4 Stray Katz: Maggie - an island paradise

Magnetic Island

Tuesday 5th- Sunday 10th July

We’d been looking forward to a trip to Magnetic Island for weeks and had been holding out for the weather to improve. We’d booked the ferry for Tuesday as the weather was meant to be getting better. We were leaving the caravan at Townsville so had arrived there Monday afternoon, intending to begin packing everything we needed for 5 nights in the tent. Due to the torrential rain, we couldn’t start the packing that afternoon/evening, which left us in a rush (and still packing in the rain) in the morning. We managed to get packed and to the ferry in time, but unfortunately it was still very cold (13deg) and raining when we left Townsville. The weather wasn’t any better on Magnetic Island and none of us were keen on setting the tent up in the rain – not quite the start to our island holiday that we’d hoped for. It did get better though. We had a great time and managed to make the most of all the available opportunities on the island. Here’s a run down on everything we packed into each day:

Day One – Tuesday 5^th July

· Ferry arrived at 1pm (still raining)
· Delicious lunch at Scallywags Pirate Cafe
· Check in to the Bungalow Bay Koala Village at Horseshoe Bay and beg for a room (as we didn’t want to start our adventure with a wet tent). Get a 2 bed backpacker room for the night, which we then find out doesn’t even have a heater!
· Drive around the island (well as far as you can get which isn’t technically around the whole island) in an attempt to keep warm.
· Watch the sunset at Horseshoe Bay
· Try for a hot shower to thaw our cold bodies out, and discover the hot water is broken at the campsite!!!!
· Go to bed cold and grumpy **I was also still quite unwell with a nasty head cold, so a cold shower was not appreciated at all!

On the ferry over to Magnetic Island- it was 13deg and raining!

Day Two – Wednesday 6^th July

· Awake to sunshine- YAY!
· Complain about the lack of hot water and inform them of the part that needs to be fixed in a hope it will get fixed promptly (Daniel spent an hour the night before with a headtorch and some tools working out what was wrong).
· Get our campsite and set up the tent – enjoying the sunshine and warmth
· Go to Nelly Bay where Daniel and the kids did the snorkel trail (I was still very congested so decided to skip a snorkel today).
· Go to Horseshoe Bay and find a protected spot to relax in the sun whilst the kids explore the rocks
· Go back to camp and cross our fingers the hot water had been fixed….it had, and we all enjoyed a steaming shower.
· Head to Geoffrey Bay to hand feed the rock wallabies. Meet a lovely local lady who looks after the rock wallabies- ensuring they have a balanced diet and enough water.
· Go for a walk along the foreshore after dinner
· First night in the tent- we were all in bed early
· Spend half the night listening to what sounds like someone sitting at the edge of our tent eating heartily, but what turned out to be rock wallabies nibbling on some tree nuts right near the tent!

The first time we used the blow up SUP on the trip - it was great.

Ready to do the Nelly Bay snorkel trail.

Enjoying exploring in the sunshine on Horseshoe Bay.

Feeding the rock wallabies at Geoffrey Bay

There were quite a few with babies- so cute!

Day Three – Thursday 7^th July

· A run and ride along the beach for Daniel and Jackson, yoga on the beach for Emilia and I
· Walk to Florence Bay (see a koala at the start of the walk)
· Do a 45 min snorkel- see heaps of great coral, including some big coral bombes, and lots of fish
· Lay on the warm rocks on the edge of Florence Bay to try to thaw ourselves out
· Walk to Arthur Bay
· Do another 45 min snorkel, see more beautiful coral and swim with a turtle!!!
· Lay on the rocks again, trying to get warm. The water was apparently 22 deg, but without a wetsuit you get cold being underwater snorkelling for that long (and the days were only about 22deg as well, so only just warm enough).
· Do the hilly walk back to the car
· Shower and get into warm clothes
· Have dinner on the beach and watch the sunset at Horseshoe Bay
· Play cards then early to bed again

Florence Bay - we snorkelled along the rocks on the left hand side and saw some excellent coral.

Thawing out after our snorkel - we were the only ones without wetsuits!

The rocks had soaked in the sun and made a nice warm bed for us.

After our snorkel at Arthur Bay

Dinner and a view - Horseshoe Bay

The sunsets over the bay were lovely.

