Well, well we have had a fab weekend on Magnetic Island ( When Captain Cook found in onboard the Endeavour his magnetic compass went crazy and hence the name!) but it's 8kn outside Townsville - a northern city in Queensland.

It's gorgeous - a huge National Park in Horseshoe Bay, and our accommodation @ Bungalow Bay is in A frame wooden cabins in a Koala Sanctuary - it has a gorgeous pool with hammocks and an award winning restaurant - doesn't feel hostelly atall!!

We arrived late Friday afternoon and coming by train from Airlie Beach and got the ferry across from Townsville - Friday night we went to Arcadia Bay to a local's night market where the community get together for food etc and we a great homemade Thai meal and met an older couple from our acommodation who we sat with and were really helpful as the guy has been coming here for 25yeras and they put a bid in to a buy a house so they told us what to do - we had for pud a zuccini cake!! (no, not carrot but a courgette cake - looked like carrot but tasted different - quite nice tho!!)

Yesterday (Sat) we went for a hike up one of the hills and down into Balding Bay ( there are about 10 Bays on the island and a lot can only be accessed be foot) - it was a sttep climb up and a steep climb down to the bay but it was lovely - we met a local on the way back up and he told us that it was an unofficial nudist beach!!

We then hiked back to the top and went on to Radical Bay which was another mega steep climb down but lovely and then we hiked back over to Horseshoe Bay and lay on the beach to cool off. You can't go in the sea at this time of year coz of the deadly stingers but our bay has a net enclosure in the sea so you can swim which is good to cool off!!

We then had which was called a "Backpackers special" meal deal for tea but the food from the restaurant was amazing - we had a curry each with race poppodoms and dips with a wine and a scooner ( random Ozzie 2/3 rd pint!!) for $14 each and apple crumble to top it off - amazing food!!

Today we hired a car to get around the island as it's very hilly so hard to get everywhere but we went to Alma Bay, Geoffrey Bay and Picnic Bay and then to Cockle Bay which is meant for private cars only but we went and it was so secluded!

Finally we did another trek this evening up to the old fort which was built to protect the island from the Japenese in WW2 and saw wild Koalas eating in the trees and amazing wild Rock wallabies (mini kangaroos) just bouncing about everywhere,a ll in the wild - amazing to see in their own habitat!! Iain also had his snake stick to protect us from the deadly adders that live on the island!!

It's been a fab weekend and we will drive to the ferry at 630 tomorrow to get our 8 hour train to Cairns so we should arrive in Cairns at 4pm on Monday for more fun!!

Speak soon

C & I xx