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Published: February 9th 2009
Day 221: Thursday 5th February - Making it through to Townsville just in time
It’s a ridiculously early start this morning as I’m catching a bus at 6.15am. When it doesn’t turn up until almost 7am I must admit to having resigned myself to there being no bus north to Townsville for the third successive day. Thankfully, the bus driver gets off the bus and announces that he’s intending to drive to Townsville. I would love to sleep on the almost 5 hour journey to Townsville but I have a sense of foreboding that arriving in Townsville is far from a given which makes me restless. Just before we reach Ayr (not to be confused with the Scottish seaside town) I see a sign flashing above the road which I think says that the Bruce Highway is closed at Ayr. A minute or so later we slow to a standstill in a queuing line of traffic. Now I am concerned! This concern heightens when ahead I see cars turning around in the road and going south. When we get to the front of the queue there are police vehicles stationed beside the road, and the road ahead resembles a river.
The bus having a high clearance manages to get through the water and on to Ayr and then Townsville. When the bus arrives in Townsville the bus driver says that we got through 15 minutes before the road was being closed at the Burdekin bridge. I later discover that the river there has risen 12 metres and the water is now 2 metres above the road. No more traffic is getting through there today and goodness knows for how many days afterwards. I’ve been very fortunate.
Another thing that the bus driver told me (he being probably the only friendly and helpful Greyhound bus driver I’ve encountered up the east coast, quite the opposite of their Kiwi counterparts) is that the road north to Cairns from Townsville is probably going to be closed for a week maybe even two. Reading a local newspaper I pick up at the tourist information office confirms that Ingham, in between Townsville and Cairns, is like an island and most of the town is under water as a result of the worst floods in 30 years. Whilst I get a shred of comfort from the fact this level of rainfall is abnormally high, as
otherwise it would have seemed a ridiculously foolish idea to venture up into Australia’s tropics at this time of year, I do need to book a flight or something otherwise I’m going to be stranded here for maybe weeks. I decide that with more heavy rainfalls predicted on the radio on the bus on the journey up, and even the possibility that the tropical low pressure systems may develop into a cyclone, that it would be prudent to book a flight to Cairns, as there is no way the road is opening anytime soon. It is frustrating as I’ve paid for a bus pass all the way up to Cairns already, but if I book now to leave in 3 days on Sunday it will only cost $130 (£60), which isn’t too bad when some poor North Queenslanders have lost everything, with apparently two-thirds of the state being classified as a disaster zone.
Having resolved the dilemma of leaving Townsville I can now get on with enjoying the reason why I wanted to stop off here, which is to visit Magnetic Island, 8 kilometres off the coast of Townsville. I’m not sure a tropical island is the best place
to ride out a potential cyclone, but then again maybe it is?! Before I do leave the mainland I visit Reef HQ, Townsville’s aquarium which houses some of the 1500 species of fish and 360 species of corals that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef. I’ve kind of come to the conclusion that if I’m not going to get out to see the reef in all its glory (there is still the opportunity ahead, but with the current weather who knows??) then I might as well bring the reef to me. This is essentially what Reef HQ is all about so hence my visit.
Reef HQ proves to be outstanding. It is as good an aquarium as I’ve been to, and just about on a par with Australia Zoo, which is high praise indeed. I spend the entire afternoon there wandering around the various tanks which exhibit vivid fish, coral, starfish, clams, turtles, rays and lobsters. Every part of the aquarium recreates a part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, the world’s largest and the same size as Germany! The highlights include seeing the tank which houses the predators being fed and the talk on the dangerous creatures.
Firstly, the feeding; watching a leopard shark, Black-tipped reef sharks, a Tawny Nurse shark, a ray, a sawfish, a turtle and numerous reef fish of varying sizes swarm around and then fight over the dead fish being dropped in the tank was a wonderful spectacle. Equally as good was the talk that one of the volunteers gave on dangerous creatures that inhabit the reef. I come away wondering what is the creature I’d least like to encounter, only in Australia’s waters could there be so many deadly beasts. The talk covers Box Jellyfish (which are bigger than I’d imagined at up to 4 metres), Cone shells, sharks, seasnakes (which are more poisonous than land snakes), Firefish and Squirrelfish. Thankfully it’s only the first three that are likely to be able to kill humans and even then the number of recorded fatalities is very few.
I catch the ferry across to Magnetic Island, so named because Captain Cook’s compass went crazy when he sailed past the island in 1770. It is only a 20 minute ferry ride and then a short bus ride around the north of the island to Horseshoe Bay. My accommodation for my stay on Magnetic Island
is the Bungalow Bay Koala Village, which sits in 7 acres of tropical landscape, has a wildlife sanctuary and also free-ranging wildlife in the grounds. My dormitory, housed in an A-frame wooden bungalow is a bit basic and cramped but I love the rest of this hostel. It’s not long before I’m on island time, relaxing in the deck bar and making new friends in the form of two girls from Seattle, Anna and Gina. There’s even a restaurant which does cheap backpacker specials so I don’t have to get up and venture from the bar for the rest of the evening. On the way to bed, I encounter a cheeky Possum which is trying to get into the bungalow.
