Magnetic Island

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We decided as our time was limited we would only get one trip south from Cairns before having to fly to Brisbane. As we had heard nothing but good things about Magnetic Island we decided to head there. The jumping off point for Magnetic Island is the (Originally named) city of Townsville which is about 350km south of Cairns. A half day trip on a greyhound bus got us there but as it was dusk when we got there so we saw very little of the city. We did notice that there seemed to be a ridiculous number of Irish pubs on the street we were staying on. After a bite to eat in one of them we hit the hay.

The next morning we were up early from our hostel and caught the very slick ferry across to the island. Magnetic island is a small place with about 2,000 residents and half of the island is designated as national park.

Once there we bussed it up to our hostel - Magnums. The hostel was great with two huge pools and a couple of bars and restaurants. After cooking ourselves up some grub who should we bump into but Eran from Israel yet again. We spent they day by the pool (It's a hard life) as the weather was sensational. That evening we took it handy with a few beers and a couple of games of pool. Back in our dorm we met two of our room mates Bill and Simon from Bath, before we hit the sack.

The next day we headed for the pool again but as the day heated up we decided to go for a wander. Simon joined us as we climbed up to one of the spectacular lookouts over the island. We were sweating heavily as we reached the top and as prepared as ever (We had about 150ml of water between us).

Ronan's flip flop was the first casualty of the climb but Simon using a sleeping mask (Essential kit in hostels) managed to bandage it up. The heat was worth it for the spectacular views across the island. Unfortunately much of the water around the island is off limits for swimming due to jellyfish.

That evening we decided that we had all the requisite skills to enter the hostel table quiz. First prize was a 50 dollar tab at the bar. Not quite so ambitious having eyed up the nerdy looking competition we decided to settle for competing hard for the spot prizes and compete we did.

We managed to win a pitcher of beer for funniest team name - Shooting Blanks. From there Ronan impressed by winning a game of heads and tales during the interval and another pitcher was delivered. To wrap up the evening we came last out of 9 teams. A poor result you would think as there were several teams with no natural English speakers amongst them. However as we came last we received yet another pitcher so it was a succesful night all around.

Next Stop Cairns...

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Photos

The Shooting Blanks
Bill, Ciaran, Simon & Ronan

Magnetic Island
The View From Our Climb

Winners In Our Own Special Way
Victorious Losers

The Lads
Simon & Billy