Magnetic Island, QLD

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Dear Grace and Mag,

I was getting on the bus to Townsville and the two Rachel's were on the same one! Yay! Was really nice to see them again, I originally met them in Australia Zoo back in Brisbane. They were heading straight over to the island from Townsville (20min ferry), the same as what Becks and Sinead were doing but the hostels were full that night. I stayed in Townsville for a night then arranged to meet them all there the next day. The weather was so nice so when I got there I met the girls, had lunch, sunbathed, journalled - just basically chilled. The hostel was right on the beach with a pool so really felt like being on holiday. I introduced the Rachel's to Becks and Sinead and through that evening the of us had come up with a plan to rent a car the next day and go and see the main spots on the Island. We had a choice of 4x4 or a little pink barbie car - sorry Mag we went for the 4x4 haha!

The Island was small (13km diameter) but there were lots of places you'd miss without a car. After we picked it up everyone jumped in and off we went for the day. Our first stop was Alma Bay - a gorgeous beach were we dipped to cool off. It was ok to go into the water here due to the shape of the bay, the stingers didn't tend to come in. At this point, just ahead of a full day of adventures my camera battery died. Was annoying as it was perfect weather and we had planned to do and see lots. Oh well not a lot I could do the girls took photos for me anyway.

Our next stop was Bungalow Bay Koala Sanctuary. It wasn't just koalas there were all sorts of animals. Our ticket was a 2 hour tour which I really enjoyed because the guide would go off subject ranting about this and that and I learned a lot from him - about animals, Australia and otherwise. In the space of 2 hours I held a crocodile (I volunteered first which I never thought would happen), fed a cockatoo a seed with my mouth, had a water dragon on my head, held a tortoise and lizards, stroked an echidna and a koala and wrapped a 3 metre around me. The snake actually felt quite nice because it was a very hot day and it cooled me down hehe. The best $20 I've ever spent for that tour. Amazing!

After this we visited Jeffery Bay where there were lots of wild wallaby's. We fed them for a while with specific food we bought form the shop, took a walk over the rocks and enjoyed the view. The wallaby's were a lot smaller than I'd imagined and more timid. We drove to another bay called Horseshoe Bay for lunch before heading to the other side of the island to watch the sunset. The sunset place was called West Point which was fun to get to. The only way was on an unmade road which wasn't bad, nothing like Fraser Island but we did have to drive through a few creeks. Up at West Point was so tranquil - practically no one there. The sea looked like a pale pink pond - was definitely worth the drive. We got back to the hostel just after dusk so had a full day out. Such a good day - never forget that one!

The next day I was off to Cairns on the same bus as Becks and Sinead but staying in different hostels. Cairns is my last planned stopped for now so job and house hunting it is. Then I'll do trips in between work hopefully.

Wish me luck girlies

Lots of love xx

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