Believe it or not, travelling really takes it's toll on you and 3 of us left Airlie Beach suffering with a bit of illness. Thankfully we were travelling up to Townsville on one of the larger Oz Experience coaches which meant we had a little more comfort for the journey.

Magnetic island is an island just off the coast of Australia meaning we had to catch a ferry across the water from it's nearest town. The island immediately reminded me of Rarotonga. It's about the same size and is predominantly tropical forest with the usual beach coastline and rocky outcrops. We arrived in yet more glorious sunshine and settled into the BASE hostel which was located right on the beach! It felt like we were on holiday as we had a good group of people we knew from the Oz Experience and we were staying in accommodation that was fit for a hotel. The afternoon we arrived i did nothing more than relax by the pool with a good book (The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, a really good read). Then the party atmosphere started and because it was ladies night, the majority of us lads donned a lovely frock and joined in the fun. The night was quality and I even managed to win Cathy a free 10 nights in BASE hostels by giving her a lap dance - please don't laugh too much when you see the photo's...

The next day the humidity seemed to crank up a notch even further and all that could be done was to sit in the sun and enjoy. As the day cooled down though, we mustered up the energy to go on one of the really recommended walks - The Forts Walk. It was a 1.4km walk which took in the scenery as well as the old gun emplacements and observation posts from WWII. We even spotted wild koalas tucked up in the eucalyptus trees, magic! That night my cold got the better of me so after a few social drinks I hit the hay relatively early.

My body really doesn't deal with humidity well... Queue a repetition of New Orleans as I lay in the Maggy Island sun the next morning. I was really groggy and my head seemed to pound harder than Ali's left hook! It was too hot to do anything other than relax in the shade and try and sleep off the illness all day. However, as the evening approached and the temperature dropped the bar called out. It was trash bag night where people were challenged to come dressed in a bin liner for drinks... Stupidly funny! After my cross dressing antics I thankfully sat this one out and prepared for our journey up to Mission Beach the following day.