Blogs from Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 14

* October 29 - Oz Experience Bus to Townsville and over to Magnetic Island * October 29 - November 1 - X Base at Magnetic Island I arrived in the early evening on Magnetic Island and stayed at this backpacker resort called Xbase. Actually, it was quite a good deal by Australian standards. I decided not to do any diving here - although I heard that the Yongala wreck was absolutely amazing. I met a few friends - Jay from Sydney and Maria from Germany and we ended up renting a Moke to cruise around the island. I was worried at first because officially, I was the only one with a valid license - but I am so back at driving stick shift and not so comfortable with driving on the wrong side of the ... read more

I'm a bit like an old woman these days.....after a day on the bus my ankles & feet are so swollen that I look like I've elephant feet.....so attractive. Next stop was Magnetic Island. Now I'm not going to run it into the ground but we didn't love it like other people have. It is a beautiful tropical island.....& maybe we've seen so much of it at this stage that we didn't appreciate it....but I think maybe the hostel had a lot to do with it also....wasn't the nicest of spots so we didn't feel at home.......& it was so quiet there too ......I guess we were looking for something with a bit more life. Magnetic Island is made up of loads of bays....easily accessible using the bus-service.....be warned that the wild bus-drivers take the corners ... read more

Estoy en Magnetic Island, una isla a 20 minutos en ferry desde Townsville (a unas 6 horas en coche de Cairns...aqui todo se mide en horas de coche y no en km...). La mitad de la isla es national park y un paraiso para "rock wallabbies" (un tipo de canguro pequeno), murcielagos y "bushtail possums" (esas ardillas enormes raras q tb habia en sydney). Pajaros de mil colores (vi una cacatua negra!!) y dicen que este es el santuario de los koalas salvajes. El mar que rodea esta isla ya se encuentra dentro del marco de proteccion de la Gran Barrera de Coral, aunque me han dicho que por aqui todavia no es tan espectacular. En la isla no hay mucho mas que playas, parques naturales y alguna tiendecilla. Por eso por las noches todo se ... read more

HAllo zusammen Cairns habe ich bereits wieder verlassen und befinde mich nun auf der heissen und wirklich schoenen Magnetic Island. ICh war ja 2 Tage im Daintree NAtionalpark (letzten Samstag und Sonntag). Auf einer NAchtwanderung fand der guide ne junge, ca1.8m lange Phython entdeckt und sie soglich im Auto mitgenommen. Ich bin sooo erschrocken als er mit der Schlange aufs Auto zukam, dass ich gleich uebr den Fahrersitz aus dem Auto gefluechtet bin:-) Habe sie spaeter aber trotzdem angefasst. Im Daintreeriver sahen wir leider nur 1 einziges erwachsenes Krokodil. Alle anderen befinden sich im Wasser, da es an Land zu heiss ist. Ach ja, und ein Cassuar (oder so aehnlich) habe ich auch noch zu Gesicht bekommen. Bei diesem Vogel (Straussaehnlich) muss man schon Vorsichtig sein, da sie einem auch angreifen, wenn sie sich bedroht fuehlen. ... read more

Hey u's!! Well getting into the Ozzie life now! Still taking bit of adjusting but starting to really enjoy it!!! Booked ourselves on the Silver Swift boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef and was one of the best days of my life! Really was amazing! Set off at 8.30am and sailed to the Reef! It was breathe taking!!! Don't really know what I was expecting from it, but was just surreal! The sea was sooo clear you could see down to 30 metres at some points...and when the tide was low the coral was almost sticking out of the sea! We went to 3 sites in the Reef! We could not decide for ages whether to dive or not! It was so nice there that we really wanted to! Only the cost holding us back! ... read more