Hey everyone

Today we explored Magnetic Island some more!

Our day began with getting annoyed over breakfast about all the bugs that had gotten in our food. Christina then had shower number one of the day.

We then went off to play in the sea at Horseshoe Bay, and wore ourselves out swimming around in the big netted-off area (to stop jellyfish). After a little relax in the almost unbearable heat and a quick shower at the beach (number two) we went back to the hostel. Christina then had shower number three, but as she left the conditioner in (she said her hair felt like straw), she had shower number four 15 minutes later. After far too much deliberation over what to have for lunch, we made ourselves a bite to eat and then had a little rest before our afternoon trek.

We decided to go to the nearby Balding Bay, as it supposedly wasn't 'too' far away (but we've learnt not to trust the walking time estimations in brochures). We set off in our flip flops (bit of a mistake) and went up a huge hill and down the otherside, struggling to follow the path as it was more just boulders and rocks than a proper track to walk on. We spotted two snakes along the way (the first time we've seen wild snakes in Australia) and tred carefully over the rocks that formed the path.

We finally arrived at the bay and were just in time for sunset. Annoyingly, the East coast of Australia doesn't really have very good sunsets over the sea, as the sun sets in the west, so inland rather than out on the horizon. Still, we almost had the beach to ourselves so had a nice wander around and took some great photos. We then decided to head back before it got dark, but things started badly when Alex walked into a big spiders web and Christina slipped on a rock bashing her shoulder on another rock. Fortunately she was okay, and after a hug she was ready to go on.

The walk back went okay from then onwards, until near the end, when we reached Horseshoe Bay (the beach close to the hostel). When we had originally left the bay we had to walk across a little stream at one end of the beach, but the tide had been coming in quickly and when we arrived back at the bay, the little stream had turned into a stretch of water several metres wide (we weren't sure how deep it was). It looked like we were about to get pretty wet when we found a path going off into the bush, so we decided to risk it and see where the path went (as it was vaguely going in the right direction). Christina was pretty concerned about the 'path', as it was getting darker and it seemed to be leading deeper into the trees. After ten minutes of following the path, Alex decided to run ahead to see if the path went anywhere, and fortunately found a road only a minute further along the path. He came back to get Christina and we ran through a 'tunnel' in the bushes, hearing things rustling all around us. Emerging out onto a road, we both breathed a big sigh of relief. A short walk later we were back at the hostel, and had a much needed feast for dinner (along with shower number five) before going off to bed. Xxx