Townsville and Magnetic Island

On the afternoon of 18.10.16 we arrived in Townsville. According to our guidebook, it is the third largest city in Queensland, and it felt like a big city to us. So much traffic and confusing streets! We were only used to small towns or collections of a few houses :D

Our first stop was, as usual, the Visitor Centre. There we asked about campsites and attractions. Some people in Bowen had told us about Magnetic Island, and the Visitor Centre also recommended a visit to the island. So we immediately bought two ferry tickets for the next day. Together with a ticket for the island bus, we paid 35 dollars per person. We were lucky with the campsites: a few kilometers outside the city there were several free places, and we went to one of them. It was called Saunders Beach and was just a small parking lot right by the beach. But we were shocked: so many people!! The camping area was already full, and when we arrived, we barely managed to find a spot in the area that was only meant for day parking. And everyone was so close together. Really unusual for us and the first lesson that there is definitely more going on the east coast than in the far north and the center...

For dinner, we had grilled chicken skewers that were on sale at the grocery store, and toasted bread with seasoned tomatoes, inspired by bruschetta. Unfortunately, despite the oil, both the meat and the bread stuck to the grill plate, and we had to scrub them afterwards... But the food was delicious :D There were a few people sitting next to us at the table who somehow talked to us the whole time. In the end, there was a couple in their mid-40s who drank quite a bit (although you couldn't tell) and told us all sorts of things and asked us a lot of questions. They were actually quite nice. Apparently, they live there, because eventually they disappeared towards a cottage at the edge of the parking lot. You encounter these kinds of characters again and again.

The next day, we had to get up early because we wanted to take the 7:45 ferry and had to drive 45 minutes to the city beforehand. We also forgot to refuel the day before, and the tank was so empty that we were afraid we wouldn't make it to any gas station on the way back in the evening. So we quickly refueled with 10 liters. But getting up early was rewarded: a beautiful sunrise on the beach over the sea and Magnetic Island :)

When we arrived at the ferry terminal, everything fit perfectly in time. We parked directly there (we got a parking voucher when we booked the ferry, so we saved 7.50 dollars), went to the ferry, and it departed 3 minutes later. Of course, you could also assume that we were running a bit late, but "perfect in time" sounds better :D On the ferry, we could relax, apply sunscreen, study the bus schedule, and enjoy the view of the city getting smaller and smaller. When we arrived on the island, we quickly went to the toilet, put in our contact lenses, and then got on the bus, which left 10 minutes after the ferry arrived.

Our first stop was the "The Forts" hiking trail. It is located in the northeastern part of the island and leads through forests to some historical sites and buildings from World War II. I didn't know beforehand that Australia was so affected by World War II. But we already learned in Darwin that the city was completely destroyed by the Japanese (a more intense attack than on Pearl Harbor!) and on Magnetic Island, a camp with cannons and a signaling station was set up because the island is very hilly and provides a pretty good view of the sea and possibly approaching enemies from above. So our walk took us to these highest points where we had a great view of the entire island, its bays, and the sea from the old buildings.

On the way back, we looked for koalas again, because that was one of the reasons why we did this walk. You could see koalas in the wild. And we actually discovered some! Well, not us, but some other people, and we joined them :D The koalas on the island are smaller than usual, but still super cute. One of them was quite awake for the time of day, climbing around the tree and even jumping to another branch. But the others we saw were pretty sleepy.

When we arrived back at the bus stop, we realized that we had just missed a bus by 10 minutes. And unfortunately, it only runs every 45-90 minutes (totally irregular, total crap!). So, since we had about an hour left until the next bus, we walked down to Arthur Bay. According to a sign, it should only be 850 meters down the road, and according to the woman at the Visitor Centre in Townsville, you should be able to snorkel well in the bay. We had even brought our new snorkeling equipment with us. Unfortunately, after an endlessly long walk in the heat, we couldn't find access to the beach of the bay. Only a private road to a resort. We asked some people who were coming from the other direction in their car, but they didn't know either. So we started making our way back and suddenly found a hiking trail that pointed into the bush. Unfortunately, the tide was coming in, and the water had flooded into the creek where the path apparently led. In any case, we were soon surrounded by water and had to turn back again. Actually, we just wanted a bench in a nice place where we could have lunch. But there was only this asphalt road, the scorching heat, and the inevitable return trip. After the torture of the really steep and hot return trip, we had to realize that we had AGAIN missed the bus by 5 minutes, and this time we even had to wait a whopping 1.5 hours for the next one. Great. That was also the point where we wished we had rented one of those small cars, which according to the information flyer would have only cost 10 dollars more per person. But we couldn't change it anymore, so we sat down in the shade of the bus stop and had lunch there. There are more romantic places, but we didn't have any other choice, and at least it was shady. Due to all the delays, we already realized at that point that we probably wouldn't be able to do everything we wanted to see.

