Got mixed messages about the Fraser Island tour refund today. As I was checking out of the hostel, I told the lady at the reception desk about what had happened and she flat out said that I wouldn't get a refund for the trip. Not even a part refund. Oh, great. She said she would put a call in to the company for me, seeing as they had more weight than we did, but I shouldn't expect a refund. Oh. She seemed quite ofhand about it to be honest and wasn't really interested in anything else I had to say about the matter! I guess she must be tired of listening to backpackers? She'd had a bad day? Who knows, but she didn't make me feel any better!

A little bit later, I met up with Emily and I told her what the woman had told me. She looked as crestfalled as I first felt! However, we thought we might as well call them ourselves and see what the state of play was. Though we'd go to reception first to see if they'd already called and to see if they'd said anything.
Thankfully a different guy was at reception and was much more sympathetic than the other woman!! He said he'd heard about this type of thing happening before, with this company and with others, and people had received part refunds. Yay! That made us both feel much better. The other woman sat right next to him after a few minutes but seemed busy making other phone calls but I hope that she listened to some of what he said!!
So, we went off to phone the manager woman who's number we'd been given, but it was only her answer machine and I couldn't be bothered to leave a message. It was only the next day after all, so I didn't want to seem like a pest. Emily said that she'd probably give them a call tomorrow or later on today, so I don't know if she had any luck.

I also called the rail company about the Maryborough and M West issue, and it turned out there was a little shuttle bus between the two towns - yay! As it was a Thursday too, the shopping centre by the transit centre should be open late too. I wasn't expecting much there to be honest, as it's only a little town, and it turns out I wasn't surprised! There was only a tiny shopping centre with very boring shops, so it didn't entertain me for very long! I had a nice crepe lunch, wandered around with my luggage for a bit (couldn't find any blooming lockers) and then basically just mooched about. Sat at the station for a while, waiting for the bus as I didn't want to miss it. One transfer a day, and it leaves on the dot....not missing that one!!

Train to Townsville was pretty uneventful apart from the extremely chubby man snoring in one of the seats behind me!! Lordy, I can't believe how loudly he snored!! Luckily it wasn't constant, otherwise I think I might have gone mad!! He did sound more like a walrus or something equally blubbery and noisy though....
Train was also really cold - they didn't turn the air conditioning off at night, so just had to huddle myself together. Really glad I put my long trousers on whilst waiting at the station!

I had hoped that I would have two seats to myself so that at least I could stretch out a little, and I also hoped that some big fat and ugly bruiser wouldn't sit next to me and squash me!! I did have both seats to myself for the first 4 hours though, then a French girl sat next to me. It turned out she was over here studying Pharmacology, and has another year left of study. We both had a laugh about how crap Ozzie bread is, and how rubbish Ozzie food is in general! She doesn't like Ozzie chocolate, and so her mum sends her chocolate from France instead! Fair enough!
Also, the train is incredibly slow. Diane - the French girl - and I were lamenting about how much faster cars on the road were and how much quicker it would be if we just hopped out and hitched a lift - ah - wishful thinking! You would think that in such a large country that the trains would be whizzing over the land and top speeds. No, an asthmatic ant with heavy shopping would be quicker than us. Sticky the stick insect stuck on a sticky bun, would be quicker than us. Lesson number one learnt about travelling in Australia - know how to drive. Lesson number two learnt about travelling in Australia - don't take the train unless it's for short distances as it's not particularly scenic at night, nor on the trips after Brisbane. Sigh.

At least I had Diane to chat to though, and as her boyfriend was picking her up at the train station, they gave me a lift to the ferry terminal - yay! It was actually pretty far from the train station too, so I'm glad I didn't have to do that journey with all my luggage!
I had decided to go straight through to Magnetic Island instead of stopping in Townsville first. That meant I would get a couple of full days on Maggie Island, there wasn't a lot to do in Townsville, and I would have to spend a night in Townsville anyways as I had a 9am train to catch to Cairns on Monday. I could stay on Maggie on Sunday night, but I would have had to get up really early to catch the bus to the ferry terminal from the hostel, and then catch the ferry, then make my way to the train station, and all of that palaver, so I decided to stay in Townsville for the Sunday night.
I had briefly thought about staying in Townsville for the 3 nights I was around the area, just in case my glasses got to Townsville by then, but I had rung the opticians on Thursday too and they didn't think it likely they'd get to Townsville by Sunday. Saturday is ANZAC day here over here, so lots of places would be closed as well.

Did feel extremely tired after the 14 hour train journey with not very much sleep, so didn't really get up to all that much on the island. I had a little walk to Horseshoe Bay to see the beach and the sea, and found the little supermarket there too so I had some food to eat :D
One of the ladies in the room also told me about the rainbow lorikeet feeding that happens at 4:30pm every day, just by the little bridge in the hostel. They didn't say anything about that at the reception desk (where they weren't particularly friendly I'm afraid - it's a YHA too - you expect some standards!) but I guess it's a good way of other travellers talking to each other. She recommended wearing a hat and sleeves as the lorikeets land on your arms and head and I can see why she said that as it was completely manic when the lorikeets saw the food! They feed them bread soaked in milk and honey, and the birds go mad for it!!
There are hundreds of them, swooping down on people and the food! You could hear the screeches from people getting landed on and pecked and scratched a little by the lorikeets, even before you got to where they were being fed! I was a bit too tired and timid to do it myself (also had bare arms and head and some people looked like they were in some pain!) but I'll try it tomorrow :D

Hoping to have a nice early night and sleep through all the noise and kerfuffle from outside. Apparently it's pretty noisy here at night, seeing as we're right in the thick of wilderness and so there must be all sorts of wildlife around us. One lady said she saw a snake on the path earlier today, and they have possums (and lorikeets obviously) and all sorts going around here. We've found a cockroach in our room so far, and I've seen a few little geckos, but that's about it so far!

Plan for tomorrow is to go on the wildlife sanctuary tour here (cuddling a koala is on the agenda - I can't resist) and then maybe a cruise around Horseshoe Bay. Not sure if I'll be able to get through to the people organising the cruise, seeing as it'll be for tomorrow and I'll be ringing them tomorrow, but we'll see what happens. Otherwise, I might just make the most of the pool and the sunshine as I've looked at the weather forecast for Cairns and it looks like it might be pretty rainy up there for the whole of next week!