Magnetic Island

In the morning, in the 35 degree heat and with almost 30kg of bags on my back and front, I walked what felt like million miles to catch my Greyhound bus. By the time I got there I could've done with another shower. As always with me and any form of transport, I was asleep as soon as I got on, and slept for most of the 7 or 8 hours to Townsville. Once there, I got straight onto the boat for the 20 minute journey to Magnetic Island. Magnetic Island is a beautiful place, but not really a backpacker 'must-do'. I heard of it randomly 9 months previously. Back when I was fruitpicking in hillbilly Gin Gin, I was waiting in the library for my turn on the internet, and the librarian gave me a book on Australia to read. After seeing pictures of the island I promised myself I would go, despite not hearing much about it in the whole time since then.

My hostel was already booked and paid for. I was staying at Base, which is a chain of hostels around Australia and New Zealand. I was booked in for 2 nights, which is apparently enough time to see everything on this little island.

I arrived about 25 minutes before happy hour ended; enough time to chuck my bags in my dorm and grab a cheap beer. This hostel is completely open-air, except for the rooms which are divided into male and female, in porta-style cabins. The kitchen's in a giant teepee, and there's a nice pool and a dive shop. All of this is set right on the sea front, not that we could go in the sea here either, but it was nice to sit outside with a beer and watch the palm trees swaying infront of the ocean.

Sitting there, I got talking to an Irish and a German girl who were travelling together. I told them about mokes, tiny jeeps I'd heard that you could hire for the day to explore the island. They were as keen as me to hire one, which was great as it meant that I wasn't doing it on my own, nor did I have to pay for it all myself! We spoke to the receptionist and she told us about a special offer on a topless car for 24 hours. It was amazing; it was pink, looked like a barbie car, and only $80 from the time we picked it up in the morning until the following day.

That afternoon, we cooled off in the pool for a while, where we met an Irish guy, also travelling alone. We persuaded him to join us for the day in our girly car! For the rest of the evening we just did the usual...got to know eachother and exchanged travelling stories over a few beers.

When we woke up, bright and early and excited, we went to pick up our car. It was the coolest vehicle i've ever seen, and it was a manual which is always a bonus as most cars in Australia are autos. My only problem was that it was the first time I'd driven a manual in the 14 months since I'd left home, so I felt a bit rusty! We took it in turns driving round the island for the day. We were really lucky with the weather, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, perfect for tanning whilst cruising around.

There's only one main road on Magnetic Island, so all you can really do is drive from one end, Horseshoe Bay, to the other, Picnic Bay. Still, we entertained ourselves enough. Also, in certain parts of the beaches, they've netted off sections of the sea, so you can go in without a stinger suit or without worrying about the jellyfish.

Later in the day, after going up and down and round the island about 15 times, we stopped at a supermarket, bought some meat and drinks, and drove to Picnic Bay to use the free BBQ on the beach until sunset.

There isn't really a great deal to do here. A lot of the residents live here because I suppose they like it this way... quiet and peaceful with just enough shops and restaurants to get by and keep themselves entertained. And they're only a 20 minute boat ride from the mainland. The scenery on the island is amazing, beaches are great, and there's loads of Ozzie wildlife like koalas and kookaburras, but I think 1 day and 2 nights was definitely enough. I had a really good time, met new people, and kept my promise to myself that I'd see Magnetic Island.