Day Four – Friday 8^th July

· Breakfast and coffee on the foreshore at Horseshoe Bay
· Jackson spent the morning catching little fish and crabs as the tide receded
· Emilia and Daniel paddle boarded and kayaked to nearby White Lady Bay and saw lots of turtles and stingrays
· I paddle boarded to White Lady Bay and also saw a few turtles. By this time the wind had picked up and it was a hard paddle board back – I ended up falling in but thankfully saved Emilia’s hat (that I’d borrowed) and my sunglasses!
· Got delicious ice-cream
· Went to Cockle Bay and Jackson and Daniel put a few crab nets in the mangroves
· Went back to Nelly Bay so I could do the snorkel trail
· All got very cold so headed back for hot showers
· Back down to Horseshoe Bay to watch the sun set
· Dinner, a few games of cards then early to bed again – all these beach activities were exhausting us!

Daniel and Emilia off to explore White Lady Bay

Jackson creating a pool for the many little fish he collected in the shallows

The ice cream was well worth waiting in line for

After a snorkel in Nelly Bay - Daniel and Jackson went off together to see if they could find some bigger fish.

Another lovely sunset on Horseshoe Bay - Emilia is fishing, Jackson is catching bait fish in his net and Daniel is at the back (left) paddleboarding. I was minding the picnic rug (aka relaxing!).

Day Five – Saturday 9^th July

· Early hike to Balding Bay- such a picturesque little bay and we had it all to ourselves
· Breakfast and coffee on the foreshore at Horseshoe Bay
· Head to Geoffrey Bay to snorkel over the wreck of Moltke and a WW2 propeller – there was an incredible amount of coral and fish over the shipwreck. This was my favourite snorkel site.
· Lunch at Picnic Bay – Jackson and Daniel went for a snorkel and ended up saving a small reef shark that was tangled in fishing line. I went for a paddle board and Emilia enjoyed relaxing on the beach with her book.
· Back to camp for hot showers
· Butterfly walk next to camp – not many butterflies but lots of mosquitos and some interesting trees
· The Forts Walk- the WW2 Observation Tower and Command Post are still intact and the views over the island were incredible (especially as we were up there as the sun was setting)
· Koala spotting on the Forts Walk- we got to see one up close and he/she was awake and eating
· Fish and chips at Horseshoe Bay under a gorgeous red and orange sky.
· Listen to live music back at the caravan park – listened to a few songs before we were all too tired after a BIG day.
· Listen to the rest of the live music whilst laying in bed (as our tent was only about 20 metres from the bar area!)

Hiking to Balding Bay

Balding Bay was lovely and we had the place to ourselves

The secluded bay can only be reached by boat or a hike over a rocky hill.

Jackson found this whopper shell wedged between two rocks.

It was a pretty walk through the bush to Balding Bay, and included a couple of creek crossings

After our snorkel over the shipwreck at Geoffrey Bay

Geoffrey Bay

One of the incredible interwoven trees on the Butterfly Walk- the vines overtake the host tree, which eventually dies.

Walking the Forts Walk to see the old WW2 relics.

A koala we spotted on the way.....

....we watched him enjoy a feed of gum leaves.

The Observation Tower

In one of the old ammunition storage buildings there were baby bats.

View of the mainland

An old gun emplacement - apparently no one is quite sure what happened to the gun.

The views on the way up were spectacular.

Looking out towards the mainland from the Observation Tower.

Checking out the view from the Observation Tower

Is that a modelling shot???

The Observation Tower glowed in the dusk sunlight

Horseshoe Bay from the top of the Command Post- such incredible views

Fish and chips on the beach after an action packed day exploring the island.

Day Six – Sunday 10th July

· Quick breakfast & coffee at camp
· Hike to Radical Bay- another beautiful remote bay only accessible by boat or foot
· Walk back to Florence Bay for another snorkel (now we know where all the best coral is). The tide was out so we were swimming right on top of some amazing coral.
· Walk out to a shipwreck in Cockle Bay (the tide was super low enabling us to walk right up to it).
· Lunch at Alma Bay
· Snorkel at Alma Bay- the water was quite choppy so it wasn’t the best snorkel
· Queue up for the ferry back to Townsville
· Walk along the wharf getting some sun (whilst waiting for the ferry)
· Ferry back to Townsville – it was a much nicer journey back, with the sun beginning its descent over the ocean
· Attempt a shop before realising that all the supermarkets close at 6pm on a Sunday!
· Reunite with our caravan, unpack and do washing until midnight!!
· Fall into bed exhausted, but so happy we made the effort to go to Magnetic Island