The Journey

It's offical Malayisa is poo!

After yesterday post we moved on to Ipoh hoping our Malaysia experience would get better.

Well...

We arrived at 8am this morning after a 12 hour bus journey. Kat was getting straight on another bus to go to Kuala Lumpa to get some souvenirs she'd seen when we'd been there a couple of weeks ago. (She'd tried to get them before we left but the shop was closed.) Everything went according to plan. Kat got the bus and Emily and I headed off into Ipoh.

We got to the hotel, apparently one of the best budge hotels in the area, and were disconcerted to find it was yet another scabby establishment above a Chinese restaurant! I stayed with the bags whilst Emily went off in search of somewhere better. She ended up in a hostel (recommended by the guide book) down a side street with old drunk men leering at her. She was shown a room that had a man lieing on a bed and told they would clean the room for us and kick him out! Not likeing the hostel, despite it being cheap, and seeing a sign asking guests to refrain from drilling peep holes in the walls and to leave their firearms at reception she politely declined. After walking for 40 minutes in the blistering heat Emily reappeared and we checked into the first hotel.

We walked around Ipoh and weren't surprised to discover everything was closed. Including the tourist information.

The guidebook mentioned a nearby hot spring cost 5 Ringett (less than 1GBP) and was open Tuesday to Sunday. This seemed like a good way to spend the afternoon. We walked for about 40 minutes to the local bus station where we got a bus that dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and told us to walk down the road to the springs. We eventually found it and discovered.... You guessed it. IT WAS CLOSED! Emily spotted a boat ride nearby and asked the attendant: "Can we go on the boat ride?" His response: "Closed!" By now there was nothing to do but laugh. We trundled off back to the main road to catch the bus and ended up on the return trip of the bus that had dropped us off.

With nothing else to do we came to the Internet cafe where I sit now. But more bad news was to follow! Kat had emailed us from Kuala Lumpa tourist police station. She'd fallen asleep on the bus and had her wallet stolen from her bag. She was in Kuala Lumpa, alone, with no money and no visa card. Luckily she had her mums 'emergency' credit card separate - although the only hotel that would take credit cost 150 Ringett a night, we usually pay 10 Ringett and she can't draw cash on it. Luckily she also had some spare Thai Baht in her bag and has managed to change it for enough Ringett to pay for her bus ticket back to Ipoh and some food.

The irony of this being we were chatting to a man on a bus the other day who was saying how safe Malaysia is because it is a Muslim country. He was telling us we'd have to be careful in Thailand because they have no religion and steel from peoples bags!

So all in all things couldn't get much more crappy. Kat will arrive back here tomorrow and we are getting the night bus to the ferry port to go over to Langkawi. We are due to arrive in Langkawi about 9am on my birthday after spending all night travelling. The island had better be nice because otherwise we will leave with a very bad impression of Malaysia.

It's such a shame that I am writing this post because I'd heard people say that Malaysia was a bit shit, but I desperately wanted to like it. I guess another time of year and it would have been completely different. But it really is a case of not much to do and not much to see, everything just seems to disappoint. It's a real shame that this is the first country any of us have actually wanted to leave! But never mind Langkawi is supposed to be amazing and Thailand will be good. Plus we'll be home in rainy cold England three weeks tomorrow!

Malaysia is closed

Well I didn't do well at updating the blog did I. Its been 23 days since my last post and in that time I haven't had a spare second to catch up with things. I have however been, as usual, having an amazing time.... until recently (more on that in a bit)!!!!

Bali was amazing. We spent New Year in Kuta and had a great night out with some Aussie friends, Renee and Nate. It was the usual New Year in the pub having a few too many beers, in reality we could have been anywhere in the world - Until we left the bar and realised rain in Bali is unlike any I've ever seen before. Streets that were dry two hours earlier were now knee deep in water with motorbikes still attempting to ride up and down the street. A short dash from one side of the road to the other left us soaked to the skin so we gave up and walked leisurely down the road watching groups of pissed revellers having gigantic water fights in the street. The following morning we found much of the pavement had collapsed due to the water!

