Mozzie Infestation!!!

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Our bus trip was for once pretty painless, although still with the compulsary stops every 2 hours!!! And we got into Townsville in plenty of time for our transfer ferry, from there it was onto a bus for 5 minutes before arriving at Base Backpackers - supposedly the best in Australia! And admittedly for the beachside location, views and accommodation it was certainly pretty reasonable and a rather good hostel! HOWEVER, within 2 minutes of arriving I was being ravaged - no, not by hunky Ozzie blokes but by VERY persistent mosquitos. In 3 minutes I had been bitten as many times and was fast losing interest in the island! Some even seemed to be slightly immune to insect repellant, thus we decided (in true english paranoia!) that the mozzie nets (which I had commented we hadn't really needed to bring/ use with the exception of Malaysia) needed to be put up! So, somewhat haphazardly we tied them around the rafters offering, atleast, some overnight protection!!!

First stop had to be the supermarket, food rations were a pot of mustard and some pasta at that point - so lunch was looking a pretty sorry affair!!! Given the intense heat and serious humidity we decided to bus it for a dollar, not realising it was only a 15 minute walk!!!! We decided that backpacker noodles were not going to be an option for us at the beginning of the trip and this lunch time took that one step further going for the gourmet option - its not often you see backpackers tucking into olives, dips and antipasto!! But we managed it in true style - YUM!!! Having spent our dollars getting there we decided we would have to walk back - it was no distance at all!! Not a good decision! Seriously hot, sweaty and be-draggled we arrived back at the hostel - opting for a much needed dip in the luke warm pool to cool off - with a spot of sunning ourselves in the evening sun! Beautiful! Unfortunately this bliss meant that we forgot about the mozzies and loungin on the pool side we soon came to realise that our pool dunk had very helpfully washed off all the repellant that was sort of working!!! A few bites later, we opted for the cover up option, donning longsleeved t shirts, trousers and SOCKS!!! My god are socks uncomfortable in 30 degree heat! It wasn't long before we opted for an early night and the protection of our mozzie nets!!!!!! Oh the relief!

Morning dawned and we decided the ONLY way to see the island (walking NOT being an option!) was to hire a car! We had heard on the grape vine that the sunset from Maggie Island was a MUST see and to do so we needed a 4x4! And so we opted for a rather funky (and air conditioned (wahoo!!!)) toyota land cruiser and commenced cruisin the island!!! WOW! It was spectacular! I think Jen fell for it all a little bit more than me - the humidity was just too much! but it was absolutly stunning - with untouched beaches and areas where we were the only two people! The car gave us so much freedom and made the trip well and truly worthwhile - without it I think we would have done little more than lounge by the pool! It also meant that we could go and see the oh-so spectacular sunset! next joke! In typical sod's law fashion, as sunset loomed so did the clouds....coming in dark and grey and seriously threatening rain - but still we chanced it - it wasn't the most beautiful - but I guess it was still a little pink!

We also had the truck for the following morning so we opted for a bit of inland venturing! Going out into the rainforsts and down little random roads - seeing as much of the island as was possible without actually walking anywhere! Oh the laziness! But such fun - and it got me back behind the wheel!

From Maggie Island it was onto Mission Beach!

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