After the debacle at the Whitsundays, we were hoping that the weather would improve for our visit to Magnetic Island. The island, which sits about a 30 minute ferry ride off the coast of Townsville, is home to a combination of vacationers and Townsvillians who commute to work on the mainland each day. It is also Australia's largest natural koala sanctuary, as the wild koalas that live there can neither leave the island nor be killed by humans. Chris really wanted to see a koala in the wild - would Magnetic Island finally provide the chance?
Maggie Island, as they say, also features a lot of A-frame cabins, which are present throughout the island. We snagged our own A-frame for two nights at the Canopy Tropical Chalets. Here are a few shots of our digs:
Maggie Island, as they say, also features a lot of A-frame cabins, which are present throughout the island. We snagged our own A-frame for two nights at the Canopy Tropical Chalets. Here are a few shots of our digs:
Chris in front of our A-frame
Inside our cabin
You may recall that this is the same type of bird who was giving me the stinkeye in Brisbane's Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Here on Magnetic Island, they wait outside your house and stare at you, hoping you'll drop some food, while making a weird grunting noise. It was creepy and reminded me of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
Barbie or Bomber?
We had the option of taking our car to the island, but heard you could rent little vehicles called mokes for about $40 per day. These are sort of a cross between a small car and a golf cart. Since it was fairly expensive to bring the car over, we thought it would be fun to moke it up for a couple of days.
We had the option of taking our car to the island, but heard you could rent little vehicles called mokes for about $40 per day. These are sort of a cross between a small car and a golf cart. Since it was fairly expensive to bring the car over, we thought it would be fun to moke it up for a couple of days.
Standing in front of a typical Magnetic Island moke. It was a life-sized Barbie car!
The only problem was, once we arrived, we learned that the car you can rent for $40 was not a moke at all. The mokes were more like $80 per day, which we had a hard time justifying. We decided to get the $40 car instead:
As it turns out, $40 will get you this 1991 Ford Festiva with 200,000 miles on the odometer.
We ended up saving our money and renting this old Ford hatchback. They call these cars bombers, probably because they have been rebuilt so many times and could explode on you at any moment. We rented it from some guy who works in a garage outside of town. Fortunately, this one got us around smoothly!
They say there's good snorkeling around Magnetic, so thought we'd check out some of the sea life. We headed across the island to Horseshoe Bay to get the lay of the land. The only problem was the wind was still not cooperating, so the surf was a bit too rough for any decent snorkeling.
They say there's good snorkeling around Magnetic, so thought we'd check out some of the sea life. We headed across the island to Horseshoe Bay to get the lay of the land. The only problem was the wind was still not cooperating, so the surf was a bit too rough for any decent snorkeling.
Chris walking on a sandbar in Horseshoe Bay. The water was much rougher than it looks. Notice the boats in the background still moored in the bay due to the wind.
Instead we headed over to the Bungalow Bay Koala Sanctuary. This place is part hostel, part campsite and part zoo. The zoo is sort of an interactive experience, where you get to know many different types of Australian animals - personally!
Chris holding an 8 year old saltwater crocodile. They reach maturity at around 15 years old, and become much larger!
I finally got my koala hug! This is Matilda (you can call her Matil), who is 11 years old.
I really wanted to take her home!
This is Thor, a baby koala who is hugging his mama.
Petting Thor.
Wearing a python
No, this is not one of the guys from Jersey Shore. He was a backpacker from Switzerland visiting the sanctuary with us. Our tour guide was an animated ranger who took a liking to him. He casually mentioned he didn't like snakes so she decided to cure this phobia by throwing six snakes on him when he wasn't looking. He handled it quite well!
Bird Smooch
We met a friendly black parrot named Shadow. If you put a seed in your mouth, Shadow would gently take it with his beak, making it look like he was kissing you. See the video of me and Shadow below:
We met a friendly black parrot named Shadow. If you put a seed in your mouth, Shadow would gently take it with his beak, making it look like he was kissing you. See the video of me and Shadow below:
Our ranger told us that Shadow loved men. Sure enough, he was pretty jazzed when Chris stepped up for his kiss.
Shadow is totally winking at me, giggling with anticipation for his forthcoming kiss.
The kiss!
I've never seen a happier bird!
Let's get a close-up of that smile:
More Animal Encounters
I got to crawl into this wombat's den and caught him snoozing.
Boom. An echidna.
Carefully petting the echidna (I keep calling it an enchilada).
Chris sporting some sort of lizard. Photobombed by the ranger - she was a character.
A happy turtle
I'm holding a two headed-skink. It was unexpectedly light.
Maggie's Beautiful Beaches
After many close encounters with a lot of Australian animals, we spent the rest of the day exploring some of the island's beautiful beaches.
After many close encounters with a lot of Australian animals, we spent the rest of the day exploring some of the island's beautiful beaches.
Arcadia Bay - we hung out here for a while in the afternoon enjoying the beautiful sunny weather.
Despite our inability to snorkel, we had a really nice time visiting Maggie Island and would recommend it. Unfortunately, we never did get to see those wild koalas, but we got to meet some up close, which was even better!
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