Magnetic Island (Or Maggie as she’s affectionately known)

Day 1 – Will we get there?

Today we were heading to Magnetic Island for a few days so after a breakfast and packing up we headed to a large bottle shop to stock up as we thought it would be more expensive on the Island.  So we didn’t look too desperate when we were parked up outside it at 9.45am waiting for it to open!!

After stocking up we followed the Sat-Nav to where the port wasn’t and then after consulting a map we found the proper port.

Shell went to check in whilst I worried about the maximum height limit of the van, when she returned she told me our booking was wrong.  When we both went to check-in it transpired that I had booked the trip in reverse…doh!  Fortunately the lady at the counter said she would change the booking and get us on the next ferry, which meant we would have to wait for a couple of hours, during which point I ran Muriel under the height restriction dangly things and found we just scraped it with about ½ inch to spare!

Finally we got on the ferry and the vehicle deck was pretty open so were unsure why there was a height restriction, nether the less the ferry was a fairly pleasant 45 minute trip across the water, with the only worry being whether I had left the hand brake on or not??

At the other end we dis-embarked and then searched for the diving school that I had seen online, after a while and in the wrong bay we finally found it and managed to book ourselves on a day trip to the Barrier reef in a couple of days time.

That sorted we then headed for the camp site that we had pre-booked for three nights, the only thing was the island had quite a few hills to negotiate that Muriel wasn’t too happy about.

We arrived at the campsite around mid-afternoon we checked in and found our plot for the night.  We set up camp as usual and broke out a cold cider and relaxed, whilst taking in our surroundings.

It was a pretty nice camp (apart from the kitchen and shower block being a long way from our van) that had loads of trees full of Parrots, parakeets and Kookaburra’s all with their various calls.

As it was drawing towards dusk there was a lot of rustling in the shrub around us then Shell suddenly spotted a Kangaroo skirting the camp, which makes you smile and realise you are somewhere different.

The only thing that spoilt our wildlife festival was one of the staff on spotting our bottle of wine (yes, we’ve moved onto wine by now) telling us that this was a dry camp and we could not drink our own alcohol!!  However it was perfectly fine for us to go to their overpriced bar and buy some to bring back to the van!!

It was at this point I came up with a cunning plan, I went to the bar and bought a bottle of red wine (3 x price of ours) and I would place this on our table for show, whilst continuing to drink from our stock.  The only good thing about having to do this is whilst I was on my way to the bar I saw a Possum in the tree.

For the rest of the evening we relaxed, cooked and ate and got chatting with our neighbours over a few bottle of our contraband before going to bed.

Day 2 – Hiking!!

Whilst on my middle of the night run to the bathroom I was suddenly aware of a shape on the path in front of me that was moving, not sure what it was I walked slowly behind it for fear of attack.  But as luck would have it I had my camera on me and I managed to get a photo of it before it headed off into the undergrowth, looking at the footage below I believe it was another Possum.

As I got closer to the toilet block I then noticed about ½ dozen Kangaroo’s nibbling at the grass and taking an interest in what I was up to, so I managed to get another quick picci although the Kanga in the shot looks quite surprised to see me too.  It’s quite and adventure going to the toilet in Oz!!

When I got up in the morning, Shell as always was up and whilst having her early morning coffee had again spotted and early morning Roo bouncing past.  However I managed to trump her sighting with my nocturnal camera work from earlier that morning (she couldnt believe I took pictures on my loo run!).

After a very pleasant breakfast sitting there watching Parakeets in the bush right next to us we thought we better go out and explore the island.

First we headed for one of the most popular spots on the island that was Horseshoe Bay and just around the corner from us. There was a small crafts fair running along the beach so we checked that out, Shell bought a little hippy bracelet before heading onto the beach.

We decided to walk along the beach, which was beautiful, until we reached one end of it where we spotted a large eagle in the tree nearby. 

Returning the way we came and Shell said we should do the full beach and go to the other end to complete the circuit which in all made it about a 6km walk in the sun which took about 1 ½ - 2 hours  by which time we were needing a drink.

Finding a local bar we ordered a couple of schooners and sat down and people watched.  The TV then caught my eye and I saw one of the good Euro footy matches was being played (Germany v Italy) so I suggested we got some food here whilst I got a footy fix.  Shell got a nice seafood platter whilst I got stuck into a burger (I don’t feel guilty about this now I’m not in Asia!).  We then got another quick beer in whilst the match concluded in an exciting but awful penalty shoot-out.

Lunch done we started another hike to see some of the other bays, after a bad start where we lost the path after 100 metres, we eventually worked it out and started along the beach before heading up the hill and into the trees.

The hike was going to be about 2-3km and it appeared half of it was uphill, which wasn’t very much fun in the heat and added to the fact that Shell’s mortal enemy, the mosquito’s, were in close attendance.

Our quarry was Radical Bay and around half the way along there was a diversion to the local nudist beach, but deciding that there were some places we didn’t want to get bitten we thought we would just carry on with our original plan.

An hour or so later we arrived in Radical Bay, with Shell having a couple of chunks bitten out of her.  The beach once again was very pretty and we sat on it for all of 5-10 minutes and took pictures before heading off again.

The next bay along, Florence Beach, was apparently only another 1’5km along the track so we headed for that, although by the time we arrived there we thought it was further.  The beach was a bit more deserted and rustic with a few surfers knocking around and so we watched them for 10-15 minutes before heading off once again.

My thought was to try and find the main road and try and get a bus back to our camp ground, however Shell persuaded me to do the long trek back ourselves.

