Magnetic Island - Day 2

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Due to a combination of the birds calling and the German campers having breakfast near our hut we were up early this morning, so with the whole Island to explore we hired a Mini Moke and set off after breakfast.

Jo initially drove, although after Kangarooing down to Horseshoe Bay Will took over with his more gentler approach! Quickly getting our bearings we'd located the supermarket and the petrol station to fill up.

We soon found ourselves in Picnic Bay looking at the wreck of the George Rennie; a boat initially built in 1885 and used in a variety of capacities including coal shipment before it was used as a break wall for smaller vessels.

Nearby was a walk to Hawkings Point so we set off to take in the views of Nelly Bay, Mount Stuart, the Paluma Range, Townsville, Rocky Bay and Mount Cook. Although the walk we came across many little lizards. As it was only a short 600m track we were soon on our way back down, and right near the bottom Jo spotted a not so lucky lizard in the beak of a Kookaburra.

The next stop was Arcadia Bay which we walked along but the sea was still choppy with the strong winds so decided today wouldn't be a day for snorkeling with poor visibility under water.

After picking up some supplies we went back to the hostel to our steak and egg sandwiches for lunch; the steak was on special! With full tummies we next headed towards Radical Bay to do the Forts Walk. With Japan's relatively close proximity to Australia there was the ever present threat of invasion during the second world war, so two 155mm guns were installed on magnetic island to protect Australia. It was surreal seeing the paths, turrets, lookout points and command posts carved into the island as this part of the World War was never mentioned to us whilst learning about history at school. With the great views across the ocean and across Arthur and Florence Bays over to Palm Island we could see why these vantage points we chosen.

Next we investigated Alma Bay, although as the beach was empty and the solitary lifeguard looked pretty board we soon decided weather wouldn't be improving headed back to the hostel to watch a DVD On Wills laptop.

After being pretty impressed with Matthew McConaughey performance in the Lincoln Lawyer we cooked dinner and headed to the camp bar for a few jugs of Snakebite, as well as a game of coconut bowling; Jo managed to earn a free pint of beer whilst Wills aggressive approach left him empty handed!

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