Maggie Island

Whilst staying in Townsville we had to pay a visit to Magnetic Island, or 'Maggie Island' as its affectionately known as by the locals. Maggie Island is 8 kilometers off Townsville, just a 20 minute ferry ride away. According to local statistics Magnetic Island averages of 320 days of sunshine every year! Fortunately the day that we visited was one of those many sunny days, in fact the weather was beautiful.
The ferry port is in Nelly Bay, and thats where our Maggie island adventure begins!

A map of Magnetic Island 

    

Nelly Bay 

So the best way to get around Maggie Island is on a Moke or as we did in a 'Topless Car'. Basically it looked as though we had borrowed Barbie's car for the day - it was awesome!

    

The island is about 12km from top to bottom and you can only drive on the Eastern side as the middle of the island is dominated by National park and Mt Cook. There are roads that are accessible by 4x4 vehicles and walking tracks, but in Barbie's car we had to stick to the roads. There are a number of secluded beaches, some of which can only reached by foot or by boat.

   

Our first stop was a picnic at 'Picnic Bay'. As we parked up and walked to the beach we noticed that a boat had hit the shore in shallow waters and had sunk with only part of the mast showing above the water. Two Salvage men were in the water attaching buoys and rope to try and salvage the boat.

We sat on the pier and ate our picnic. The end of the pier was blocked off and whilst we were sat there we heard one of the locals say that a tourist had fallen through the end of the pier the previous week!

Then we headed up as far North as we could go, to Horseshoe bay. The stinger nets were out so were we able to enjoy a swim in the 29c turquoise sea, beautiful.

       

After dry off with a bit of sunbathing we then headed back Southwards. we stopped to at Forts to walk along a koala spotting trail. Unfortunately we didnt see any koalas or snakes, plenty of butterflies and amazing views though. We didn't quite make it all the way out to Arthur bay as we didn't have the time.

     

          

We then headed down to Geoffrey Bay and finally to Nelly bay as we had to return the Topless car and got the next ferry back to Townsville.

            

                                     

        

A house with an amazing view - overlooking Geoffrey Bay.    

       

We didn't see any frogs hopping around, just this one playing dead. 

      

We had a brilliant day zooming around maggie Island in the topless car. If your in the Townsville area a visit to Magnetic Island is a must!
                            

      

Townsville from a distance - photograph taken on the ferry on our way back from Maggie Island.

Castle Hill

In the heart of Townsville sits Castle Hill. A huge pink granite rock. It stands at 286 metres above sea level and is said to be one of the most distinctive natural features on the Queensland coast. It is a spectacular sight.

   

 The drive to the summit of Castle Hill took around 15 mins, up a winding road.

                            

At the summit there are a few viewing points from which you can see the whole of Townsville - spectacular!

          

      

My Nana put a card with Rhosilli in the Gower photograph on the front in my suitcase without me knowing. It was a nice surprise to find it hidden away! I was looking at it just before we went up Castle Hill and it really emphasises how different the landscape is here compared to the UK.   

 Whilst we were driving leisurely to the summit we noticed a few dedicated people jogging up Castle Hill. When we got home our friends advised that loads of locals walk, jog, run up Castle Hill every evening after work to keep fit. Jamie then decided that he wanted to have a go at jogging it, so I agreed to give it a try the following evening.

It took Jamie about 40 mins to jog to the summit, me about 50mins, I walked more than jogged.... By the time we reached the top it was dark but the view was spectacular. I must say that I enjoyed the lesuirely stroll back down the hill more than the ascent. But if your ever in Townsville the view from Castle Hill is a must see, and if you've got a decent pair of trainers have a go at a jog, its an awesome feeling to know that you've conquered it! 

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

Hello Townsville

So we arrived safely in Townsville and were staying with friends. Easter Monday our friends took us out to Rollingstone and the Crystal creeks. The weather was beautiful so it was an awesome day. Our first stop was rolling stone, a river that runs underneath a bridge and you can swim in it. Jamie was actually brave enough to join in with the locals and jump off the bridge into the river. The water was freezing - too cold for me!

                  

             

                                     

Then we drove up to the paluma range to the Crystals - big & little Crystal Creeks, the best swimming holes in Townsville. 

           

Little Crystal Creek has a beautiful Roman Arch bridge, which we are standing on in the above photograph that was constructed during the depression in the 1930's. 

          

The following day we visited the Riverway swimming pools, which was a short drive from our friends house. It consists of 2 open air swimming pools, which were free to use. As the name suggests they are alongside the river in which you can spot turtles swimming around the lily pads and jet skiers speeding down the river.  

The riverway centre alongside also houses an art exhibition. 

      

A friendly possum with a baby in its pouch! 

             

Turtles swimming in the river. 

             

A Giant Spider takes pride of place in Townsville city centre! 

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

The Tilt Train & no internet access

Apologises for the lack of posts recently. We have not had access to the internet and McDonalds free wifi sucks! So we bought a pay as you go internet dongle, which means that over the next dew days il be updating more posts and photographs of our adventures in Townsville, lets start with the journey there.....