When we arrived back at the campsite, which was around 4.00pm we had a small rest and a cold cider after all our walking.  The only thing was we had read about a dusk walk that you had a good chance of spotting Koala Bears on.

Not really feeling it but knowing we would not be able to do it the next day because of our Barrier Reef tour, we mustered up our energy and jumped in Muriel to take us a short distance up the hill to a car park where we could start the Fort Walk.

As we both started walking again, albeit on a better track, we could both tell what each of us was thinking, keeping an eye on the slight incline in front of us.  However after about 10-15 minutes when we were maybe thinking of giving up and going back we saw a man and his daughter looking intently into the distance and when we got there we saw our first sighting of a Koala in a distant tree.

Rejuvenated by this sight we carried on for a bit and were then informed by another hiker that there was another one just up the track a bit.  So we carried on and then got a closer look at one that was just chilling out in a branch high above the track that allowed us to get better photo’s.

Now with the spring back in our step we continued up the path and were rewarded with another grey cuddly lump just sat chilling in a tree by the side of the track at eye level.  The Koala was so close that you could touch him and we managed to get some great shots of him (or her), although I’m not sure whether he was nervous or just being rude, but it did like to crap a lot whilst we took close up photo’s.

After this encounter we decided to carry on even though it was getting steeper, to the top of the hill where some world war two fortifications, look-out and gun emplacements were.  On our way to the top there was another small group of people and when we got there we were lucky to see mother koala and it baby in a nearby tree…cue more adorable photo’s.

We managed to get to the top and then headed down and whilst on our own, Shell spotted a movement in the tree and she had spotted our final Koala, quite a large specimen that was leaping between branches….who knew koala’s could jump.

Pretty pleased with ourselves we made our way back to the car, on the way I thought I had spotted another Koala in the undergrowth, but on further inspection saw that  it was just a kangaroo……just a kangaroo….get us!!

Returning in Muriel to the campsite we set back up again and prepared some quick food as it was getting dark.  We then sat down to relax and perhaps watch the odd Kanga whilst drinking some wine outside the van (display bottle on show of course).  Whilst sat there an inquisitive possum headed over in our direction and Shell getting  a bit nervous about its intensions shooed it away. We laughed and said how funny it would be if it popped from under the van and on cue it suddenly appeared right next to us under the van, which made Shell leap out of her chair, which was pretty amusing for me.

We had a few more drinks before all the walking that day had taken its toll on us and we went to bed for the night.

Day 3 – Another thing off the bucket list!!

When we got up to the sound of bird call this morning we noticed that the weather had changed slightly and was a bit overcast with a bit of wind, which wasn’t so good as we were due to go on a boat trip.

Only having time for a coffee we packed up the van and then headed to the port where we were due to meet our dive boat.  Once we got there it wasn’t too long before we were greeted by one of the crew members and shown aboard the boat.

Getting on board there were about 20-25 guests, however only 4 of us were diving the rest were going to snorkel.  To give you some idea of how expensive it is in Oz, in Malaysia it cost us £24pp to do two dives, whereas here 2 dives cost us £ 150pp, but we had to do it as it was on our bucket list and when is the next time you have a chance to dive on The Great Barrier Reef?

After a  briefing on safety matters and what the plan was for the day we were off, although Shell and I took the wise decision to accept some sea-sickness tablets from the crew (although they charged us for  these at the end of  the trip!).

To be fair the sea was pretty choppy and you couldn’t move around the boat and it wasn’t long before I heard from Shell ‘I really don’t like this’. Anyway as we went along people around us started turning green and shortly after there was a domino effect of people throwing up into buckets all along our line.  I didn’t look as I wasn’t feeling too clever myself and just got engrossed in the dive briefing we were getting from the dive master.

So after a very dodgy two hours on the boat we finally approached the reef and because we were close to it the swell calmed down and we prepared for our first dive.

After a quick change and putting on the Scuba gear Shell and I were soon in the water, together with two other ladies.

The dive itself wasn’t that deep and Shell and I were quite happy with it, once again being under the ocean seeing great coral formations and fish.  We seemed to loop around quite a bit and Shell and I were pretty confident and enjoying it, although the water was colder than we had in Asia when diving and after just under an hour (56 minutes, my record!!) we had returned to the surface.

Once back on board we were asked to change over our gear to new oxygen bottles before we then sat down to a buffet lunch, which to be honest was not that great, pretty much cold meats, cheese and salad that you made your own sandwiches out of.

After lunch we were told to put on our kit again and we were both back in the water, this time with only one of the girls.  Again we just swam along admiring the Barrier Reef underwater and checking out all the fish, although I’m glad to say there wasn’t anything big with sharp teeth lurking. However this dive was not so good as we were already a bit cold and my mask kept steaming up.  Also the girl with us although more confident than us kept on not paying attention and kept on bashing into Shell which was a bit irritating.

However about another hour later we came back to the surface with another two dives under our belts (10 now in total) and we had dived The Great Barrier Reef!!!!!!

The diving now over it was now time to head back to land, although I felt for one girl on board who had puked from start to finish, did not do any snorkelling and had spent the day curled up in a ball on the seat next to us.

Two hours later and we were back on dry land and we drove Muriel back to the campsite and set her up again (whilst watching more wildlife) and had a celebratory ‘We’ve just dived the Barrier reef’ cider (C’Mon we deserve this celebration at least).

As we felt we had exerted ourselves enough over the past couple of days, we decided to head down the road and pick up some fish n chips to bring back to our van for our evening meal.  We then sat outside for a bit watching out for Kanga’s and Possum’s with a red wine in our hands for the rest of the evening before bed.