Along with Renee and Nate we left Kuta as soon as the celebrations were over and headed to the Gili Islands. The Gili's are beautiful with sweeping white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. Kat and I took this opportunity to learn to dive and left the Gilie's certified open water divers. The diving was amazing, lots of incredibly beautiful fish and we even saw three turtles gracefully swimming and feeding on the ocean floor.

From Bali we flew into the sterile metropolis that is Singapore. Singapore was nice, for a city. The zoo was amazing and we spent an awful lot of time wondering around the electronics market.

Our next stop was Malaysia and Tioman island. Back in the 70s Tioman was voted one of the worlds 10 most beautiful islands, and it didn't disappoint. Although the developers are slowly moving in and in a few years time it will be completely ruined. This is where we first discovered that Malaysia is CLOSED!

We arrived in Mersing to get the boat to Tioman... It's outside of tourist season so there is only one boat a day. We had to wait until the next day to get it.

We arrived in Tioman, only about three places are open for accommodation. Only one restaurant is open - I guess we'll be eating there then!

We walked across to the other side of the island (about 9km through the jungle). It was incredibly beautiful - the reason why Tioman was voted on of the world 10 most beautiful islands. We ordered lunch... banana pancake - no banana. Pineapple pancake - no pineapple. Baked beans - no beans. Tuna sandwich - no tuna. Surely it would have been easier to have told us what they did have!

We left Tioman fro Kuala Lumpa and had a fantastic time (more of that in a later post).

From Kuala Lumpa we went to Kuala Lipis to go into the jungle. We arrive... it's outside of tourist season and the only available trip went earlier that morning, there isn't another for three days.

We head to Jerantut. A tour guide is due to give a talk about trips to the jungle in a hotel that night. We arrive for the talk...it's cancelled, not enough people are around.

The next day we go to the tourist information. We want to book a trip into the jungle, but they only go if they have four people. Not a problem we are told there will definitely be four people going on the trip. We need to get the bus at 8:00am the next morning.

8:00am the next morning, the bus actually leaves at 8:30 but there is no point in us getting it because nobody else is booked on the tour so it isn't going! We are told it is DEFINITELY going the following day so we book and pay.

We get a public bus to Kuala Tahan and go to the booking office to confirm our tour. Nobody else has booked so at the moment it isn't going!

The next morning, an hour before we expected to be off jungle trekking for two days, our tour is cancelled.

We book some day trips and luckily bump into Clive ( a guy we met at Tioman) making our group number four so they will actually run trips.

We leave Kuala Tahan and go to Kota Bharu looking for arts, crafts and traditional Malay culture. Everything is closed until February. No crafts, no traditional performances, no workshops, no craft market! We wonder around the local marked but none of the arts traders are there until February.

We move onto Terengganu. It's Friday the Islamic holy day so everything is closed. We wait until the next day (today) and head to the tourist information - guess what... it's closed.

We are planning to go to the Perhentian islands for my birthday and try to book a ferry. But surprise, surprise the islands are closed until February.

We give up on ever seeing Malay arts and crafts or any more islands and book a night bus to the west and more developed side of the country hoping something will be open in the city. Our plan is now to spend a day in the city of Ipoh before moving on to Thailand. Hopefully something in Thailand will be open!.

The message in this story DON'T visit Malaysia in January! The bit we have seen has been great but we are fighting a loosing battle trying to see anything!

Will I ever get up to date

Once again time is slipping by and I am destined never to get the blog completely up to date. I did get a good bit written over Christmas but now it's back to limited internet access.

Australia is over, we've moved on... I'm sitting here writing this in a VERY hot internet cafe in Bali. Maybe one day I'll get the chance to write the rest of Australia but from now I'm going to attempt to blog the present. You never know I might get that bored when I get home that I write up everything I've had to miss out - although I doubt it.

Well right now I'm just rambling and I don't have time to write a proper post. I'll update soon.

The world's largest sand island

It is said that all the sand from the Eastern coast of Australia eventually ends up on Fraser island - a gigantic sand bar measuring 120 kilometers by 15 kilometers and one of my favourite places in Australia.

To access Fraser Island we had to get a ferry and then the only way around was using a four by four. Naomi and I took an organised tour with four other people hoping this would be a good way to meet some people but unfortunately our tour companions didn't speak a great deal of English. Our tour started off meeting our fellow travellers, picking up our Toyota Land Cruiser and being given a safety briefing at the tour office.