Day 222: Friday 6th February - Holding a python & a croc
I have a lazy morning after a bad night’s sleep. Sleeping in these bungalows proves problematic every night of my stay. If it isn’t the sound of the almost incessant rain drumming down on the roof and all around, the sound from one of the various forms of wildlife wakes you or you feel something crawling around your midst. The humidity is also high, which of
course doesn’t aid a peaceful night’s sleep. The most difficult task of my day is making breakfast. Someone has misappropriated my milk and the kettle isn’t working. How hard can it be to have cereal and a cup of tea? Being a typical Englishman, I need my cuppa in the morning so I trudge off to the shop to buy some more milk. I’m not having the best luck with milk in the last few days. At Airlie Beach, I had to leave a litre of milk as I couldn’t get into the kitchen at 5:30am the morning I left! I do find the milk later in the day, somehow it had got into someone else’s bag without their knowledge!
At noon, myself, Timo, a German guy who’s in my dorm and the two American girls go to the wildlife sanctuary which is situated on site. For the next two hours, we learn about freshwater and saltwater crocodiles, Koala bears, lizards, snakes, and the hedgehog-like Enchidna. The wildlife sanctuary houses all these animals, and the best bit is that you can hold, stroke and feed the animals! Holding a saltwater croc is pretty cool, although it is a juvenile
and only about two feet long, and as an extra precaution its jaws are taped up! After the croc I get to feed the Cockatoo’s, stroke an Enchidna, hold a Skink and stroke Dexter, the resident Koala. Perhaps the highlight is holding the Carpet Python. I’ve always found snakes the most interesting of creatures, but until now I’ve never wanted to get too close to one. I overcome my fear and the next minute I‘ve got a two and a half metre snake coiled around me! The Carpet Python is a constrictor and I don’t think this one is big enough to suffocate me to death - at least I hope! The Carpet Python also looks very similar in markings and size to the snake I saw up the tree a few days ago in Airlie Beach. We also get shown how to treat a snake bite, which with 115 of Australia’s 145 snakes being poisonous and a good number of them being deadly is a good idea.
Half way through our tour around the sanctuary it starts raining heavily and it doesn’t let up for the rest of the day. Dictated by the poor weather, the four of
us settle down in the bar area to watch the film ‘The Island’ for the rest of the afternoon. I don’t really fancy getting wet by going down to the shops for some groceries so I opt to eat in the restaurant. The four of us spend the rest of the evening chatting over a few beers. Despite the fact that I haven’t ventured off the premises of Bungalow Bay since this morning I’ve had a really good day. Very relaxing and it’s not every day you get to hold a Crocodile and a Python!
Day 223: Saturday 7th February - Soaked on a bushwalk across Magnetic Island
Today, I’m determined not to let the weather dictate proceedings. Despite the rain, I set off on a walk up to the Forts walk, 2 kilometres south of Horseshoe Bay. At first it’s only raining lightly but by the time I make it up to the Forts walk it has become heavier. At the start of the Forts walk is a sign notifying that Death Adders live on the island and can be found around many of the island’s walks. Great, they’re only the ninth most poisonous snake in the
world, you can die from a bite in a matter of hours and they camouflage themselves in leaf litter waiting for their prey! Despite their being Koalas to spot in the Eucalyptus trees which line the track, I’ve got one eye on the ground looking out for the Death Adder.
The Forts walk is an hour return walk of 4 kilometres which offers you the best opportunity on the island to see Koalas in the wild and also some fascinating WWII history. I don’t manage to see any koalas, but the remains of the fort from WWII is very interesting. I’m not too disappointed about not seeing Koalas as I’ve already seen them in the wild in Victoria. There are two gun emplacements, an observation tower and a command post still intact. They were built in 1942 to defend the island from the Japanese, but the guns were never actually used. The Forts walk is also meant to offer magical, uninterrupted 360 degree views of the coast and the coral sea but in the rain and the low cloud I can barely pick the coastline out. Whilst it’s raining hard I’ve decided that I’m going to turn back to
the hostel as I’m already soaking. However, surprisingly and for a short while the rain abates, so I have a change of mind and continue walking the 2 kilometres south to Arcadia, one of only 4 settlements on Magnetic Island.
