On Arriving in Townsville we head straight from the coach to the ferry terminal. After a 20 min ride we arrive at Nelly Bay and catch the bus to the Bungalow Bay YHA at Horseshoe Bay! It feels like its been a pretty long journey and we are relieved to finally put our bags down. The hostel doubles up as a wildlife sanctuary, and each double room is housed in an individual wooden cabin. With so many different animals in close proximity – we’ve never heard so many different ‘wild’ noises!

There is a fantastic pool in the hostel and jumping in provides a welcome relief from the heat! At 4.30pm every day feed the staff at the hostel feed lorrakeats – as they all swoop down to grab the bread on offer the trees start to resemble xmas trees, scattered with their colourful feathers. We resisted holding the food and having them land all over us – the prospect of being covered in lorrakeat poo wasn’t too appealing. It was entertaining enough to watch other people squawk when they dug their little claws in!

Just 5 mins walk from our hostel was a lovely beach at horseshoe bay, and on our first walk there we encounter our first cane toad. This one happens to be as flat as a pancake and looking a little crispy – it’s definitely had the car then sun treatment.
We had planned on hiring a car for a day but due to the expense of it and also being exhausted still from the rafting and skydiving trips we decided to stay local to the hostel and enjoy the lovely surroundings!

Although the hostel was beautiful, we came to the conclusion that we aren’t really rainforest people! The final straw came in the form of a possum. Walking back to our hut late at night, armed with our small torches, ‘something’ launches itself towards us! Unsurprisingly we shrieked...frantically shone the torches around....and the light fell upon the cheeky little face of a possum staring up at us. Lucky for us, another couple were standing on the veranda of their hut nearby and burst out laughing. In our defence – as this is Australia, it could have been something far more menacing!
Magnetic Island was a nice, quiet break away and gave us the chance to recharge our batteries before the next stop – Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays!