I’m sure Townsville is lovely, and there’s plenty to see there – but choosing to come over to Magnetic Island for 3 nights rather than stay in Townsville is possibly the best decision we made in planning this trip. It is a brilliantly relaxing place, and the weather in winter is spectacular.
This morning we headed around to Geoffrey Bay to see the rock wallabies that inhabit the area. There are just so many of them hanging around! They have plenty of signs up to try and warn people that if you must feed them, to only feed them certain things. But ideally, they’d prefer it if you didn’t feed them. We just enjoyed a walk along the rocky point and spotting them, and even getting a chance to get really close to a couple. They’re ridiculously cute!
After that we made our way further north on the island to Forts Walk. It’s a decent walk – about two hours all up, and a bit hilly – but it was good to be able to start it at about 9:30am while the sun was still not strong. Once you get most of the way along the walk, you start to encounter all the WWII ruins from when the area was used as a camp for defence fortifications that sat right at the highest point. As you walked along, there were a series of concrete slabs where different toilet blocks and mess halls were on either side of the walking track. Once we made it to the top, as well as incredible views out to the Coral Sea, there were a few large gun emplacements and a few concrete shelters.
One thing the Forts Walk is known for is spotting koalas in the wild. After our run of not getting a chance to see many illusive animals over the last week, we didn’t have high expectations! But thankfully on the way back down we did manage to spot a koala just off the side of the track having a snooze.
This afternoon we’ve headed back down to Picnic Bay for the kids to swim at the beach again. They’re just loving being here and getting in the water everyday, so it’s great that it’s been so easy to do that. Yesterday, I forgot to mention that Daniel had actually seen some kids jumping off the jetty beside the bay, and had talked about wanting a go. We walked up to have a look, and both Debbie and I honestly thought it might be too much for him and he’d change his mind – but he didn’t. He jumped straight off and loved it!
This afternoon, after a couple of half jumps off the ladder to get some practice up, Eliza joined him as well! So much joy from them jumping in over and over again. Alexander loved watching, and really wanted to try, but everytime he got close he decided it was just too much for him – completely understandable.
After we got back from the beach and got the swimmers on the line to hopefully dry before we leave early tomorrow morning, we headed back into Nelly Bay (the central part of Magnetic Island) and all grabbed some delicious gelato. Perfect way to end a wonderful few days before we get back on the road tomorrow and head inland again – next stop, Winton!
