Magnetic Island and Townsville

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30th June 2009

After the shortest stay in a hostel of the trip so far (7 hours) we were off bright and early to the airport for our flight to Townsville. Straight after landing in Townsville we caught a bus to the ferry terminal and made our way to Magnetic Island. After the long but smooth journey (some old guy offered us a lift to our hostel on Magnetic Island) we arrived at X-base backpackers. This was a hostel we swore we'd never stay in as it is a chain of hostels renowned for partying 18 year olds but we got a good deal. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the beach with Elaine chilling out in the sun and Alex playing beach football with about 20 other lads. After having a cheap but pleasant burger we sat chatting in the bar as the party around us got going. After a few more beers the draw of the music got too much and we showed those 18 year-olds how to party with the dance floor going from empty to busy in the space of two songs and us dancing. As it happens we were the last ones to go to bed in the whole place.

1st July 2009

With only slightly sore heads we did our free sea kayaking to a beach just round the corner from our hostel but only accessible by sea. After a marine adventure we set out to see the rest of the Island. We walked to Horseshoe Bay and then took the bus from there to picnic bay. From here we decided to walk to the old world war 2 fort. Along the way we were lucky enough to see a wild koala sleeping in a tree. At the top of the fort we had great views of the Queensland coastline. We headed back to the hostel but were to tired to party tonight and spent our time playing cards.

2nd July 2009

Returning to Townsville by ferry and bus in the morning we stopped off at the Aquarium to see what the great barrier reef had in store for us. The colourful fish and coral made us very excited about snorkeling around the Whitsundays. In the large fish section we saw an 2 leopard sharks, with the male biting the females fin as she swam in a show of dominance. Poor lady.

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