When we got on board though we got bacon and egg rolls and tea which made up for it. However as soon as the engine was turned on and the boat got moving I realized we were going to have a problems as the boat was rocking terribly. By the time we had reached our first snorkel and dive location and hour and a half later we had both seen breakfast again and it didn’t look nearly as appetizing on the way back out as it had before! We jumped into the water for a snorkel which at least made us feel a bit better temporarily. Then it was time for our dive and I was still feeling pretty ill! I find it incredibly difficult to remember to breathe whilst underwater and feeling sick really didn’t help although there was some lovely reef to see which distracted me quite a lot. Unfortunately the visibility was really poor because the sea was so choppy which meant that we couldn’t see the colours of the reef very well or take any decent photos. But we did our best with the pictures.
In the afternoon we moved onto another location which was more colourful than the first. James decided to do another dive and I did a lot of snorkeling just so I could stay off the boat!
We arrived back about 5.30 and once on dry land I felt better instantly! We had a quiet night in at the hostel playing upwords (like scrabble only you can put tiles on top of each other!) and then got another early night as we had a bus to catch in the morning!
Friday 27th November – Today we caught our first OZ Experience bus from Cairns to Mission beach. On the way we stopped for breakfast and we picked up some supplies from the supermarket. The bus then took us to a Crocodile farm where we got the chance to feed Kangaroos, see Cassowary’s and Dingo’s being fed and then see the keepers risk death going inside the crocodile cages and hand feeding them (utterly crazy if you ask me.) I made the mistake of asking whether anyone had been killed there to which I got the fairly relaxed answer that if I really wanted to know one of the keepers had been killed and a few months back another keeper had lost an arm! (I sort of wished I hadn’t asked!)
Cassowarys are big birds sort of like an Emu only with a blue bit on their head. They are becoming quite rare. Also apparently they are on the Australian coat of arms along with the Kangaroo because neither animal can walk backwards which means Australia is always moving forwards! (Apparently the Australians are also the only people who eat their coat of arms!)
We arrived at Mission beach in the afternoon and checked into our dorm room which luckily had airconditioning but unluckily had an ill person in it! The hostel was full for that night but we arranged to move away from the sickly guy the following day. We also booked a rafting trip on the nearby Tully river which was supposed to be some of the best rafting in Australia and New Zealand. We wanted to get onto the extreme rafting trip where they do river surfing, rapid jumping etc. but unfortunately it was full so we had to make do with the normal rafting trip.
In the afternoon we threw a ball around in the pool with some of the guys off the bus and then played cards and chilled out in the evening. We splashed out and cooked kangaroo steak and salad for dinner which was yummy, before heading to the beach for a it of a party round a fire!
Saturday 28th November – Today we went on our rafting trip on the Tully river which was really really good fun! We got very wet, turned the boat over, jumped off rocks and generally had a brilliant time. It would have been a bit better if we hadn’t had a girl in our boat who was afraid of water – perhaps a rafting trip wasn’t the best decision she ever made?!? I will let the pictures speak for themselves as they are pretty cool! In the evening we had a free BBQ at the hostel so we had salad, sausage and bread for dinner, then played a rather rowdy game of card drinking games with our bus group again! It is definitely a lot cheaper to eat on the east coast with everything geared towards backpackers and lots of hostels doing free breakfasts!
The Free BBQ turned into a big night of drinking games and cheap wine (Goon). Goon is a favorite drink amongst backpackers because it is by far the cheapest alcohol you can buy. About $12 for 4 litres!!!!!
I ended up a little worse for ware!!!
Sunday 29th November – Today we chilled out by the pool and chucked a ball around with the guys off our bus again and generally relaxed. We were going to go shopping for some food for dinner but then found out that the supermarket was closed all day, so it was into our emergency supplies for packet pasta which was, well, different I suppose! We chilled out in the evening watching films in the TV room.
Monday 30th November – This morning we headed to the supermarket again to stock up on food (and because it was the only air conditioned place in the whole of mission beach and it was baking again! We made up for the lousy dinner last night by making chicken wraps for lunch which were pretty tasty!
Then it was off to catch our bus to Magnetic Island which had broken air conditioning AGAIN!
When we arrived at Magnetic Island after a short ferry ride from Townsville we found we were in a dorm in what was really little more than a hut with no air conditioning either and it was really really hot! We headed down to the bar for dinner with the group off the bus again and shared nachos and a burger. We have now got so used to sharing one meal between two people that I don’t know what we will do when we get home and are presented with a normal sized meal per person! We played Giant jenga for a bit too. The bar at the island was incredibly loud and pretty hyped up for a Monday night, so when the dancing on tables started we just had to join in Still we had a relatively early night.
Tuesday 1st December – Today (after a free hot breakfast of bacon eggs beans and toast –yum) we hired a little topless car to drive round the island (think bumper car with wheels!) Within about 10 minutes we had worked out that there was basically nothing to see! Most of the island was cut off to us as we couldn’t take the rust bucket on dirt roads and they clearly didn’t feel the need to tarmac any of the roads on the islands top side! Still we drove to a couple of bays where we couldn’t swim because there were Jellyfish, and then around the island, and then back again, and then around again etc etc. Actually the little car was quite a lot of fun and we had a good time!
In the late afternoon, despite much protesting by me we decided to do the ‘Fort walk’ a 1 ½ hour walk up a big hill to a lookout post that was used in the Second World War. The most exciting thing about this walk was that it was supposedly the best chance to see one of the 200 wild koalas resident on the island. About 30 minutes into the walk I was cursing and swearing rather loudly as we were walking uphill in the heat with no sign whatsoever of a koala, and unsure even of what a Eucalyptus tree looked like to try and spot them. Not only this but we were walking through sand and dead leaves amongst signs warning of deadly death adders in the area which hid in sand and leaf litter! After an exclamation of ‘I hate this island!’ I suddenly turned and spotted a Koala in a tree no more than 6 feet away from us looking at us curiously like he had never heard such language before! It made the walk totally worth it and he sat there for about 15 minutes looking at us before scampering up the tree when another person came along. Apparently koalas sleep for about 20 hours a day so we were very lucky to see one awake! We then continued the walk up to the Fort at the top which turned out to be fairly unexciting but had a nice view. Unfortunately by this point we were nearly out of water and due to have the car back in 30 minutes, so we had to practically run back down to the car and race to drop it off.
After all that activity we planned to have a fairly chilled out evening. Unfortunately it took two hours to cook dinner (chicken and rice) as the electric hobs in the kitchen were some of the worse I have ever used, plus there weren’t enough pots and pans to go around so you had to wait before you could actually cook anything! We ended up eating dinner so late that it was time to go to bed by the time we had finished!
Wednesday 2nd December – Today was our last day in Magnetic Island, We spent the whole day lazing by the pool building up our energy for the big ladies night in the evening. The deal was that all ladies and ladyboys got free alcohol and there would be some bigger prizes for the best dressed ladyboy!
I reakon there was at least 30 guys dressed up including me! It was a very embarrassing night and for those of you who see the pictures on facebook or here on the blog I am truly sorry you had to see it. There was a fashion catwalk parade and some of the guys went a little too far to try and win! I however like to think that I kept some level of decency. (some may however disagree). There were lots of party games and everyone got involved... It was a messy night which ended with a late night mass dip in the pool.
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