Thurs 6th Sept - Magnetic Island

I popped over to Magnetic Island for most of the day, catching the ferry from Townsville at 9am. It wasn't immediately obvious where I might hire a bicycle so I set off on foot in the direction of Nelly Bay with the intention of continuing on as far as Picnic Bay. There's a free guide book on Magnetic Island which goes to great lengths to tell you about all of the really cool stuff you can do on the island but neglects to tell you where to go to organise some of these activities. That aside, it was a beautiful day, sun shining, about 27 degrees and it was nice to wander along the beach at Nelly bay on foot, having it almost completely to myself. There were maybe 4 others on the beach, and its probably a few kilometres long. I had half an idea that I might do a bit of snorkelling while on the island but I set off for Picnic bay assuming I'd find somwhere along the way that I could get kitted out, but it wasn't meant to be, so I'll just have to wait till I get down to Airlie beach.

I stopped for lunch at Picnic Bay in a place called Antonio Morans, I presume there's an Irish connection there somewhere. Townsville has a handful of Irish bars, so I can only presume there are some people in this part of Queensland of Irish decent. They can't have spread too much knowledge about Irish history though. I stopped for a drink in a place that brews their own beer and the guy who served me remarked on me saying that I was from Ireland, and not that I was from the UK. He's not likely to make the same mistake again, after giving him a very brief Irish history lesson, I explained that we weren't part of the UK and suggested he should watch the Michael Collins film.

Magnetic Island is worth a visit, but is quite developed, with about 2000 people calling this place home. Rottnest had a much nicer vibe with hardly any cars and the walking and cycling being the main modes of transport. Its not quite the same when there's a proper road and plenty of cars. Although I suppose if you were one of the 2000 residents you might like there to be good infrastructure for getting around the island.