En route to the ferry we stopped and bought some food and alcohol for the next couple of days and were on the island by noon.

Our safety briefing had told us not to drive on the beach for two hours either side of high tide. Getting off the ferry we only had about an hour to make it to the beach and drive to our accommodation before we were no longer allowed to drive on the beach. A guy called Ramco of an undiscovered nationality drove us very slowly along the uneven sandy track to the beach. It took forever and just as we reached the soft sand at the entrance to the beach we spotted a four by four in front of us stuck in the sand. We hoped the same wouldn't happen to us, but it did. By the time we'd dug ourselves out of the sand, using pieces of wood to encourage the tyres to move over the sand rather than burrow into it, our beach driving window had gone. Collectively we decided to bump slowly back down the track and try and make our way to our accommodation inland. Upon reaching the end of the track we realised the road we needed no longer existed, so we had no choice but to drive back to the beach and wait for the tide to go out so we could drive across it. At this point I took over the driving employing the 'move quickly through loose sand' tactic in the hope I wouldn't get stuck as had happened regularly when both the boys were driving. At one point there was a comment about how much better my driving was, but this was before I hit a couple of big bumps a high speed - well as high speed as the track would allow. The speed limit was 35 kilometers an hour but this was more a target than a limit!

One of the inland tracks.

Stuck in the sand.

Driving along the beach was amazing fun. The hard sand was like driving on a normal road then every so often you would splash through a shallow creek running into the sea. At intervals I'd 'aquaplane' over a patch of soft sand feeling the steering get lighter as I did so - sooo much fun. I drove the whole way with a massive grin not wanting to ever reach our accommodation and have to turn of the beach! But alas eventually our turning came up - much to everyone else's relief - and we were soon safe and sound in our accommodation for the night.

Me driving along the beach.

The main road - Seventy-Five Mile beach.

The second day on Fraser Island was an early start as we had to pack everything in before the tide came and in precluded beach driving. On Fraser Island the main road is the beach so places are inaccessible whilst the tide is in. Our first stop of the day was Indian Head a large volcanic headland offering fantastic views over Seventy-Five Mile Beach on one side and up to Middle Rocks on the other. From here it is possible to spot whales (in season) sharks, dolphins and rays although I didn't manage to see anything!

The view from India head.

Our next stop was the champagne pools. These rock formations have made natural pools alongside the sea and are safe to swim in, although the waves still crash over the rocks and into the pools. We stopped here for a while to relax, enjoy the sun and go for a dip.

From here we began heading south again to Happy Valley (where our accommodation was) stopping along the way. We stopped at The Pinnacles, large sand formations in bright orangey colours. They were nowhere near as impressive as the ones in Mui Ne (Vietnam) but  still  worth a look. They looked as though weathering was beginning to take its toll as they had been fenced off around the bottom and were beginning to fall down.

The next stop was the Maheno ship wreck. The boat was blown ashore in a cyclone in 1935, luckily everyone on board survived, and it currently stands at the waters edge. It was very cool to look around, the wreck sticks out of the sand with the water crashing through it. One end looks much as it would have done save for the rust, the other end is much more broken up and is little more than scrap metal rusting in the sand.

Naomi and I stood in the wreck of the Maheno.

The front of the Maheno.

Next we attempted to go to Eli creek but missing the turning ended up back at Happy Valley. Here three of our travelling companions decided to go back to the accommodation for the afternoon but Naomi, Ramco and I pressed on. We drove back up the beach eventually spotting Eli creek. This was obviously a favourite with tourists as many people were parked up near the creak swimming and walking up stream letting the current wash them back down. We joined the throngs of people walking upstream then sat at the waters edge and ate our lunch.

