JOURNEY TO TOWNSVILLE
Got up plenty early for getting the bus, as Nik does not like to be late and was panicked that we wouldn't be able to check out and get our key deposit back. As it happened, the dude wasn't on reception and had to be found, but we had ample time anyway, even with the stumbling block of a broken ATM en route to the bus station too.
Got a bit confused as to which bus we were getting, but then there was only one, which made the choice easier. This trip is about 6 hours long, so was our longest to date.
Got on board, stationed in front of the TV, only to find out they had no DVDs. Gutted. We were informed of this by Alan, our bus driver, who might actually be the worlds biggest living legend. He was an old dude and did some amazing announcing over the microphone and had his name sewn on his shirt. Some of Alan's finest quotes (in broad aussie remember....):
"I'll be with ya as far as Townsville, when another driver will take over. I've got a couple of days off, so I'll probably just have a rest and something to eat, not sure yet"
"It's a nice day for it today, nice and green. Not like Western Australia. I was there a couple of weeks ago. It was green, but it was definitely browning off"
"We're going to be stopping in Cardwell for a meal break for 35 minutes. Cardwell by the sea. But you can't go in the sea as there are things in there that don't get on with people. You can get something to eat, and have a look around. Not that there's anything to see. The beach is muddy"
"We're pulling in here by the statue of a cassowary. it's a bit bigger than a real cassowary I think, although I've never actually seen one. Still, you'd get a decent drumstick off that."
The bus journey wasn't too bad, although Alan didn't do enough announcements. Saw some amazing scenery en route when not snoozing or playing patience on the I-pod. Lots of sugar, lots of mountains, lots of cool little independent stores. We also got to stop in Cardwell for a lunch break where we got crisps and drinks and sweets. They did have fish and chips but no pies, so we weren't lured in to the hot snacks. Cardwell was an awesome little town with a croc infested dirty sea and lots of cute old houses on stilts and comedy shops. It also had a little museum that used to be the post office and bush telegraph, but it was shut. The café where we stopped doubled up as the internet point, petrol station, convenience store, restaurant, fishing tackle shop and travel agent - amazing. We were tickled by the fact that the toilets were labelled 'mangoes' for the gents and 'no mangoes' for the ladies.
We continued our journey to Townsville, and it got a bit boring for Hannah, as Nik had failed to put the book in the bag, and then fell asleep wrapped in the I-pod so Hannah couldn't listen to it. However, we got there in the end.
Townsville is a funny little coastal city. It has lots of character buildings, but is under a lot of redevelopment so lots of places are bit derro and lots of building is taking place. We got picked up at the bus station (which doubles as the ferry terminal so gives you a good look out on the harbour) by a young girl who works at the hostel as we're staying at a place a little out of town so they come get you for free. Her name was Corey and she looked like she should be on Home and Away, so it made us a little sad that she had never been out of Australia, and hardly left Townsville. But she educated us a bit about the town, and showed us where the Townsville 400 racing will be taking place, which is a big deal to them here. She was accompanied by a young lad called Jacob who helped with our bags and was also very sweet. We think their parents might be the owners.
The van pulled down a beautiful little avenue in the Hermit Park area of Townsville to the hostel, which isn't even like a hostel. It is a beautiful old house that used to be barracks for people high up the army, so the likes of General MacArthur used to stay here and it's a pretty old building for the area, built in 1904. Inside, it is beautiful, with loads of original features, like wood floors, pretty stained glass windows, ornate window ledges, beaten tin ceilings and ceiling frescoes. It has an enormous outside balcony area, a big lounge, a stunning dining area, a sexy hot huge kitchen and really nice bathrooms. They have only been open a month so everything is new and pristine and in really good nick. It is more like a deluxe guest house than any kind of backpackers hostel. AND they were really nice and when they realised we were a couple, moved us from the twin we had booked, to a ginormous quad room which had a double bed and a door out on to the balcony with a lovely view out.
As the hostel is so nice, we decided that we would stay in for dinner - a fully functioning and clean kitchen plus a dining area is a real plus in most. Though to be fair, even though we're out of town, there is loads here, inc KFC, Dominos, a cheesecake shop, toys r us, an 'adult shop', a bike shop, an asian supermarket, and an Indian, greek and chinest restaurant.
So we went out for a walk to Woolworths to get some supplies, including some brekkie and picnic lunch. We made a budget dinner of pasta with veggies, and it seemed that it was the staple for all the guests, as we saw four other people cooking Woolies Home Brand pasta with Raguletto sauce! We then had tea and biccies for pudding and played some cards and watched some stuff before an early-ish night.
Next day we got up and had our power breakfast of yakult, mangoes and porridge before heading out for the day. We got the public bus down into Townsville, and then wandered round for a bit before we found the ferry terminal to get the boat over to Magnetic Island. There was an excellent family on the boat, with the most comedy child - a little blond girl called Pearl that was full of punch lines. They also had a son who claimed he didn't believe in lip sunscreen.
'Maggie' is an island named by Captain Cook which is on the reef, and also has some really varied nature (inc wild koalas - we failed to see them though) and some nice sandy beaches. We arrived and went to one of the bays on the southern tip, where we were pretty much the only people around. It was a lovely sunny day, so we relaxed, wandered along the bay etc. we found a secluded spot by some rocks for sunbathing and watched the sea eagles swooping overhead. Also, Nik went to dip his feet in the water and some chick appeared out of nowhere and asked him to take her picture on the rocks, she tried to do a sexy pose. It was uncomfortable.
We had a picnic lunch of ryvita with amazing gourmet cheese - sweet chilli cream cheese - and crisps on the beach, as the sea eagles sored overhead and the sun baked down on us ! Lucky, as the BBQs here have to be paid for. As seems to be the case here, by mid afternoon, the wind had got up so it was a bit chilly and we decided to get the ferry back. The bus driver to take us back to the jetty was amazing. He pulled up, took half an hour off where he drank two bottles of beer and smoked a cigarette, then got back on the bus, cranked up the John Mellencamp and drove like a lunatic back to the harbour.
Head back to the hostel, on the way seeing two martial arts places that Nik was gutted he failed to fnd on Google. Made a biscuit stop at Woolies on the way, where the owner of the hostel was us and shouted hello and waved - Nik's haircut makes him rather distinctive. When we got back, Nik went to see reception to find out how we can get to the Greyhound bus to Airlie Beach tomorrow as it is quite a walk from the public bus stop. Home and Away girl was today dressed like Daisy Duke and because the people running the hostel are the nicest in the world, she said that she would take us to the bus. Amazing service, and a total find considering how overpriced the scabby looking hostels in town are.