Strange creatures, snakes and blue skies

We couldn’t believe it when we woke up this morning as the wind must have blown away all the rain and the clouds were broken and we could see the sun for the first time in a week. I had a wander down to take a picture of the old paper bark tree that had fallen into the river and a few more around the pool. We headed into town with Bill and Barb to see them off onto their ferry and also to get a Mini Moke. Trouble is by the time the paperwork was finished we had missed Bill and Barb so have a great trip guys! We also had to head straight off to get petrol as it was on fumes but the owner has an account at the garage so we didn’t have to pay.

We headed to Picnic Bay to start off but the storms haven’t done too much damage and its amazing how much better you feel when the sun is out. Also the photos look so much better when in colour rather than monochrome. We had been here several times before but mostly I couldn’t even get the camera out for the downpours. The island was originally volcanic and has left lots of giant granite boulders everywhere. We didn’t bring the car here as we were worried that the roads wouldn’t be suitable, especially with the stormy conditions. We needn’t have worried as the roads are all bitumen; in fact it would even have been cheaper as everything over here is subject to Island pricing. Everything has to be brought over on the ferry which isn’t cheap so the prices are adjusted accordingly. Also we could have brought more stuff with us, especially regarding food and drink.

Following our walk we headed to the extreme other end of the island at the largest resort called Horseshoe Bay but the storm damage was considerable there and the waves still heavy. Where we parked seemed to have fallen into the sea along side the tree which was next to it. It was the same all along the Bay with trees, benches, signs all disappearing into the sea. Sand had been dumped all over the grass and consumed the outermost line of trees. The children's playground had turned into a sand pit. I spotted this strange creature amongst the rubbish dropped by the tide; I thought it looked almost embryonic. Looking back at the picture now, I wonder if it’s a baby Kangaroo; I know it doesn’t look much like one, but I believe that they have three young on the go at any time, the youngest barely an embryo that suckles on a teat after slithering out onto it. Whatever it was, it was very big and ugly.

On the way back we stopped of at Arcadia and although sand and water had been dumped on the grass areas there was no real damage. We parked up in Nelly Bay and walked past the Mantra apartments which are beside the ferry port. When they were first built they were selling for $1million plus for the ones with the best views but this just coincided with the world recession so nobody bought any more and the prices dropped right down. You can now buy one for around $350,000 and still most are empty so the developers must really have been hit. I have been told that the build quality wasn’t up to much and the word soon got around. It’s a nice spot so I guess that the prices will eventually pick up again so it might be a good time to bag a bargain.

We walked around to the Boardwalk restaurant and bar so that we could sit and watch the boats in the bay and the ferry coming and going. We both had Snapper with chips and salad which was quite nice and not too expensive for such a lovely spot. We were both quite hot by now so we headed back to our cabin for a quick cool down swim in the lovely refreshing pool. It’s the first time that I have been in it since we got here. I nearly did when it was pelting down with rain but was a little worried about lightning being in the water. Perfectly refreshed I had a quick shower and went to hang my trunks up on the outside clothes horse and thought that Claire had left one of her bikini bottoms on it so was just about to move them when I realized that it was a snake. Sorry the photo was a bit blurred but I was shaking a little. I wasn’t sure if it was poisonous or not so went to find Alan to identify and remove it for us. Claire was brave and hid inside the whole time but Alan said that it was only a young Python so you could pick them up. This is what he did and it bit him making him drop it again where it wriggled around on our decking before he managed to grab his tail, lift it up then get his other hand around its neck. He then took it around to show the other guests before releasing it on the other side of the river. I hope they have cleared that tree bridge away before it comes back.

Tour De Island Pubs

We still seem to be sleeping so well since we have been here. At first I thought it must be a bit of catch up but we still seem to be catching up. I guess that some of it is because there is not much worth getting up for when it continues to bucket it down continuously day after day. Claire got up to make a cup of tea at about 8am, luckily just before the power cut other wise we would have had to get the “Billy” out. It was raining so hard we couldn’t even nip next door to see if they were around as you would be instantly drenched. It wasn’t much fun, we couldn’t have the TV or radio on, make toast or even have a light on as it was quite dark whilst the rain continued to hammer down hour after hour. It did mean that I could catch up on a bit of my OU course so all was not lost however. All I could make for breakfast was a banana sandwich but Claire seemed to like it and asked for it again the following morning when we did have power.

By about 12.30pm the power came back on and the rain eased a little. Everyone seemed to emerge from their cabins at this time to see what was going on. I had managed to write the previous blog on the remaining power from the laptop but couldn’t publish until the server was back up. Alan told me that the humidity was up to 90% at the moment; that means that 90% of the air is water vapour and if it increased by another 10% we would all drown. I thought I saw a fish swimming through the air but I may have had cabin fever.