Our last stop of the day was a dodgy drive to Lake Allam to see fresh water turtles. We were cutting it close to get to the lake and back to the beach before our beach driving time expired but we decided to give it a go. Just as we got to the track leading to the lake two other four by fours pulled onto it. I followed them along the track willing them to move faster as going so slow meant I was liable to get stuck in the loose sand. Inevitably this is what happened. The car in front of me got stuck meaning I had to stop. Once I stopped there was no way I could get enough speed to pass the point where he got stuck. With lots of low revs we eventually crawled at snails pace through the deep sand and continued down the track. We soon caught up with the other two vehicles as one of them was stuck again. This time his mate with a bigger four by four had to pull him out of the sand. They saw we'd stopped and got stuck behind them so once their mate was safely out of the sand they came back for us, pulling us out then letting us go in front of them. After this there were no more incidents of getting stuck. We arrived at Lake Allam but there were no turtles around. This was probably because of the people swimming in the lake had scared them off. Never mind - it meant we didn't stay long and we were soon heading back to the beach.

We exited the track onto the beach after the time we were supposed to be off the beach and began the precarious drive back to Happy Valley. There was almost no hard sand at all and we were constantly driving through soft sand. Normally I'd have loved this but if we broke the vehicle when we weren't supposed to be driving on the beach our security deposit would have been lost, so I was pretty nervous. Eventually I caught up with a day trip bus that obviously knew where on the beach was best for driving and followed him zigzagging along the beach until we reached the turn off for Happy Vally. Parking up for the evening I was very glad the four by four made it back in once piece.

Our last day on Fraser Island was much more relaxed. The first stop of the day was a walk to Lake Wabby. This lake is slowly being overtaken by a massive sand blow and is pretty impressive to look at. The sand blow makes a very soft but steep drop into the lake. When we arrived a group of people had a bodyboard and were sliding down the sand and skimming across the lake before sinking into the water. It looked like a lot of fun and I was very tempted to ask for a go but I didn't have my bikini with me.

Naomi and I on the sand blow at Lake Wabby.

Looking down into Lake Wabby.

We moved onto one of the prettiest parts of Fraser Island Lake McKenzie. The banks of the lake are gorgeous white silica sand giving way to crystal clear water that turns green then blue as the lake gets deeper. We spent some time here relaxing and enjoying our surroundings before making our last journey along the bumpy sandy tracks to the ferry.

Lake McKenzie.

Laying on the bank of Lake McKenzie.

Moving on

We left the Whitsundays behind and moved on to Agnes Water and Town of 1770 (what a cool name for a town). This was a mammoth drive so along the way we stopped at an Aboriginal culture centre in Rockhampton. Here we learnt how to throw a boomerang were given a didgeridoo performance amongst other things. I don't have time to go into it in detail!

Me, Naomi, Brian, Kat and Emily throwing Boomerangs.

We stopped for two days at 1770. Kat, Naomi and I camped on a really nice campsite in Town of 1770 whilst Emily and Brian stayed a little way up the road in a luxury apartment in Agnes Water. Our main adventure here was spending an afternoon out riding  a chopper - a lot of fun. It was amazing riding  a motorbike, although a little scary as we didn't have any leathers or elbow and knee pads. I did manage a not very impressive 80 kilometers an hour before remembering that if I fell off and hit the road at that speed it wouldn't be very pretty and slowed down! I do think I might like a motorbike though it was ace riding along with a panoramic view of the scenery.

A random guy, Brian, Kat, Naomi, Emily and me on our bikes.

Having dinner at Brian and Emily's luxary apartment in Agnes Water.

From Town of 1770 we moved on to Harvey Bay. Here Naomi and I went over to Fraser Island for a few days whilst the others stayed behind - more on that later.

Diving the Great Barrier Reef

A three hour boat journey took us to Knuckle Lagoon on the outer Great Barrier Reef. A perfect location for a day of snorkeling and diving.

We'd got a good deal on an introductory dive when booking the trip and were the first group due in the water. As soon as the boat docked we were kitted up and off beneath the surface of the water.

Naomi and Kat were in remedial class, Naomi because of her sprained ankle and Kat because of heart problems as a baby, so were paired together. Emily and I were with another instructor along with Brian and another guy. Our instructor was South African and a bit odd. He was not the friendliest of guys and held Emily and I by an iron grip throughout the dive.

Before getting into the water for the first time.

We were lead down onto a platform to begin the dive and given a short time to get used to the breathing apparatus. I'd heard people say it was hard to get used to breathing under water but to me it seemed totally natural! Maybe I was a fish in a previous life! Before I knew it we were off discovering an underwater world.

