Magnetic + The Reef
Trip Start
Mar 15, 2006
1
29
42
Trip End
May 30, 2007
Cairns,
Australia
Sunday, July 9, 2006
Apparently it was called Magnetic Island because Captain Cook's compass went haywire when he was sailing past the island, though they later realised that it was something completely different that caused it, but the name stuck.
Oh, was this a good impulse decision. This island is just like a little tranquil haven, and though I know its going to sound really stupid and annoying when I say it was good to have some downtime, after apparently 'holidaying' for 4 months, it actually was
A room with a view, my accomodation on Magnetic
.This was the first time in the trip I have actually been able to spend a whole day lying on a beach, doing nothing, and it was great. I'm sure there's a sarcastic "Oh you poor thing" being uttered now, but there you go, ha.
This was probably also the nicest hostel I have stayed in yet, situated directly on the beach, and with the beds in little log cabins, and a bar with an Ocean view.
But I shall stop this now. After a couple of nights on the island, I boarded the bus once more to head north towards my final East Coast destination of Cairns. Again I would only have a couple of days here, and arriving late at night unfortunately meant having to take the most expensive hostel in town.
I was pleasantly surprised by the city, as I had imagined a heaving mass of backpackers and gawdy high-rises, but it was in fact a nice chilled out place, with also the largest Indigenous population I have seen to date.
Having been fascinated by my snorkelling experience down on the Whitsundays, and being so close to the Great Barrier Reef, I knew that this was the one activity I definitely had to do with my one free day in the town
Admiring the sunset from the hostel on Magnetic Is
. I joined a diving day trip out to the reef, and was convinced to pay the little extra to take my first dive. That was dashed moments later though when the instructor realised I would be flying the next day, so back to snorkelling then!It was a 2 hour journey to get out to the reef, and the sea was so choppy many people were sick en route. Once there its amazing to realise how close the reef actually is to the surface. In places less than a metre of water covers it, despite being so far out into the ocean. This obviously means that it is great for swimming around with just a snorkel and again I saw so much beautiful and unusual coral, though my overall impression was that my previous experience had been more varied. But a fascinating day out nonetheless.
...its now time to get away from the endless trail of coastal resorts and masses of backpackers and head for something hopefully a little more remote, the Red Centre.