Alan lent us his pickup so we could have a drive around the island at least. I think he feels a little responsible for the weather and is trying his best to make it better for us; he really is a great guy. It’s a very small island and you can drive everywhere in about 10 minutes. We found a pub in Horseshoe Bay called Marlin Bar but by now the wind had got up really strong and had created Cyclone conditions. There were trees and branches everywhere but it was nice and calm in the pub. There were very few others around; I guess that everyone was hiding in their homes. Anyway we decided to get back home and get a quick shower then find somewhere to eat as we were all starving.

The wind got even stronger but the rain had eased a little before we went out to Picnic Bay Hotel Bar and Grill for some long awaited food. Alan had driven there in his car to show us the way as we couldn’t find it earlier. All their places seem to be well hidden away; I don’t think they want any new business. This is where the ferry used to offload until about three years ago when it switched to Nelly Bay where we are staying. The food wasn’t bad and we were all stuffed except Barb who had left a little space for ice-cream as it seemed to help her abscess. Poor Barb had been sick earlier when the power was off and was taking anti-biotic’s so couldn’t drink. We headed back home for one nightcap outside our cabin before having another early night. Today we had managed to tour all the Islands pubs; both of them!

Magnetic Island’s Baby Driver

Captain Cook named the island in 1770 when sailing by because of the effect it seemed to have on their compasses. The Wulguru tribe were the indigenous Aborigines that occupied the island but migrated to the mainland each year in canoes to avoid the travelling tribes from Papua New Guinea and the Torres Strait who used the northern trade winds to travel south from their native lands in order to head hunt indigenous tribes along the northern coast of Australia.

Joan and Graham kindly picked us up to take us to the ferry terminal on Friday but they were a little early so suggested that we go for a glass of wine on the way. Again, we had a little tour of Townsville before stopping off at Jamaica Joe’s for a bottle and some snacks which was a nice start to our damp day. The rough sea and King Tide had started to erode the beach away. We arrived at the ferry point to find that we had just missed the last boat and the next one would be 90 minutes wait so we packed our luggage into a locker and headed off to the Pier (www.pierrestaurantandbar.com.au ) where the Red Barron seaplane took tourists for rides in better weather conditions.

The ferry started off slow but soon got up to full speed www.sunferries.com.au . The rain on the Island looked marginally worse than on the mainland but we were happy enough with a few drinks inside us. There is a bus that leaves about 5 minutes after the ferry arrives so don’t hang around else you might have to wait for the next ferry. Our driver was an aging hippy with long grey hair and beard that played loud rock music while he raced around the Island calling everyone “Baby”. Magnetic Island Rocks! In fact most of the male Islanders fit this description. I spoke to 3 locals on our journey and all seem to have come over for a holiday about 30 years ago and never went back. One guy was hitch hiking from Cairns to Brisbane and his lift took him over to the Island 30 years ago and he is yet to reach Brisbane.

Baby driver dropped us right outside The Canopy www.canopymagneticisland.com ; our Hotel for the next 4 nights, “Enjoy Baby” was his final remark as he shot off down the road. There is a little stream that runs by the side of our site and Ellen greeted us and showed us to our room which looked exactly like the brochure without the blue skies. They are really lovely rooms with a very high pitched roof. Each room is a chalet style detached bungalow with a mezzanine floor where the Queen bed and wardrobe is. Downstairs has an equipped kitchen, table and chairs sofa, flat screen TV with movie channels and a bathroom with laundry facilities. The bed linen is crisp and clean as is the furniture and equipment; a real good job has been made of the place with each unit surrounding the pool. There are lots of tropical plants in and around each unit which adds privacy and space. It’s a shame I kept getting rain on the camera lens.

No sooner had we dropped off the bags, we were having a drink with our new neighbours, Bill and Barb. People really are so nice and friendly over here. Bill and Barb are over celebrating their wedding anniversary and Bill remarked that they always have a disaster for their anniversary. Barb said that was because Bill had been surfing on their wedding day and had forgotten to arrange a hotel for their first night and ended up sleeping in the car. Poor Barb was suffering with an abscess in her mouth and was on antibiotics so couldn’t even enjoy a drink with us. Ellen came over to join the party and told us that the RSM over in Arcadia had food on which is reasonable and cheap; he even offered to lend us his car so we could get over there. You could never get better service than that; what did I tell you about how friendly they are over here? Thanks Ellen! We all piled in the car and set off for the RSL which somehow we missed on our way their and ended up in Horseshoe bay which is at the other end of the island. Never mind, we turned around and found it on our way back and arrived at 6pm just in time for the lights to be lowered, the music turned off, everybody stood up and saluted as some kind of remembrance speech was recited. I couldn’t work out what was happening at first and wondered if all their guests got this welcome when the arrived.

