Magnetic Island

Upon arrival in Townsville, we took a ferry that brought us to the beautiful Magnetic Island in no time. Right next to the ferry station on the island, there is a supermarket where we stocked up on groceries (at high prices). Unfortunately, the buses on the island only run hourly, coinciding with the arrival of the ferry. So we had to wait again before we could continue to our accommodation. Our accommodation was not a hostel, but the Arcadia Guesthouse. We booked a large tent as our room, but there was a bed inside. It was already late afternoon and we asked the guesthouse for a tip to go to the nearby cliffs where Rockwallabies gather. When we spotted the first one from a distance, we were so delighted. I thought there would only be one Wallaby, but what awaited us shortly after was beyond my imagination. There were Wallabies everywhere on the way. Little baby Wallabies were hopping around on the cliffs, and big ones even came up to us on the path because they thought they would get something to eat. In fact, the Wallabies are fed by all the tourists, so they have become quite tame.

Back at the accommodation, Dani went to take a shower while I went back to the tent, and then the shock came. There was a white spider sitting on the wall. Not a spider that would be considered large in Australia, but one that we would classify as medium to large in Germany. I quickly rushed out of the tent and positioned myself in front of the bathroom to put pressure on Dani to get out of the shower as quickly as possible. I had put all my hopes on Dani. Together, we went back to the tent. And then came the disappointing statement from Dani that she couldn't remove the spider either. Nevertheless, armed with my protein shake cup, she tried bravely several times, but then recoiled again. After half an hour of standing in front of the spider with excitement, despair mixed with screams, I went out again to find someone in the accommodation who could help us with the problem. Unfortunately, we had no luck. Besides a mentally unclear elderly lady who only gave me the "advice" to watch TV with her, I didn't meet anyone, and the reception was already closed. So we were back on our own. Dani then overcame her fear and placed the cup over the spider. At some point, we managed to slide a piece of paper between the wall and the cup. Dani threw the cup with the spider far away from our tent, and the spider could crawl back to freedom. We returned to the tent, somewhat relieved, and checked everything again before going to sleep. At night, it felt like sleeping in the middle of the rainforest. I had never heard such loud animal sounds during the whole trip. In the morning at 7 o'clock, we wanted to pick up our Swiss friends whom we had met on the Whitsunday Islands boat tour, with the 4 WD convertible Jeep rented from the accommodation. However, I had significant difficulties starting the car. The owner had asked me earlier if I could drive manual cars. I said it was not a problem at all, but then it got embarrassing. I just couldn't move this car. So I called the lady again. She sat down and started the car easily. She asked me incredulously if I had really driven a manual car before, she absolutely didn't believe me. Somehow, I managed to start driving, but for me, driving was an absolute disaster. After a few minutes, there was an incline. And in the middle of the road, the car stalled. Panic-stricken, I said to Dani that we had to turn on the hazard lights, but this old piece of junk didn't even have them. But I managed to start driving again. When we arrived at Petra's hostel, Dani agreed to take over the steering wheel. She did pretty well with the car without power steering and stiff pedals and the manual transmission. First, we did the Forts Walk. During this walk, you can see not only koalas but also former fortresses and facilities from World War II. After that, we went to Arthur Bay, where we could snorkel at the almost deserted bay. But once again, I realized that I'm simply too clumsy with these fins. When snorkeling on tours, I always had a swim noodle with me, but here we were alone, and I didn't have a swim noodle. I just can't handle these fins and almost sink every time. On top of that, I always get water in the snorkel, and my diving mask also filled with water. One thing I really noticed in Australia is that underwater activities like snorkeling or diving are not suitable for me. Despite all the hardships, I could at least see beautiful fish. At the next bay, Florence Bay, I fell asleep so deeply on the beach that I didn't even notice Dani and Petra snorkeling again. It wasn't so bad, though. I would have liked to see beautiful fish, but I didn't feel like going through the torture of snorkeling again. We then continued to our last bay, Radical Bay, and then made our way back. The drive to the bays is very exciting. No paved ground, but full of potholes. On the way back, there was an incline with huge potholes. The car stalled and rolled backward. I simply pulled the handbrake (even though Dani probably had it under control) and on the second try, we rolled backward again, and I pulled the handbrake again ;-D. We briefly discussed how to best get up this hill. So we decided that Dani would step on the gas and I would slowly release the handbrake. And Dani did it, she managed to finally drive the car uphill. In the evening, we drove to West Point to watch the sunset. The drive there, especially the drive back in the dark, was also not boring. It was pitch black, and besides the forest, the narrow drive path, including small water ditches that we had to pass, there was nothing.

The next day, we left. At the bus stop, I noticed that there were ants swarming above the handle of my luggage. I was afraid that there would be ants in my luggage as well. On the ferry, I started inspecting my large and small handbag. When I opened my small handbag, I almost threw it overboard. It was teeming with ants. I quickly closed the bag again and immediately searched the internet for these ants. They were Pharaoh ants, which are particularly stubborn and not so easy to get rid of. I was so afraid that there would be some in my luggage too. When we arrived back in Townsville, I roughly searched my luggage but found nothing. There were only a few ants in my large handbag. When I emptied my small handbag, I realized who the culprit was. Two days earlier, I had eaten an apple. Since there was no trash bin, I wrapped the apple core in tissues and put it in my bag and forgot about it. After sleeping outside in the tent, the critters were attracted to it. The day before, we already had ants inside our tent in our bag with plastic dishes. When we arrived at the ferry station, we made wraps and only roughly rinsed the plates in the toilet. The small food leftovers attracted the ants. Anyway, I quickly got rid of my small handbag and left it, ants included, in a trash bin in Townsville.