Magnetic Island

01st  Aug 2010

Today has reaffirmed my view on this magnificent place; yes, we decided to stay!

After a relaxed breakfast we headed for the beach where I left Paul while I set off to explore the island. Walking in relatively warm and humid conditions for a guy from Sydney, I spent around 4 hours investigating the bays on the NE of the Island and some of the WWII sites.

Starting at Horseshoe Bay I walked to both Florence and Arthur Bays. Both, beautiful little hidden away paradises with a handful of swimmers enjoying the pristine water. The shot above left is looking over Arthur bay towards to North but fails to really capture the magnificence of the day. Perhaps a better view was the next, taken from one of the forts higher up the island. These were WWII emplacements associated with guns , Radar and searchlights and a body of some 120 troops – great posting!

Walking on further I came to a lookout that provided a view back Townsville across Cleveland Bay which shows the snug maritime geography of both Townsville and Magnetic. Being Sunday and a near perfect one at that, the heavy boat traffic between the mainland and Maggie was not surprising.

In fact, the sea all around the isalnd was near perfect with a deep blue colour, calm and glimmering conditions and a general appearance that might lead one to forget just how horrid the sea can become on a BAD DAY,

Apart from views and forts, this treasure of a place has wild life in abundance. In fact, Koalas can be found in vast number ( see shot at right) as can Dugongs but these are much harder to see. (remember to double click the photos for larger images)

On return to Horseshoe, hot tired but thoroughly fulfilled I had a swim, spent time in my latest book (over a white wine) and finally returned to the boat to a sunset that was in keeping with the rest of the day.

While we could easily stay here a while, we must move on so tomorrow should see us up anchor around 07:00 as we head off to what ever it is that may lay ahead.