Thursday 7th May 2009

We arrived yesterday by ferry (on a very choppy sea!) to Magnetic Island, lying 8km off the Queensland Coast. We are staying at Koala Village in an A-frame bungalow set amid the tropical forest. You really are among the wildlife - even after we had decided against paying $19 to cuddle a koala in the sanctuary here - lorikeets, parakeets, kookaburras (yes, they really DO laugh and it's loud and raucous) to say nothing of the bushtail possums which kept us awake last night stomping all over our verandah. Paul learnt the hard way that standing under a tree full of parakeets to take a photo is likely to bring a close encounter of the bird poo kind. We were lucky enough to see a koala in the bush, when we went for a walk last night - sound asleep and very indifferent to the people beneath his eucalyptus tree trying to get the best photo they could! (result above). The island has plenty of little secluded beaches to laze in but we were a little more energetic, walking today to the far west tip of the island, through mangroves and forest and a tidal estuary. Tomorrow, we head back to the mainland and north, to Cairns and Port Douglas.