Jim & Barbara Burton Travel: Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island

En-route to Magnet Island, in excess of 1,100 kilometres, an overnight stop in Mackay was required. We left Hervey Bay early for the approximately 700 km journey to Mackay only to be stopped frequently by road works due to the recent cyclones. Several times we sat waiting for twenty minutes for single line traffic to alternate. We even came up with a new acronym – RWA = Road Works Ahead. We passed through Rockhampton and crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, stopped for a packed lunch at a roadside turnout where we saw some beautiful Blue Eyed Honey Eaters. Travelling on we finally arrived in Mackay just as it got dark, an eleven hour drive. It should have been around eight hours. We stayed at the Marco Polo Motel run by very nice people and luckily they had a good restaurant on site. We had a light meal and went to bed for an early start the next morning.

On the road before seven we headed to Townsville, through sugar plantations, fruit orchards and cattle farms, mostly Brahman (cattle that is), where we dropped off our rental car and caught the ferry to Magnetic Island. When we got off the ferry we got on the local bus, with our entire luggage, no taxi available. Not even sure they exist here. Anyway, luckily we were first on and first off, because everyone else was doing the same thing, mostly backpackers so there was a lot of luggage. We arrived at reception to be welcomed by Vivienne who greeted us like long lost friends.

The Island Palms Resort is an oasis. It is quiet, serene and peaceful and we felt very comfortable as soon as we arrived. Our unit is large, with panoramic windows and fully equipped. We have a glimpse of the ocean and a majestic view of the surrounding hills. The balcony overlooks the swimming pool, which we normally have just to ourselves. The food store is just around the corner and we also had delivered a kilo each of King Prawns and Scallops straight from the trawler that brings them in daily. Yummy, Yummy!!!!!

Each morning and afternoon the resort feeds the Rainbow Lorikeets. The cacophony is unbelievable from around two hundred birds, all squabbling for prime position. It also has a Monday afternoon get together for the guests, which was hosted by Vivienne and her husband Murray, who gave us lots of wonderful information about the island and we met some very nice people from Australia and Scotland

Magnetic Island is very small, only 5,184 hectares with 40km of coastline. It is mainly National Park with a population around 2,500.

It is a very beautiful island with lots of wildlife. The island is home to the largest wild population of Koalas and there are many very cute rock wallabies and birds too many to count. The beaches are exquisite but swimming in the ocean is not recommended due to the Box Jelly Fish and the Irukandji (minute jelly fish) that lurk therein, both are deadly. We swim in the swimming pool at the resort.

Our first outing, we walked from here at Nelly Bay to Arcadia taking the newly completed Gabul Way, pronounced “Gabel”, taken from the Wulgurukaba Dreamtime story of how the islands off Townsville were formed. Gabul was a giant carpet python that carved the landscape while travelling from the Herbert River, through the Palm Island Group, up the Ross River coming to rest at Magnetic Island. This oral tale is an aboriginal legend dating back thousands of years and of great significance to First Australians.

Our second major excursion, we walked from here in Nelly Bay, up hill and down dale to Picnic Bay, where we stopped for coffee, then caught the bus to the other end of the island, to Horseshoe Bay. We spent around forty-five minutes at Horseshoe Bay then caught the next bus to The Fort. We met up with a couple from Melbourne, here in Horseshoe Bay, who were also staying at the Island Palms.

The Fort was quite a hike to the top as it was very hot and not much shade. On our ascent we met a young man from Toronto who had been working at the Australian Open Tennis for four months. On the trail it is possible to see Koalas in the wild but we were not lucky enough to spot any. The views from the lookouts and at the very top were awesome. We also saw a very weird looking caterpillar, which looked as though it had leaves stuck on the rear end but was all part of the body. We haven’t been able to find out yet what it was. The 4km round trip took about 2 hours with stoppage times included and we made it back down to catch the 4:40pm bus back to Nelly Bay.

On our return to Island Palms we met Murray and learned that Keith & Mary, the couple from the bus, and on their way to Horseshoe Bay, had arrived at the hotel in Arcadia and just sat down for a cold beverage when a woman started screaming. Her toddler had drowned in the swimming pool, not breathing and had turned blue. Keith to the rescue, leapt up, administered CPR and got the little girl breathing again. What a hero!!!!! She was airlifted to Townsville. This will be a holiday they will not forget in a hurry.

Our other activities were bird watching, which included Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Black Cockatoos, Bush-Stone Curlews, Sunbirds, Lorikeets, Galahs to name a few and the evening rock wallaby feeding. Unfortunately, some of the birds were so high up in the trees that it was impossible to get a good photograph, even with Jim’s telephoto lens. The rock wallabies were a different matter. Although they are very timid and shy and you just need to sit quietly down by the rock sea wall and wait patiently for ten or fifteen minutes and then they start to pop up. They are like little cartoon characters, so funny and unbelievably cute. They are no bigger than a large domestic cat. Check out the one with the Joey in her pouch. I wanted to bring some home but I don’t think they would like the cold winters.

Well tomorrow we are on our way to Port Douglas for five nights, cannot believe we have been here almost a week already. We are not sure how the Internet will be there, so thought we would post this while we have the opportunity.