Magnetic Island

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6 hours later we were in Townsville where we were supposed to be doing the SS Yongula dive, but after a check of funds and a lengthy discussion we decided to give this one a miss and save the next dive for either the nurse shark dive further down the coast, or for Fiji. When in Townsville we decided to get straight to Magnetic Island where we spent 2 nights at Base hostel which was literally right on the beach again. Magnetic Island is so called because when Captain Cook sailed past it, his compass did some strange stuff, and so he thought it might have some magnetic field. Am not sure whether it does as didn't have my compass to hand but I'll take his word for it. We pretty much chilled out at the hostel for most of our time on the island as it was so nice, and the fact that the bar had cheap beer. We were told that there were loads of Koalas on Magnetic Island, but decided to save the Koala spotting for Noosa, a bit further down the coast. We did see loads and loads of cockatoos though, which was pretty cool. After a quick ferry crossing back to the mainland, to Townsville, we headed off again, bound for Airlie Beach.

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