Easter Sunday 8^Th April, the day we left Cairns for Townsville. So we were up early to sort out a final few things. Packed lunch was made and we were on the 10 minute walk to the train station when disaster struck! Firstly one of the carrier bags containing our packed lunch ripped to shreds – food everywhere!

Then Jamie was wheeling my case as it had a dodgy wheel when the wheel snapped clean off and was lying on the pavement! Unbelievable! So much for the 5 year guarantee.  Not impressed as we could have missed our train had the station been a further walk away.

Luckily we got to the train in time and could finally sit down and relax.

The train was nice, spacious, with good AC – a lot like being on a plane, the armrests have personal tv’s in them which is sweet!

The Tilt Train 

As we booked our journey to Townsville within 7 days of purchasing our East Coast Discovery passes we were able to upgrade to the executive seats on the tilt train for no extra charge.

So the train itself is awesome, very unlike the graffiti covered trains that we see back in the UK, it’s a work of art in itself. 24 indigenous artists were involved in the project which was particularly important to lift spirits after cyclone Yasi. The designs are focused upon travel and how the train would be perceived when moving at speed or stood still.

Whilst looking out the window we sped past a number of people who were waving as the train passed by.

We had pre-booked our tickets so we just boarded the train, put our luggage in the racks, found our allocated seat and sat down – perfect. The view is also very impressive, lots of fields, mountains, banana trees and lots of Queenslander houses. Without a doubt the nicest train that we have ever travelled on. I spent the journey enjoying the view & Jamie was happy as he was able to plug in the Mac.

We drove past so much greenery, palm trees and fields – you can see why its called the Tropical North. I still find the Queenslander houses so interesting, each one is different, has its own character and they are so different to the terraced houses that we see at home. 

We left Cairns at 9:15am, not in the best of moods due to the disastrous walk to the train, but arrived in Townsville at 3:15pm. One of my University housemates lives in Townsville and has awesomely invited us to stay with her & her fiance whilst we are in Townsville. She was there to meet us at the station, looking forward to meeting her fiance, having a long overdue catch up and exploring Townsville! Laters x  


All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell

Cairns - Retrospective

Our verdict on Cairns :

We arrived at the worst time, just as the rain & storms began, so we didn’t see it at its best. However once the sun was shining we had an awesome time.

In hindsight we would probably have stayed a week or 2, as 4 weeks was way too long for us. However it did give us a good grounding, as mentioned in previous posts we got : a bank account, medicare, tax file number all sorted whilst in Cairns. 

Things we recommend :

·      Lazy days in the sun at the lagoon are awesome – take a good book or your Ipod and laze in the sun. make the most of the free BBQ stations and take a dip in the lagoon. 

·      The Night Markets are a great place to grab a good meal at a reasonable price and check out the market stalls. 

·      Bellisimo has amazing icecream! Try the Pistachio. 

                                           

·      Paddywhacks on Shields Street, – good food, nice atmosphere and friendly staff.   
    Photograph below is Jamie's Seafood BBQ Platter. Which consisted of :  char grilled skewered prawns, marinated baby octopus, tuna and barramundi, presented with moreton bay bugs, grilled bread, fattoush salad, mango chilli sauce, kakadu plum sauce and lime aioli.

·      Tuesday is $10 day at the cinema.

·      Head to the Courthouse – Coronas are $3.50 all day every day, they also do $10 meals.

·      Check out Rusty’s Market Fri – Sun, great choice of local produce. 

         

Live singer at Rusty's market had to take his photograph as when we got there he was singing 'Puff the magic dragon' - What a guy! 

·      There are plenty of tours to do in Cairns and loads of tourist shops, but shop around most places will offer you some sort of discount for your business.

·      Underart Gallery – a small gallery but had some really lovely pieces of work. If you’re a fan of the little gallery and new talent check it out.

·      The Great Barrier Reef is a must do & Hire an underwater camera.       

·     You have to see the Rainforest – unless you’re feeling particularly adventurous and want to go it alone – check out Captain Matty’s Barefoot Tours!

·      Make yourself a packed lunch when you go on tours, nutella, vegemite, jam sandwiches, pasta etc easy to make and carry with you, saves you a few $’s.

·      Vegemite is pretty much the same as marmite – Jamie’s recommendation & hes a marmite fan!

·      Check out the fruit bats – they fly out for food at around 6-7pm, watch the sky, you'll hear them before you see them – its an amazing sight!       

                                            

·      If you have a drivers licence then hire a scooter and do some exploring! Check out the Northern beaches.

·       There’s lots of ‘Backpacker’ discount meals etc, but don’t expect much from them!! We did try one once – never again!

·      Cairns Sharehouse – Good Discounts on tours, cafes, restaurants & very friendly and helpful staff. A great idea, but not flawless in its practice as you cant control who you share with. A lot of people tend to stay at the Sharehouse for a few months at a time to study, work etc so it can feel like your living in their house, which can be a bit awkward. However the houses have ample storage space for food in cupboards and fridge freezer. Good cooking facilities and each person is given their own cutlery and crockery, its also reasonably priced, so cant really complain! The shared areas are cleaned professionally once a week. Rota for taking out the rubbish is done by room – so its all fair, provided that everyone does it!

Hungry Jacks is Burger King in disguise! 

All rights reserved Copyright © Laura Powell