Day 2 - Magnetic Island

Last night we had a possum join us for dinner and this morning we had a friendly rainbow lorikeet join us for breakfast.

The best way to see Maggie Island is with a 4x4 as there are a couple of areas on the island that you can't reach without one, unless you want to walk miles in extreme heat, and that is just a recipe for disaster. We therefore decided to rent one for the day. It's a bit of a banger but that didn't bother us too much. At least we didn't have to be too precious with it for fear of not getting our deposit back.

Our first stop was The Forts Walk. It's a 4km walk that takes you past ruins from the time Maggie Island was a defence outpost during World War II. At the top is a Lookout which gives you beautiful views across the island and out to the sea. The best bit about this walk though is the numerous koalas you can spot on the way chilling out in the trees. Simon and I have never seen a koala before so it was incredible to see them in the wild. They were sat pretty low in the trees too so we got to see them really close up. We even got to see a mum and baby.

After The Forts Walk we headed down to Radical Bay. The drive down to the bay is pretty scary and they weren't lying when they said you would need a 4x4 as the potholes were enormous! Not wanting to be responsible for damaging the car, I left the driving to Simon. He did an excellent job of navigating the potholes though and we arrived at Radical Bay in one piece.

Radical Bay is a gorgeous beach so we decided to stop here for lunch and have a swim in the sea to cool down. Apart from our snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, we haven't actually been in the sea due to the various wildlife that is out to get you. The water wasn't cold at all so it was lush to float around in the waves for a bit. Another unique and funky thing about Radical Bay is the piano that is situated on the beach. It even works if you are talented in that area and fancy busting out a tune (I settled for chopsticks).

After we had dried off in the sun we headed back to the car to drive to Florence Bay. When we got to the car though, Simon couldn't find the car key. Uh oh! We pulled everything out of our bag with no luck and then Simon ran back down to the beach in a panic to try and retrace our steps. Fortunately when he was searching around in the sand, a lady came up to him waving a key. That could have turned out a whole lot worse.

Florence Bay was another lovely beach which apparently offers great snorkelling. We didn't have any gear though so we sat on the beach for a bit before heading back to the hostel for a shower.

Something not to miss on Maggie Island is watching the sunset from West Point. The drive there was a million times better than the road to Radical Bay which was good. We did arrive at the car park to see another 4x4 stuck in the soft sand though. Fortunately they were stuck so I knew not to drive there otherwise that could have quite easily been us. Lucky for them someone offered them a tow otherwise that would have been an expensive mistake for them. The beach at West Point was absolutely stunning and we sat and watched the sun go down over the sea.

Back at the hostel it was trivia night, so Simon and I decided to join in. As a team of 2 we had very little hope of getting many answers right however we underestimated ourselves as we came joint 3rd. Much better than our efforts in the trivia we did in Melbourne.Meer informatie