attached themselves to me aaaarrrhhhh! Thinking about the koala's amence stuppidness, they can't be that stupid........ When it came the Becki's go the little tinker grabbed her breast straight away - that's was a impressive move. Even better then that, it poooooed on her hand. Good skills my man, good skill!

After the koala holding session, it was time for the bush walk. I say bush walk - it was more of a stroll through the trees, but it was interesting and we learnt about 'bushtucker' and tried eating an edible flower. The ranger feasted on some ants, but we decided to pass on that one! We saw bats hanging in the eucalyptus trees and learnt about the functions of the mangrove swamps - helping to keep all the sediment back as the tide goes in and out.

After the walk, we collected our pictures from the rangers office and then headed back to Maggies. After lunch, we had a quiet afternoon on the beach in the sun/shade and read our books. This doing nothing malarky is exhausting!!! At 5pm, we went for another happy hour bevvie and Becki and I were happily chatting away when this Ozzy guy - late 40's - plonks himslelf next to us and starts talking. Fine - not a problem - we're happy to chat....but then he makes reference to being a 'messenger'....and then says, 'he's on a mission from God!'.....uh oh - we have a fruitcake on the horizon!!! He started going on about his mission and at that point, we excused ourselves and ran for it. Some straaaaange people about in Australia!

Morning came and after checking out, we waited around until midday to get the ferry back to the mainland. When we arrived back, we had another 2hr wait for the greyhound down to Ayr, where were were spending the next day - to go diving again!!

At 3.30pm, the bus arrived and on we jumped - another hr down the road and we were in Ayr - home of all the farms and fruit pickers!!....

Story to continue another day kids

Bye for how

Miffy x x x