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Published: August 15th 2011
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Thursday morning meant a very early start as we had decided to catch the 7:45am ferry to Magnetic Island. The alarm got us up and going but, even with the best of intentions we were always going to struggle to catch that early ferry. We left a little later than planned (my fault) and Graham thought he could make up time by ignoring sat nav and taking a short cut (big mistake). We already had our ferry tickets so we knew we could cut it a bit fine but we also had to acquire and display a car parking ticket. We arrived at about 7:43 and fortunately, even though the car park was busy, a space was available right next to the entrance. We rushed into the terminal and paid for the parking and they registered the number so that we didn’t have to go back to the car. The officials then followed us onto the ferry closing the barriers behind us as we went – we were the very last people to board the ferry! How close was that? But we had made it and we were able to relax on the very modern ferry as it made its way
towards Magnetic Island. We then wondered why on earth had we decided on such an early start - the next ferry was an hour later but it would still have been in time for us to catch our island coach tour which didn’t start until 9:15!!! The original plan was to spend time before the coach trip wandering around Nellie Bay – the terminal on Magnetic Island – but after the mad adventure getting to the ferry we decided to relax and have some coffee and raisin toast in a nearby café. We did have a bit of a stroll but as Nellie Bay is quite spread out we only got to see the area immediately surrounding the ferry terminal.
The time for the coach tour soon came round and, with the other eight or so people booked on to it, we were ready to go. The tour guide, Bill, (why are all tour guides called Bill?) was a long-term island resident and there was nothing he didn’t know about Magnetic. We first had a more extensive view of Nellie Bay and it certainly looked a delightful place. Bill told us how the name of the island came about –
Helping an injured turtle
Our ferry paused to offer assistance but the two canoests were happy to carry on back to shore. Turtles are in trouble at the moment because Cyclone Yasi destroyed a lot of the sea grass that they eat. it was because of the apparent "magnetic" effect it had on the ship's compass of Captain Cook as he passed the island when sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770. People have since explored the general area of Magnetic Island with various instruments to discover what might have caused the effect that Cook reported, but nothing has been discovered.
Bill explained the gradual development of Magnetic from the early years of tourism although the island was home to aboriginal people long before it became a popular place for European settlers to live and to visit. We visited one of the earliest buildings on the island which has been maintained as a tourist attraction and doubles as a museum. The tour included a visit to Picnic Bay and a beautiful lookout at Nobby Headland. This was the furthest point we were allowed to visit in the westerly direction as there are some restrictions on access to certain parts of the island. So we travelled back through Nellie Bay to the area known as Arcadia where we were taken to a splendid resort complex for morning tea. It was a beautiful hotel with top class facilities and the morning tea
was pretty special too – a combination of croissants, cakes and fruit. It gave us a chance to chat with our fellow travellers who hailed from all parts of Aus and also included a couple from New Zealand.
After our very pleasant break we headed for a couple of bays in the Arcadia area. At one of them we were treated to the sight of dozens of rock wallabies which congregate in a rocky area of the bay where it’s customary to feed them. Signs indicate the right and wrong things to feed wallabies although feeding is generally discouraged. Bill had come prepared with the correct type of feed and also had some for the many fish, mainly catfish, which were patrolling the water’s edge. There was a bit of extra interest as a couple of small reef sharks were also present. We continued the tour towards Horseshoe Bay passing the famous “Forts” area – a series of defense buildings constructed during WWII, and deviated slightly to an area where koalas were known to inhabit. We only needed to walk a short distance when, sure enough, we came upon a sleepy but very healthy looking koala – the first
one we’ve seen in the wild since last September when sister Daphne spotted one in Narrandera.
The main tourist spot on Magnetic is probably Horseshoe Bay and, like many on the tour, we decided to leave the coach here and to make our way back to the ferry eventually using our free all-day bus pass. Horseshoe Bay is beautiful and clearly very popular but we managed to find a very comfortable restaurant for lunch. We got chatting to an elderly couple from Narrabri who were staying on the island for a few weeks (ESCAPEE’S!). They were good company for most of the time but the fellow then insisted on telling us tale after tale of their visit to Ireland many years ago. Or at least, he would start the tale with “here’s one last one you’ll find amusing” and then he would grind to a halt leaving his poor wife to finish the tale for him. That must have happened at least six times and consequently we missed the bus we had intended to catch and had to wait 45 minutes for the next one! But that gave us time to seek out the nearby butterfly sanctuary which was
spectacular. It was an area of woodland and bush, freely accessible to anybody, and was absolutely awash with butterflies – not a huge variety but a colossal number fluttering all around us. We made our way back to the bus stop in good time for the next bus and travelled back as far as Arcadia so that we could visit Alma Bay. It was just a short walk from the bus and, to us, it was magical – far better than Horseshoe Bay. The tide was going out but still it was a real picture with a lovely enclosed bay where snorkelling was possible. It was the sort of place that would encourage us to go back to Magnetic just to re-visit Alma Bay. We dragged ourselves away in time for the next bus to the ferry terminal which was perfect timing for the return ferry to Townsville. We collected the car which, fortunately, did not have a parking fine on it (the late payment system obviously worked) and returned to the caravan after an extremely delightful day trip. We were so impressed that we’re looking to do it again, if not one day next week then when we return
to Townsville from our trip up to Cairns in a few weeks time.
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