It was incredible to be swimming amongst the corals and fish rather than looking at them from above. The fish were amazing and I saw a couple of rather large ones! One was a massive brown and black Flowery Cod with nasty looking teeth and smaller fish feeding off it gills. The instructor refused to let go of Emily and I, there was no way he was actually going to let us swim alone, so I couldn't get a better look! 

All too soon we were heading back to the surface and the dive was over. I could hardly believe 45 minutes had passed so quickly!

Diving over we went snorkeling. It was much better than yesterday but after being down on the ocean floor with the fish it just didn't compare. 

After a short while Naomi and I went in to grab some lunch, just as we sat down as the last trip glass submarine was called. We tried to get on it but all the places were taken. This was lucky in a way as if we'd gone we'd have messed the slot for a second intro dive. We'd enjoyed the dive so much first time round Kat, Naomi and I decided to go back for more!

Getting ready for our second dive.

 
Before we went on the second dive.

This time I made sure I had a different instructor who would actually let me swim rather than drag me along! The first dive had been incredible the second was even better. Being able to swim meant I could see something and go for a better look, the instructor kept picking up things and showing them to me or showing me bits of coral I could touch. Some of the coral was hard, some soft, some hard and slimy, some soft and slimy one was even rubbery. He picked up a sea cucumber and put it in my hands. It was about eight inches long and two inches wide, a greeny yellow colour with black dots. It was solid but squeezable as though it was squishy in the middle. I saw a couple of more big fish, one of them was another huge Flowery Cod with him was a large silvery blue fish I was told is a Black Spotted Tusk fish. It looked quite pretty but evil at the same time as it has a mouth full of razor sharp looking teeth! It was incredible to be able to swim freely amongst the fish as much as 10 metes below the surface. I can't hardly believe I have dived on the Great Barrier Reef.

No sooner was the dive over than we had to change and get back on the boat to sail back to Airley Beach after another amazing day in the Whitsundays.

Food for the Soul - Whitehaven Beach

Whitsunday Island is hailed by the Lonely Planet as: "Food for the soul." It's enduring image Whitehaven Beach, stretching over six kilometers of pristine white sands, is described as the longest and "finest" beach in Australia. This was the destination of today's excursion.

Accompanied by a potentially annoying gaggle of other tourists we boarded a boat called Reefjet sailed via the East Australian Current (the same current Nemo's dad and the turtles travel in the film 'Finding Nemo') to Whitsunday Island.

The boat first stopped at Hill Inlet and in small groups we were loaded into a smaller boat and ferried across to the island for a short walk up to a viewing platform over Tongue Point and the immaculate white sands of the celebrated Whitehaven Beach.

Whitehaven beach is an iconic image of Australia and has been used in a number of advertisements including the infamous one for Aussie tourism that was banned in the UK because a pretty girl strolling along Whitehaven beach uttered the words: "So where the bloody hell are you!"

From the top of Hill Inlet the view was spectacular. The blue, green, white water lapped invitingly against perfect white sand, as the water flowed into the inlet the blues and greens made swirls in the ocean - simply amazing - we didn't have nearly long enough to enjoy the view before being Shepparded back to the boat.

Looking towards Whitehaven beach rom Hill Inlet.

Looking away from Whitehaven beach from Hill Inlet.

Once back aboard the boat we sailed around to Whitehaven Beach where we had some time to relax and explore the beautiful coast line. The dazzling sand is 98 per cent silica, incredibly fine but soooo soft (apparently very good for exfoliating and cleaning your teeth!). I spent some time enjoying my surroundings and taking some pictures before the boat left as lunch was served.

Whitehaven Beach.

Kat and Naomi enjoy the water at Whitehaven Beach.

Me in the water at Whitehaven Beach.

The last stop of the day was snorkeling at Boulder Island 'Pitstop'. I was underwhelmed by the whole experience. The majority of what I swam over was grey dead coral uninhabited by fish of any kind. Most of those I did see were bland in colour and fairly uninteresting. When I did eventually find some brightly coloured coral with fish inhabitants there weren't many of them and they were a long way below us snorkelers. It was fun but Emily and I had definitely been spoilt when snorkeling in the Philippines because this didn't even come close.

