Magnetic Island

We recently spent a day exploring Magnetic Island. After an early start at 5:40am to make the most of the day we arrived via the ferry on Magnetic Island ready to have fun! 

We bought all day bus passes for only $4.80 that let us hop on and off the buses on the island. Our first destination the start of Forts Walk.

We started on the path ready for an adventure. There was a lookout point early on near the beginning of the path that looked out over a pretty bay that with the rock side facing us and large trees would have not been out of place as a landscape painting. 

There were multiple signs as we walked saying to keep an eye out for koalas as they were known to be seen in the area. I was just telling Magpie that we'd be very lucky to see a koala as they are nocturnal animals and I really doubted we'd see any. I was keeping half an eye out but not really looking, scoffing at the idea that we'd be able to see any on our walk. 

Just 5min further down the track we came to two other walkers looking up into a tree right by the path and taking photos. There was a koala with a little one in her pouch! I could only just see the little ones foot poking out while taking numerous photos of them. More walkers joined us all in looking until there were around six to ten of us gathered around looking up. After awhile the koala started moving positions in the tree to higher up and not wanting to disturb it further we started walking on.

Forts Walk was a track that meandered through the old WWII Army ruins for the Magnetic Island defense post. We stepped onto concrete slabs that used to be the women's latrines and ablutions block, further up the path was the officers' ablutions block as well and nearby the old workshop slab. The plaque/signpost said it was a large workshop but the slab didn't look any bigger than a single garage.

  

By this time we were feeling that the ruins were somewhat disappointing as they had pretty much just been concrete slabs with some raised edges on some of them. However our next location the old kitchen was more promising with sections that would have been storerooms and ovens to kindle the imagination.

Then came our first complete building in the ammunition stores. Here Magpie was the first in the room, calling back that it was quite dark and hard to see with only a small barred window to let in light. 

Then she shrieked! I was startled and she called back that there was a bird trapped in the room. Then she shrieked again! The bird had startled her again as it flew by her head. I was somewhat put out that I hadn't thought to record her.  I didn't see the animal and we moved onto the next storehouse room and once again Magpie went in first. The room was the same as the previous and once again it had a visitor. Magpie jumped startled but didn't shriek this time, I saw it as it flew past the door. It was a bat not a bird. Magpie wasn't that impressed with the difference as it was still a shock. I now had my camera recording hoping that the bat would fly past her head again and it did. Unfortunately by this time Magpie was somewhat used to being startled and nothing was quite as clear and loud as that first sound she had made.

We saw the pillar the long-distance rangefinder sat on, you could see for ages from most of these locations now we were up higher.  

    

By this time we were walking upwards all the time. Taking stairs often or steep uphill slopes as we climbed. We had a bulging backpack that we traded often that contained our waterbottles, trailmix, lunch, swimmers, snorkel gear, sunscreen and kindles, everything we'd need for the days fun that while heavy was still lighter than the gear that the soldiers and Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) would have used every day climbing to their duty stations. 

When we got to the lower and upper gun placements the concrete and steel circles were barely deteriorated. The buildings behind them were still intact with the steel bars the only thing showing the passing of time.

  

While we left the Higher Gun placement Magpie saw a snake right next to the path. It looked like it was shedding it's skin. I'm not a fan of snakes but I stayed long enough to take this photo. Thankfully it didn't look like it wanted to move at all and although Magpie was fascinated we quickly left. Magpie now wants to buy a book on snakes and keep track of all the ones we see. If you know what type of snake it is please tell us in the comments.

The next location was the Artillery Command Post. We climbed up the ladders and soon stood inside and then went even higher. You could see for ages out over the ocean.

 From the lookout you could also see another large building higher up. We stopped for awhile here soaking in the atmosphere and drinking water before we were scared off by another group coming in. 

We climbed up to the next building which was the Signal Station and Command Post. It was similar to the previous building and had a voice recording made by many people talking about their memories about Magnetic Island during the years the posts were operational. Many signs along the back wall also had personal anecdotes along with overviews of what daily life was like during at the duty station.

