Magnetic Island - PICNIC BAY - 2 of 4

We saw the “famous blue house” where the SS City of Adelaide is a 19th-century steamer turned "island" shipwreck was in Cockle Bay. In 1916, it ran aground in the shallow waters where it still remains today. Ironically and sadly, in 1942, an RAAF bomber (see photo) crashed into the wreck’s masts during a training flight, killing all four crew members. Other shipwrecks here include: George Rennie (1885-1902), Bee (1884-1901), Presto (1862-1896), Moltke (1870-1911), Platypus (1882- ), Magnet (1906-1919), Palmosa (1902-1962), Carroo (1897-1954), City of Adelaide (1864-1915) all with stories and many that remain undiscovered in the waters around the Island

We also saw Australia’s black cockatoos which have five species here – the Baudin’s, Carnaby’s, red-tail, yellow-tail and glossy black. They hide in the gum trees, feeding on gumnuts, cawing loudly and distinctly. Believe it or not there are 900 types of gum trees and they only like 30 of them. We had some free time at Horseshoe Bay Beach where we had great salads for lunch.

Lastly, green and flatback turtles nest on beaches here. The strangest thing we learned was that the sex of a sea turtle is not determined by chromosomes but by the incubation temperature of the nest. People say: "hot chicks, cool dudes" since warm temp produce females (above 88 degrees) and cold temps (below 82 degrees) produce males. Yes, temperatures from 82-88 result in a mix of sexes. Rising sand temperatures have led to an overwhelming number of females. They try to stay covered in leaves to be cooler for obvious reasons. Strange.

So you might ask about the KOALAS. Yes, we came for koalas but only saw one … and mostly his back. Not a great discovery … where are his 800 friends? Not to worry, there are other opportunities to see these.Read more