Snorkeling over we headed back to Airley beach for an early night ready for another long day tomorrow.

The Beach

Our next stop was Airley Beach - a small town with a party vibe and the gateway to some of the most beautiful parts of Australia - the Whitsunday Islands. Although in our usual style we managed not to do any partying instead choosing to spend our money on day trips, diving and discovering on beautiful deserted beaches.

Our first couple of days in Airley beach were spent chilling out, booking trips and awaiting the arrival of Emily's boyfriend Brian who was flying over from America for a couple of weeks. The day Brian arrived Naomi, Kat and I decided gave them some space and booked ourselves a couple of days away on two different uninhabited islands.

Two days with nothing to do but exist and enjoy my surroundings - bliss.

As Emily prepared to pick Brian up from the airport a water taxi with us aboard pulled out of the port on Airley Beach full of people about to spend the next couple of days in blissful isolation on islands dotted around the Whitsundays.

Our stop was the first, as the boat docked on a deserted Paddle Bay on South Molle Island the shock at just how isolated we were was evident on the other boat passengers faces. We however were excited to see just how remote the island was. In front of me was a beach of broken coral giving way to sand at the shore line, beyond the coral was green shrubbery covering most of the island. We grabbed our bags, tent and water walked around the the other side of Paddle Bay and found a secluded spot to pitch our tent.

Our tent pitchat Paddle Bay, South Molle Island.

Paddle Bay only allows 12 people to camp at one time, along the beach about five tents were pitched each a reasonable distance away from the other, the only facilities on the island were a self composting toilet giving off a rather pungent smell and perfect breeding ground for insects! There was no running water to be found unless you walked two kilometers along an unlit path to the resort on the other side of the island.

Once we'd set ourselves up we swam and sunbathed, relaxed and enjoyed our peaceful and beautiful surroundings. A few people wondering to and from their tents urged us to walk down to the resort for a 'slice of luxury'. Naomi having sprained her ankle tripping in a pot hole at the campsite the previous night couldn't walk far, so Kat and I left her sunbathing and walked down to the resort.

The resort was a step up from the accommodation we'd become accustomed to. We lounged by the pool swimming, drinking cocktails and chatting to two French guys who were also camping at Paddle Bay. The resort had free use of sea kayaks and guys talked us into going out sea kayaking with them. It was fun but there wasn't really anywhere to paddle to. We messed around for a bit with everyone but Kat managing to fall in, then paddling back I almost got run over by a large boat trying to dock nearby.

That evening we cooked before it got too dark and sat enjoying the island and playing cards with the French guys (who's names I cannot remember). There was no natural light for miles but the moon was incredibly bright and by the end of the evening the moon was that bright we were playing cards just by the light of the moon.

That night I fell asleep content relaxed and looking forward to a 'real' deserted island tomorrow!

Paddle Bay, South Molle Island.

We bid farewell to Paddle Bay and boarded the water taxi to Planton Island. This island really is deserted, only four people are allowed on the island at any one time and as there were three of us we had the island all to ourselves. The beach looked like something out of a movie, either end were large black rocks the beach was covered in white coral and sand and beyond the beach the island rose upwards covered in thick undergrowth and forest that was impenetrable wearing flip flops.

There was only one tent spot on the island that had been prettily marked out with large bits of coral and shell by those who came before us. From the tent pitch there was a perfect view of the deep blue sea and another island across the water.

Marooned on a deserted island.

I spent some of the day swimming, but in the shallows near the beach were some weird sea lice that liked to bite. Naomi got attacked by about six trying to rest her sore ankle in the shallows. Kat and I tried to snorkel but the current was incredibly strong, we kept getting bitten and there weren't many fish to be found, plus Kat got scared off after swimming through a shoal of sea lice.

After a number of hours on the beach I had to get out of the sun and went exploring the rocky areas on either end of the beach in search of shade - but it wasn't to be found. I ended up crawling into the tent a falling asleep for a few hours out of the sun.

The view from inside our tent.

I woke up just before the sun went down and decided this was the ideal time for a wash! Having been swimming in the sea but not having seen running water for almost 48 hours I was starting to feel a little gross. We had plenty of water left, as we were leaving tomorrow Kat and I decided to shower by pouring saucepans of water over our heads. Not the easiest form of showering but very welcome when you haven't washed for almost two days!

