Airlie Beach and Magnetic Island

(Warning: Confuzzled post ahead; due to: 1. lack of time, 2. heatstroke)

I'm now sitting in the only air-conditioned building in the hostel, here on Magnetic Island. It's h'officially toasty at all times. Even the dorms are open to the elements, with lots of netting for airflow.

I've been good, slop/slap/slurping™, or whatever it is they say to do to avoid sunburn over here. Alas, I'm not really cut out for craZy heat (hence travelling up in winter), and so seem to have acquired heatstroke. I can confirm this to be no fun. It's tough to concentrate; it took me 3 hours to read the newspaper today, and had quite a lot of newsprint on my face from where I had to take frequent rests between paragraphs! :P I had booked a sea canoeing trip for today; thankfully the company hadn't enough people sign-up to be able to run the course, so it was cancelled and I got my money back. There's no way I'd have survived a few hours out at sea on a canoe today! :o But enough with my tales of wobbliness!

After my last post in Rockhampton, I went on a cycle trip to Rockhampton botanic gardens and zoo (see photos) and also to the Rockhampton spire of the Tropic of Capricorn. Did I mention the stone-grilled steak in my last post? Maybe not. It was great; my steak arrived raw on a 400C stone slab. It was up to me to cook it to my own liking. Highly recommended!

From Rockhampton, I took the Dog up to Airlie beach. As we arrived, I felt mistakes had been made. My imaginings of an idyllic beachfront and calm serenity were shattered at the sight of drunken British backpackers stumbling from bar to bar.

Evidently first impressions count, and from that moment, I was ready to leave. Even Rockhampton - which I wasn't too keen on before - shone in comparison to Airlie beach.

So, after my few nights stay, I took the Dog up to Townsville, which I promptly bypassed and took the ferry to Magnetic Island.

I'm staying at Magnetic Island's Bungalow Bay YHA, which is part of a wildlife sanctuary. It's just down the road from Horseshoe Bay which is amazingly beautiful. There are tracks that lead to other almost deserted beaches.

I've mostly been chatting to German people whilst on the island (!), I think they like me as they can understand me, unlike the Aussies who they say make no sense! :P

I held a Koala during my "Koala Champagne Breakfast"* here at the YHA. The girl taking my photo couldn't get her camera to work, and so the poor koala became confused as to why I was holding it for so long. As way of thanks, it gave me a little brown gift on my new white T-shirt** :D They also brought around a snake (a carpet python) and a crocodile whilst we were eating. Great stuff!


*Comprising in true Aussie fashion of: Champagne, toast, sausages and fruit amongst other things.
** Clearly the Koala had noticed that my T-Shirt was from a competing YHA - it was the T-Shirt I had won for my "Services to Drinking" whilst staying at Hervey Bay :P