Now we had finished exploring the history track we had the option of of taking the path back downhill to the bus stop 1.7km, taking the 1.4km track to Florence Bay which started out downhill but we didn't know if it continued or started going uphill again or taking the 3.5km track to Horseshoe Bay. We decided to go to Florence Bay to have a swim to cool off. This ended up being a great decision as the track was nearly all downhill.

                     

There was a sign when we got there saying that there was a fringing coral reef which was great news as we had planned to explore with our snorkeling gear. There were several boats around the bay, a sailing vessel at anchor out near the mouth and a few small dinghys to our left. The largest boat there though was what looked like a tour boat coming in to anchor on our left that were soon surrounded with people paddle boarding. We moved to the right of the beach and were soon swimming in the calm blue waters of the bay. The temperature was perfect!

  

Having no idea where the reef was and remembering reading something when I was researching what to do on Magnetic Island I suggested that the reef was out in the outskirts of the bay as I remembered a blogpost I had read the week previously saying some three to four hundred meters off shore was a beautiful coral reef. However we swam out and couldn't see anything. 

Magpie said it was scary looking into the water and seeing nothing underneath just blue that trailed off. We got almost level with the sailing boat anchored there and decided to turn back. Magpie suggested we race for shore and we started back. She was closer to shore than me and I had the snorkeling gear which I thought would give me an advantage as I would be able to swim without having to break my stroke to breathe. Unfortunately not breathing meant nothing to help keep you swimming in a straight line. Somehow I started by swimming across towards the boat rather than towards shore, the only hint I was not in the right direction the waves rocking into me from the side rather then from my feet. I corrected and started swimming for Magpie. Looking up now and than to make sure I was going in the right direction. I zigzagged towards shore. Every time I stopped to find where Magpie was I had been heading to my right again. Magpie was lazily doing a slow backstroke towards shore while I tried to keep in a straight line while freestyling my way with the snorkel gear on. We reached shore together and decided to eat lunch while we dried out. 

 

While reading as our lunches digested we were surprised to look up and find that out to see there were numerous sail boats. I don't know if it was a sailing club event or if it was just a good day for a sail but for nearly an hour the skyline was dotted with sailboats as far as we could see.

  

 I was standing on the beach holding my phone above my head to try to keep the reception while I loaded that blogpost I'd read, wondering if it was even the same beach/bay on Magnetic Island or if we were in the wrong place. As I waited the tour boat left the bay. Where it had been there was an obvious difference behind it in the water. As I looked closer I could see the darker/browner water clearly stretched from the left of the bay over a large portion of the water. Nearly one third of the bay was covered by the fringing reef. The only spot really clear was where we'd swum. In our efforts not to go too close to the other holiday makers we'd missed the obvious signs.  

 

The reef was great. Not as colourful as the first time we went snorkeling but lots of interesting things to look down at. My underwater camera was put to good use taking pictures of all that looked interesting however it was too dark to really see the screen on the camera which meant most of the time you pointed and shot hoping you were pointing it in the right direction and not missing the cool fish or interesting seaweed waving in the currents.

 

I've decided that it is the fish I find most interesting while looking underwater. the coral is cool but I tend to follow the fish as they swim. Sometimes spinning in circles to keep sight of them. 

While swimming back to shore Magpie gave a start and said something had touched her. I looked under the water and there was a small school of fish swimming around us. They were hard to see as their scales blended with the water and sand, only their blue stripes in the middle kept them from fully blending in.

 

We left Florence Bay looking for water as by this time our drink bottles were finished and our mouths still felt salty. We took the track for Horseshoe Bay 3.2km away. As we tramped uphill I tried to keep an eye out for koalas but soon stopped to watch my footing. The path was mostly rocky steps which soon had us huffing and panting. Magpie likes to set a pace up the steps just as fast as going downhill as that way we are done with the uphill steps faster. We didn't see anymore koalas on this track but did see a few wallabies. When we arrived at Horseshoe Bay the beach was closed due to heavy machine work. Something to do with preventing erosion. Thankfully the water tap wasn't fenced off and we were soon drinking lovely water. 

