First stop was Townsville - the gateway to Magnetic Island which gave me my first taste of carrying my backpack as I had about a 15 minute walk (turned into a 30 minute walk because I went the wrong way & got a little confused) to get to my yucky hostel which was just a means to an end as the YHA on Magnetic Island was full so I had to stay over in Townsville & head over to Magnetic Island the next morning which I have the pleasure of saying was a delightful, gorgeous little island even if we did have a croc floating around the island making swimming in the sea a wee issue. My room mates on day 1 (4 English girls and a Belgian girl) were very cool and we spent the afternon and evening together just chatting etc. Two of the girls were only 19 and were awesome - they restored my faith in the British youth.
I went into the YHA's little sanctuary on day 2 and got to hold a precious cute cuddly Koala, pet a couple of birds, a nice long python & a little croc & then headed off for a 4.5km hilly walk to check out Balding and Radical Bays of which Balding could only be accessed by foot. There were more bays that I could have gone to as well as a a little hike to perhaps spot live Koalas but I didn't have enough time. Perhaps next time.
Stop two was party town Airlie Beach to head out to the gorgeous Whitsundays and the MAGNIFICENT Whitehaven silicone sand beach. This little trip did require a day trip on a purple catamaran (I chickened out of the 3 day sailing due to my less than lovely experience on the Great Barrier Reef). & I am most pleased to report that the motion sickness tablets worked a treat and I did not get sick - I did feel a bit high for a couple of hours and have a seriously dry mouth but that was just funny & it was seriously worth it to get to see Whitehaven Beach (stinger suit and all). I am told that it is the most photographed beach in the world which I can believe as it is just specacular (although amidst the cries of outrage from the East Coast & delight from the West Coast I would say it is equal to Coral Bay from my perspective). We never got to the Hill Inlet sadly at the top of Whitehaven Beach as only the small boats get there but then nothing wrong with leaving some for next time. I spent the rest of the 3 day trip on Long Island which is the option for non boaty people which was a resort with a little backpackers hostel. I got to see a couple of Curlews which are the funniest birds (stork kinda birds with a well known cry that sounds like it is the saddest bird alive) as well as a young Kangaroo or Wallaby that hopped right past me a couple of times. Very cute little guys. No idea how anyone can eat them. I went on a tube ride on my last afternoon with a lovely couple from Adelaide & a girl who worked part time as a photographer at the resort. It was pretty wild for the 20/30 minutes that we were on it although we did get kicked off a couple of times which was pretty funny especially mine as I held on for dear life when we were speeding around but then fell off as the boat was taking off. Doh! I also got some nice bruises on my bumb from sitting in the tube and bashing against the water at breakneck speeds before I managed to lift it up from the bottom of the tube. So funny and so much fun.
I then got the ferry back to Airlie Beach to meet up with a friend that I had met in Coral Bay & Cairns & to prepare myself for the long overnight trip to the baking hot Town of 1770. Why the town of 1770 you ask - well that was the year that the beloved Captain Cook (although only a Lieutenant at that point) landed on the East Coast of Oz to start off what is Australia today. Funnily enough this place was called Round Hill until late last century, long before the backpackers arrived, after which a bunch of locals decided to rename it and what a good unintential tourist attraction that turned out to be although most of the area is National Park and will hardly get more developed than it already is. I enjoyed a litte interesting tour of 1770 in the morning and took a mini motor bike tour around in the afternoon to spot some Kangaroos & watch the sunset in 1770 with none other than my first bona fide South African - originally from Joburg (he has been around here for 28 years though but has hardly lost his accent at all & still speaks a bit of Afrikaans bless him).
Now soon to be off to Hervey Bay to re meet the Bebingtons. Looking forward to that as it has been an AGE indeed :-)
