We arrived in
Townsville and again the weather was a bit iffy, it had rained a fair
amount of our bus journey down. Booking our hostel was last minute
and we struggled as there was a Full Moon party happening on the
Island. But Matt managed to find us a place to stay which was at
Arcadia Beach House and we got to stay in a safari tent which was
lovely with a double bed, it was luxury camping.
We had to catch a ferry
over to the island and when going over and getting onto Magnetic
Island the sun came out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky! What was
funny was that Matt told me that Renee, the lady who runs the hostel
with her partner Mac, had e-mailed him saying that she would bring
the sun out for us when we arrived, and she wasn't joking!
We were picked up in a
Rolls Royce by Mac and were taken to our hostel, they checked us in
and told us of places to visit and where to go.
We got free bike hire
and took the bikes out to this little market which was just down the
road, it was a magical little market too so we stayed there for a
drink and a bite to eat and then headed over to where the rock
wallabies were. The timing was great as loads of them come out when
the sun is about to set, it was so strange to see so many little
wallabies hopping around. We didn't bring any food with us but they
still came right up to us practically sat on our laps!
We bumped into a girl
we saw in Cape Tribulation who was on our tour and later has drinks
with some of the other people staying at the hostel. Some were
suppose to be going to the Full Moon Party that was happening on the
Island, but decided to stay with the little group we made up, we were
all chatting away drinking wine.
Kristen (This is the
lovely girl from Canada who we saw up at Cape Tribulation), Gemma (a
lovely girl from the UK) and Travis (a lovely American guy) who we
met at the hostel on Maggie decided that they were going to rent out
a little 4x4 to see some of the beaches. We were going to rent a
Moke, which is like a big go-kart, they were awesome fun.
Me and Matt went out in
the moke and the others in the 4x4 and explored the whole of the
island, our Moke did break down a couple of times. But Mac from the
hostel came to our rescue and fixed her up for us, he was great.
On the evening we went
to where the rock wallabies live to go and pet and feed them, we did
have food this time and they all came over and actually sat on our
laps this time! They were so funny to watch hopping around, they did
hiss at each other, but no fighting. At one point I was surrounded
because I had carrot sticks.
That night we also
decided to watch Wolfe Creek, not sure who good idea that was! Really
not the best film to be watching when you are backpacking in
Australia. Some of us didn't get that much sleep.
The next day Travis and
Kristen were leaving, Travis going up the coast and Kristen going
down to the Whitsundays' where we were off to next. We said our
goodbyes to them and since we had the moke for a couple more hours we
all went for a spin around the island again, Gem also brought some
carrot sticks so we could feed the rock wallabies. We went just
before the sun set and we were surrounded by the wallabies, they were
sitting on our laps.
We were leaving early
morning the next day, we said our goodbyes to Mac and Renee, they
really made us feel at home during our stay, a great couple. Mac
dropped us off at the Ferry Terminal in the Rolls Royce. Watching the
island as we were going back to mainland was a really sad for all of
us, we had an amazing time, another adventure we will never forget.