In Arcadia I head down to Geoffrey Bay to feed the Rock Wallabies. I haven’t got any of the recommended foods to feed the Wallabies but they don’t seem to mind the pizza flavoured snacks I do have! They are so cute and although initially nervous of me they soon come bounding across once they realise I have food. The Rock Wallabies are much smaller than I’d imagined, they can’t be any more than 40-50 cm tall. What’s even better is that the rain has obviously kept other tourists indoors, so I have the experience of feeding the colony of 9 Wallabies all to myself. After finishing off my snack with the help of the Wallabies I walk back through Arcadia to go and see the waterfall. Although I can hear the water, I completely miss the track to go and view it. Instead, I continue a steady climb to the saddle of the ridge towards Nelly Bay. It
takes an hour and a half to walk the 6 kilometres along the ridge through the Eucalypt forest. Part way along the track offers a great view of Horseshoe Bay. This would be amazing if it wasn’t for the weather. The track is heavy going in places, all of the rain has turned some of the track into a stream. In parts, the track is lined with leaf litter and I’m a bit apprehensive of coming across a Death Adder! At 2pm, after 4 hours of walking and having covered about 15 kilometres largely in the pouring rain I’ve had enough and fortunately for me a bus pulls up in front of me as I’m walking through Nelly Bay so I jump aboard.
Once back in the dry in the hostel, I empty the contents of my daypack. Unfortunately, I’d had my passport in my bag and it’s come a cropper in the rain. Some of my treasured passport stamps are no longer wholly legible - what a gutter! Thankfully, Australian banknotes are plastic, and my return bus and ferry tickets are still intact so no real damage is done. After drying off and putting my only dry and
clean clothes on I start on my laundry. 6 hours later and I’m still doing my damn laundry. I’ve tried it in two washing machines which subsequently break, not finishing the cycle off. With no more working washing machines I put it in the dryer to try and dry it off. Because the washing cycle never got to the spin cycle it is still wet when I take it out an hour later. By this stage, as a result of my trips back and forth from the bar to the laundry room in the torrential rain, I am no longer am in possession of any dry clothes. I change into my damp swimming shorts and put my waterlogged waterproof (well supposedly waterproof!) jacket back on. This is all I’m wearing when I return to the bar for a much needed beer after all this! Looking sexy, the girls are going to love my attire!! The staff kindly offer to dry my clothes off in their dryer free of charge overnight and with there being only me staying in my dorm tonight at least I have the option to sleep naked rather than in wet shorts if I want!
Tonight
is also a last opportunity to get close to the abundant free-ranging wildlife that is in the grounds of the hostel. About 100 Rainbow Lorrikeets cause havoc at feeding time at 5pm. At one stage I think I have 5 or 6 attached to my body as I hold a handful of soggy bread to feed them. There are 3-4 of these colourful birds jostling to get the most food on my hand and another two looking on from the lofty perch of my head. They get so enthusiastic, fighting each other on my hand that their claws start to pierce my skin. Still, what an experience! Later in the evening, as I return to my dorm, I spot a Rock Wallaby crouched under a bush sheltering from the rain.
Day 224: Sunday 8th February - Held under siege in my dorm
Once I hear that the rain has relented somewhat I make a dash to the kitchen to get some breakfast and to collect my now dry clothes from reception. One of my T-Shirts is now ruined as a result of last night’s drama, at least it was a free one! I’m supposed to be checked out
of my room by 10am but there is no let up in the rain from getting up until the cleaners disturb my peace after 11am. I don’t want to get all my stuff wet again so I hang around in my room, hoping the last of my stuff will dry off. In the end, I leave the cleaners to clean my room and stuff everything that is still damp into my bag and go and check out. The remainder of my time at Horseshoe Bay is spent hanging out with Regina and Anna, and after they leave at 1pm, with a Welsh couple who are working here called John and Natalie. I wasn’t that excited before speaking to them about Cairns, mainly because it will probably be raining up there as well. However, after our conversation I’m really looking forward to it. They confirm what I’ve heard before that the area around Cairns is the highlight of Australia’s East Coast. Now, all I need is some good weather!
Magnetic Island has been well worth the visit. I can’t recall a better place in Australia to get close to wildlife than Magnetic Island, and despite the torrential rain of the
past 48 hours I’m so pleased I made the journey here. The hostel has been chilled and very quiet, with only 12 paying guests and the staff are really friendly and helpful, enhancing my stay. It may only be 10km by 10km but ‘Maggie’ certainly packs a punch. In the dry exploring the walking tracks that cut across the national park which covers two-thirds of the island, as well as enjoying its almost deserted beaches sounds like paradise. Also, many of the island’s other activities are outdoor based, whether it be snorkelling the fringing reef, kayaking, horse riding or exploring the island by jet ski, so I would love to return to enjoy one of Magnetic Island’s 320 days of sunshine a year. Sadly, I got several of the 45 wet ones!!
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