Great food at exceptionally low prices, we all had Lamb shank, mash, carrots, peas and gravy while Claire had the lamb curry but replaced the rice with the mash. We somehow managed to polish off another bottle of wine before the short drive back to The Canopy where Bill joined us on our veranda for a nightcap. Hope you feel better in the morning Barb! While we were putting the world to rights this bird came walking past giving us a good look over so I got some bread to feed it. I think it might be a Coolie, but it enjoyed our company anyway before taking a big piece of the bread back for his friends. Goodnight Baby!

W A S H O U T

Well, we awake once again to grey skies and the rain is bucketing down and unfortunately shows no signs of stopping. The leading headine in the Townsville Bulletin yesterday 'WASHOUT' and that just about sums it up. It may sound like the down pours are dampening our time in Townsville but actually we’re enjoying ourselves, just relaxing and generally taking it easy. Yesterday it pretty much rained all day; Phil suggested that we get in the car and drive to Charter Towers but we were late up and in the end decided to take a trip to the Willows Shopping Centre. Phil doesn’t do well in shopping centres (unless it’s a supermarket) so after his coffee and cake he soon lost interest. There was no way he was going to let me browse in peace and I got fed up with his constant huffing, puffing and sighing so I gave up and we went to the Reading cinema to catch the midday film. Our third film in 3 consecutive days was Invictus and this was the film we enjoyed the most. Well worth seeing if you get the chance over the weekend.

After the film we stopped off at Woolworth’s to pick up some bread and wine then went back to the white house to get ready for the evening. Graham & Jean had very kindly offered us a tour with dinner afterwards which sounded good a very good plan. They picked us up just at tea-time and Graham drove around and showed us some of the sights. We got to see the Dam and the River Ross; Graham showed us the university, Townsville Hospital and we drove on the new road that Graham had helped design. We even saw some more Wallabies around the old peoples village. It was interesting to see some of the outer suburbs which I’m quite certain we wouldn’t have stumbled across ourselves.


We finished up at Graham & Jean’s house and very nice it was too. They have a massive garden and we also got to meet the 3 dogs, 2 of which belong to Geoff & Denise. Jean served up a lovely leg of lamb (my favourite) and roast potato’s & veggies and gravy. Our very first roast dinner in Australia! It was delicious and Phil and I were in our element. We had wine, and more wine and finished with home made date, ginger and nut cake. Needless to say Phil was very happy indeed! We both enjoyed of the company, don’t get me wrong we get along pretty well being together 24/7 with only the odd squabble along the way but even so it’s nice to be with other people.

Both Jean & Graham are very interesting to talk too. They like to travel; last year they did a trip to the UK, they did a cruise in the Artic and just before Christmas they flew to Melbourne and did the Great Ocean Road. In a few weeks they are meeting up with Jean’s brother and doing Frazer island. We’ve recently done this so we know they will enjoy it. In September they’re off to do a tour of Europe, this couple certainly get around! Jean likes to paint and does a class once a week. She showed us some of her work and we were impressed, she sold her first painting a few months back. How exciting is that! I wish I had a creative skill. Phil says that I’m good at painting and decorating but it’s just not the same. Anyway, we had a very pleasant evening so thanks guys for your hospitality. Graham had the task of driving us home which meant he could only have a beer and a glass of wine. We got back just after 10pm, I’m not sure G&J realised before inviting us over that we can both talk for England once we get going so I hope we didn’t outstay our welcome.


Today we’re heading off for 4 days on Magnetic Island. I don’t think Phil realised that Magnetic Island was so close to Townsville when he booked in the early days of our stay in Melbourne. Had he of done, then he would have realised that 4 days is a bit of an overkill and 2 nights would have sufficed. Never mind, we checked our paperwork and we couldn’t get our money refunded, so the folk of Magnetic will have the pleasure of our company for the 4 whole days and nights. Hopefully the rain will stop at some point during the long weekend so we can get out and do some walking. But if not we shall just have to make the most of it. Graham & Jean have come to our aid once again and are coming over to let some water out of the pool which is at danger of overflowing and they have also offered to drop us off at the ferry point. Phil said that we’d take a taxi but they insisted they drive us, so thanks once again. In fact they will be here very soon so I must wake up the snoring Phil and make packing preparations. Time is of the essence so I must sign off and get going.


Next blog from our chalet in Magnetic!