Magnetic Island

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Normally by about 7am the sun shines through the cracks in our 'hell boy' and we are all awoken. This morning was different.... an eighteen wheeler belonging to 'Ricky' was casting a shadow over the whole van. We were strictly up to catch the ferry to 'Magnetic island' and had to face the devastation of what happened the night previous. It was not pretty!

Last night Ollie had half-heartedly asked a couple of swedish girls to join us on the ferry, which to my/our amazement (even after seeing us last night) agreed to come along. So we convoyed to the ferry dock (hellboy followed by 'big bessie'), left their camper in the carpack and boarded the ferry with the two girls squashed in the back of our camper. Not comfortable for them I'm sure, but it did save us some money which is well needed in the most expensive country on earth 😊

The short ferry ride was disapointing for the amount it cost to be on it, however magnetic island was certainly looked a nice place to spend a few days. After we arrived on the island, we drove all over the islands various beaches, stopping only for lunch and to teach the swedes one or two things about how not to throw an american football (our most prized possesion). We finally decided on a camping spot in a bay called 'radical bay' which was not accessible by most vehicles and hence would be quiet! No problem for hellboy with shanders (Mark) at the helm though!

After a detour via the hardware store to buy Mark a spade? and a quick dip in the sea.... the men went to get the firewood; this left the swedes to set up their camp and for Mark to basically get drunk! When Dale returned for hellboy (to pick up the wood we walked miles for), it appeared he got a little too into the beach spirit and decided to bury himself in sand! After spending a few minutes wondering how to get the front wheels to grip, the swedish girls decided to educate us by informing that hellboy was infact a rear wheel drive. Damn 'know-it-alls'. After about an hour of digging and jacking, Dale took to the wheel and got him moving on the sand; only to slide straight into a metal pole which was now trapped between the rear tyre and the wheel arch. So after snapping the metal pole (not an easy task), more digging and jacking, we finally got hellboy out to collect the wood.

Amazingly after watching all this, the girls still agreed to eat our food which Dale cooked very uneasily on the fire. The night was spent drinking, eating, trying to stay warm around the fire and alot of talking! At around 8pm, Mark decided to make a head start on his diary entry in the van and was never to return that evening! The early drinking got to him!

Day2 on magnetic island was a relax day. Mark and Ollie were the first out of bed and made breakfast. Dale took serious encouragement to get out of the warm sleeping bag. The day was spent swimming in the sea and playing beach games on the sand. When everyone got tired from the previous night there was lots of zzzzzzzzz's flying around. Accept for one man; as Mark had had near on 12 hours sleep, he decided to fill his afternoon building a hole. Not just any hole, a hole so big he struggled to get out! Well at least the spade came to good use eventually.

We decided there was not much else to do on Magnetic Island and so we caught the afternoon ferry back to Townsville, said goodbyes to the girls, and headed for a rest area about 60km down the road towards Ayr. The evening was finished with tuna pasta and an early night, lovely!

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Photos

Ferry to Magnetic Island
Swedish Girls in Tow

Comments

[Alisa]

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