 

As my phone had only 3% battery and Magpies only 18% due to all the photos and videos we'd been taking we kept an eye out for a cafe where we'd be able to charge our phones. A lot of the cafes were closed possibly because the beach was closed. There was a bar open with a power point visible from the street that was mostly empty, probably due to the time it was only 3:30pm or so. They let us sit and charge our phones. After we'd been there awhile sitting on their surprisingly comfortable bench we started talking about the drinks they sold. We ended up buying a lemon, lime and bitters drink that was quite tasty.

We looked up the best spots to watch the sunset from and took the 4:30pm bus back to the ferry where we took another one to Picnic Bay. Going from memory again I had remembers reading about watching the sunset from Hawkings Point which is a lookout visible from the jetty at Picnic Bay. We arrived at Picnic Bay and started walking towards the lookout. We got to nearly the end of the beach when we discovered that there was no way to walk from the beach to the lookout. This time actually pulling up a map we used google maps to start walking back the way we'd come to take a loop via the roads to the point. However I disagreed with where the maps were taking us. At this point Magpie thought we'd miss the sunset as the track up to the lookout was supposed to be a 30 minute walk and it was nearly 5:30pm. I had looked up the sunset time for Magnetic Island and it was due to set at 6:05pm. We were definitely cutting it fine.

 

We decided to go where I thought the track started using the map this time rather than my memory but not following the directions google maps thought we should take. I was right. Just before we got to the start of the track we met two people walking down the street the opposite way dressed in hiking gear. Feeling very bold I asked them if they had just come down the track and if it lead to Hawkings Point Lookout upon being assured it did we finish following the road and started up the track just on 5:30pm with a sign at the start helpfully telling us the estimated time one way was 30 minutes. Someone had written in permanent marker next to that 20 minutes so we felt very hopeful we'd get to see the sunset from the top. I had only been walking a little way when I stopped upon hearing several loud chortling laughing young kookaburras nearby.

 I took several pictures and then beginning to walk again found that Magpie was out of sight. As the track at that point was even hard packed dirt as it went upward I started jogging. Magpie must have been moving fast as she was still out of sight as I had to move to a fast walk with the ground becoming too uneven to continue in a jog. I kept a fast pace as I climbed the rest of the roots, stairs, boulders and dirt track. At the top of the track it opened out into a fenced in area on the top of a few boulders. It was quite packed as several others were also there to watch the sunset. 

Upon reaching Magpie she told me that she had only just arrived shortly before me and looking at the time we had climbed that track in 10 minutes.

 

We had plenty of time now to watch the sunset as it slowly sunk lower in the sky. There were no real clouds to reflect the light but the brilliant oranges and reds lit up the sky in a display that was worth the effort. 

There were several small birds that were flying around close to the lookout swooping below us and then flying between us and the sun. I spent several minutes trying to get a photo of a bird outlined by the red sky. It looked great to my eyes but unfortunately they flew so fast by the time I'd pressed the button the bird was already out of the shot. 

 

I've been working on my selfie skills. However I'm still having trouble angling it the way I want to get our heads in the frame but also the background that shows where we are and what we are looking at. Most of the time my head is in the way until I start to move the camera and our positions.

  

It took us 10 minutes to get back down to the street, it felt much less arduous going down than coming up. However when we got to the bus stop we found that the next bus wasn't for another hour. We walked along the pier at Picnic Bay to wait. The lights of Townsville were clearly visible with the Castle Hill Peak lit up.

 

There were some lights at the end of the pier aimed at the water and you could see fish swimming in the light. We could also hear them jumping enthusiastically. Magpie attempted to catch a video of them however they waited until she was aiming the camera somewhere else before jumping again and twice when she'd given up and turned the camera off coming to sit back down. The fish jumped behind her back. Making what sounded like an even bigger splash than previously. I took a turn trying to get a video of the jumping fish and finally after trying multiple times managed to get it. Just in time also as I had nearly given up.

 

We were very tired as we caught the ferry back to Townsville. 

It was a very full but enjoyable day.