Magnetic Island 31 July - 03 August 2006
The best way to get around Magnetic Island is by Moke. These are tremendous fun to drive and reminded me very much of my old VW Polo (Clutch that you need to stand on, gear lever like a tractor etc...). We hired one on our second day there and that enabled us to see far more of the island than we would have had we been on foot. Our first trip was to Florence Bay where we were promised some pretty good snorkelling. It was on the walk from the carpark down to the bay that I encountered my
first snake in the wild!. The snake was aware of me before I was aware of him and was hastily making his retreat when I spotted him in the bushes by the road. I'm not sure who retreated faster though, as I nearly climbed backwards over Andrew in an attempt to 'escape'.
The snorkelling here was good - but it certainly didn't beat Luncheon Bay in the Whitsundays.
Plenty of wildlife at our camp on Magnetic Island!
Magnetic Island 31 July - 03 August 2006
From Airlie Beach we caught a greyhound bus to Townsville and then a ferry across to Magnetic Island where we stayed at Bungalow Bay, a hostel/camping ground that has its own wildlife sanctuary attached. There we saw lizards, crocodiles, wallabies, snakes and, of course, koalas. And of all the animals our group held, it was the koala that scratched and bit a poor wee kid! Fact is, they're not as cute and cuddly as they look. Downright cranky really!
I was
very proud of myself for holding this snake. I had never even touched a snake before and, being Irish, I've never had to deal with one before!
Airlie Beach 26-31 July 2006
On our last day at Airlie Beach, we took a half day kayaking trip from Shute Harbour to go see some turtles (well, at least their heads as they popped out of the water several yards away) and try some more snorkelling. Again I enjoyed the snorkelling, but it wasn't up to Luncheon Bay standards!
Airlie Beach 26-31 July 2006
As well as hanging out by the lagoon, we also did a few more active things while at Airlie Beach. Sailing is a
huge tourist attraction at Airlie Beach with many options available for people to spend two, three or more nights on a yacht sailing around the Whitsundays. We were happy with a day-trip however, and found one among the hoardes of options that we liked the look of. So early one morning, we were collected from our accommation by a representative of Mantaray Chaters (
http://www.mantaraycharters.com/).We first headed to the main island, Whitsunday Island where we stopped at Whitehaven beach and had a few hours relaxing on the beautiful white sand and swimming in the crystal clear water.
After that, it was back to the boat for lunch and on to Hook Island for some snorkelling. I had never been snorkelling before and I was utterly amazed at the world that lay just beneath the surface of the waters of Luncheon Bay. It was like swimming into a David Attenborough documentary - absolutely amazing stuff. There were fish of all shapes, sizes and colours as well as spectacular coral. I was talking to one of our fellow day-trippers when I got back to the boat and I explained that this had been my first time snorkelling and she assured me that I had hit the jackpot as it didn't get much better than this!
Airlie Beach 26-31 July 2006
After a thorough soaking on the Gold Coast, we left Southport on the 26th of July and flew to Prosperpine, which serves Airlie Beach and The Whitsunday Islands. We had pre-booked only one night's accommodation before arriving and this, it turned out, was a very wise decision. The room we were given was right beside the girls' bathroom and not only could we
hear everything that was going on in there... the room also had a delightful...
toilety smell. We very quickly got on the internet and found a far more suitable place to stay which was right on the beach and and views like this from its front balconies:
Just three minutes walk away from our 'new' hostel there is a swimming lagoon. It's like Brisbane's artificial beach, only
much nicer. We spent more than a few hours lounging on the grassy banks here, reading our books and jumping in for a dip whenever we were in need of a cool down.
Gold Coast 24 - 26 July 2006
After staying in Brisbane for two nights, we took the train down to the Gold Coast with the intention of seeing one of the theme parks there. Our first day there was beautiful, with the sun shining and the waves glistening. We even took our first dip of the holidays on the beach there.
The hostel we stayed in is in Southport (the northern end of the Gold Coast) and there is a very nice pool area. And do you see that door to the right of the pool? That was our room... prime location.
On the Tuesday, we went to Warner Bros. Move World, one of the four major theme parks in the Gold Coast. Because I had never been on a roller-coaster before, we decided to ease into by having go on some of the smaller roller-coasters first before trying the big one... Superman Escape. I was ok on the smaller roller-coasters, but we agreed that it would be in the best interests of our stomachs if we left the big one til last. Unfortunately, the skies opened at about 12pm and because of the rain, the Superman Escape roller-coaster had to be closed. So we ended up going on everything
but the big one. And I have to admit that I wasn't terribly disappointed. The Lethal Weapon roller-coaster almost had me in tears, so I was more than satisfied to give the really big one a miss. Even though we spent a large part of the day soaking wet (we may as well have gone to the water park, as it turned out) it was still tremendous fun.
Brisbane 22-24 July 2006
I said goodbye to New Zealand (for now) at Christchurch airport on the 22nd of July 2006. Our flight left in the afternoon and we arrived in Brisbane at 4:30pm. As I was arriving on a working holiday visa with lots of terms and conditions attached, I was expecting to spend some time at immigration, but we sailed through without incident and then caught a shuttle bus to our accommodation in New Farm. We stayed at Bowen Terrace (
www.bowentceaccommodation.com), a really nice, family run hostel where we could not have been made to feel more welcome. Our priority for the evening, however, was to find a pub where the All Blacks V Springboks Tri Nations match was on the TV. Our host at Bowen terrace, John, pointed the way, and we were shortly ensconsed in a local hotel with pub grub as an added bonus.
The following day, we took a wander around Brisbane, especially the South Bank area of the city where there is an artificial beach for Brisbane natives and visitors to cool down in the summer. We didn't take the plunge ourselves, but we did have a little paddle...
There were three lifeguards on duty, despite the fact that it was the middle of 'winter' and only two hardy children were swimming... you can never be too careful I guess.
This is the Story Bridge, spanning the Brisbane river. The spot where this picture was taken is very close to Bowen Terrace, where we were staying. The Brisbane river can be very disorienting as it meanders through the city centre in huge loops making navigation a challenge as you leave the river behind, only to encounter it again a few hundred yards later.
The holiday continues
Ok, so I'm in the bus station/ferry terminal in Townsville QLD and I haven't got much time. But I MUST tell you all that since I my last post, I've been snorkling (and saw hundreds of gorgeous tropical fish as well as a wee harmless shark), I've held a small Crocodile, a lizard and a PYTHON! I've also seen my first snake in the wild (a wee tree snake that raced away as soon as we passed by him) as well as seeing a koala in the wild - both on Magnetic Island. We're having a ball and we're on our way to Mission beach today... it will be a busy time for me when I settle down, because there will be many many stories to tell and pictures to show!
The snorkelling here was good - but it certainly didn't beat Luncheon Bay in the Whitsundays.
Plenty of wildlife at our camp on Magnetic Island!