When the bus arrived, we gratefully got on board and drove to Geoffrey Bay. There was also supposed to be a nice snorkeling spot there, and we were in desperate need of cooling off. The bay is located on the east coast, and it was a really beautiful beach. The water was very shallow for a long way, and at the beginning we saw a few stingrays. A bit further out, there was a wreck that we wanted to see, but unfortunately, we didn't make it that far. About 100 meters out (the water still only reached our thighs), I felt something soft brush against my arm, and afterwards it stung. Great, another jellyfish. I immediately told Andi, and we got out of the water because we didn't want to take any risks. It was quite a pity because I really wanted to see the wreck. It wasn't a poisonous jellyfish, and there probably weren't any poisonous ones there, but unfortunately, you never know. After that experience, we were somewhat frustrated. We had imagined our day on the island to be a bit more relaxed. To make the most of the day, we went to Alma Bay. It was quite small and crowded with more people, but the beach was monitored, and the jellyfish risk was estimated as minimal. So we went into the water, and we were even able to snorkel a bit because there was a small reef. It mainly consisted of algae and rocks, but there were some different fish, and since it was our first real snorkeling experience, we really enjoyed it. We were in the water for at least an hour :D

After Alma Bay, we took the bus (this time we managed to be at the bus stop on time) to Horseshoe Bay in the north. There we actually wanted to do some hiking, but we didn't have time for that anymore. So we just walked along the beach a bit. There was a great backdrop with the low sun, the green forests, and all the boats on the water. So it was still worth it to drive there once again.

We wanted to watch the sunset at the southern end of the island and took the bus from the top to the bottom. By the way, the west of the island is a nature reserve, and the bays there can only be reached by boat. When we arrived at the so-called Picnic Bay, we walked out onto a jetty to see the sun set behind a headland. Unfortunately, we had bad luck: the sun had just set behind a wide band of clouds on the horizon, and we could only see illuminated clouds. But we still enjoyed the view and didn't let it spoil our evening. So much had already gone wrong during the day.

For dinner, we found a picnic table on the beach and ate our remaining sandwiches. There was also a grill plate, so we grilled our sausage a bit. After dinner, we enjoyed the view of the illuminated city on the mainland and took the bus back to the ferry terminal. The return ferry was at 7:45 a.m., and when we arrived, we were quite exhausted. But before going to bed, we still had to drive to an overnight spot, and this time it was the Bluewater Rest Area. After 40 minutes, we arrived there, looked for a spot (all the way at the end of the parking lot by the edge of the forest because everything was so crowded again), set up our bed, and went straight to sleep. Theoretically, we could have just stayed overnight at the campground near the city, but it would have cost 30 dollars per night, and with the fuel to the free rest area and back to the city, we spent a maximum of 10 dollars. So it's definitely worth it in terms of money.

In the morning, we didn't set an alarm, but as always, we woke up quite early because of the sun. After breakfast, we went back to the city. We drove up to Castle Hill, from which you have a truly fantastic view over the entire city, up and down the coast, and Magnetic Island. It was dreamlike. On the way up, we even saw some crazy people running or jogging there, but the path is really steep, and it was pretty hot! We were glad to have our car. After enjoying the view in all directions on the various small walks, we drove back down and into the city. There we strolled past some shops and restaurants, let the city affect us, treated ourselves to a frozen Fanta for 1 dollar, and I even found a new pair of sunglasses. I had apparently lost my old ones somewhere on Magnetic Island because I couldn't find them that morning. And it was really impossible to go without sunglasses, you just had to squint your eyes all the time.

After this beautiful day in Townsville, we set off again in the afternoon, heading north. Our plan is to travel all the way to Cairns and Port Douglas, and then drive back south.

Continuation in the next entry :)