Once we'd 'showered' we made dinner then fell asleep shortly after sunset.

Showering on The Beach!

The next morning followed much the same pattern of swimming, sunbathing and reading apart from we had to pack up the tent and await the arrival of the water taxi to take us away from our island paradise and back to reality.

Magnetic Island - Walking, Snorkeling, Koalas and a Death Adder

Magnetic Island - So called because Captain Cook thought the island was messing up his compass and therefore magnetic. Half of this quiet island is national park with plenty of secluded bays, walking tracks and wildlife. Plus the favoured mode of transport among tourists on the island is Mini Mokes - something that had me grinning all day long! (For those of you who don't know me I'm something of a Mini nut!)

Situated just eight kilometers form Townsville Magnetic Island is easily accessible and has just 2000 residents living in small suburban pockets dotted around the island. The island is small and after finding one of only two campsites on Magnetic we'd soon pitched our tent and were out in the car driving around discovering each nook and cranny of the island.

We'd camped in Horseshoe Bay so after looking around we headed to Radical Bay. Radical Bay is a little off the beaten track down a bumpy road not meant to be travelled by hire vehicles! The palm fronted beach only had a smattering of people lounging on it. This seemed like the ideal place to sit for a while enjoying the sunshine. After a 'little sleep' and a dip we left in search of a shop to buy some ingredients for dinner then drove down an extremely long bumpy dirt track to watch the sunset at Westpoint. We arrived just before the sun disappeared but were disappointed anyway. There wasn't any beach to speak of just some gravel meeting the waters edge and the view was fairly uninspiring. This done we bumped back down the track to the campsite where I followed my now usual routine of dinner, diary writing and bed!

The next morning we were away early for a leisurely stroll along The Forts walking track. The track took us through some eucalyptus forests where you commonly see Koala's in the wild. Ambling along the track looking into the trees but not spotting anything a man passed us asking if we'd seen the Koala a little further down. We hadn't so followed him back down the track to see one incredibly cute looking Koala slumped in a tree sleeping looking as though it could tumble out at any moment. A thoughtful person had placed some rocks in an arrow shape on the floor pointing to where he was. But walking looking up into the trees we managed to completely miss it.

A cute cuddly wild Koala.

Continuing along the track that offered spectacular views over nearby bays we eventually came to The Forts. The Forts were designed to protect Townsville, which had been a supply base for the Pacific during WWII, from naval attack. The remains of two gun emplacements are still visible along with some buildings and the fake boulders made from concrete used to disguise the guns. Further along the track two watch towers still stand offering spectacular panoramic views of the island.

The view of the Aussie mainland from the watch tower.

Looking down onto one of the bays.

Naomi, Kat, emily and I at the top of The Forts Walk

To cool off after our walk we spent the afternoon snorkeling. On local advice we headed to Geoffrey Bay as there is supposed to be a ship wreck just 100 meters off the coast and a booklet claimed the fish living off this beach are almost tame. Geoffrey Bay was certainly not the prettiest we'd seen. The sand was a dark muddy colour and much of it was wet and uneven. Small rocks were dotted along the waters edge making wading in quite difficult and once we were in we couldn't find the wreck or any fish! Eventually we got bored of looking at sand and decided to move across to Alma Bay next door. This yielded a few more fish although not many. We spent some time snorkeling over the rocks on the edge of the bay seeing little more than common Tiger Fish, Emily saw some parrot fish but they retreated out to see as soon as they spotted her. The only usual fish I saw was black and very round. It looked like a black puffer fish but wasn't. After a while I looked around to find the others heading for shore and joined them. Perhaps it was where we were but the snorkeling on Magnetic Island hadn't lived up to what I had expected.

That evening I prepared my dinner in the campsite kitchen then went outside to eat finding a woman sat on the floor with tea towels wrapped around her leg. It transpired that whilst I'd been cooking she'd been bitten by a snake right beside the kitchen. The correct procedure after being bitten is to wrap the wound in a compression bandage, stay as still as possible to prevent the poison spreading and stay calm. The woman was incredibly clam as she sat on the floor chatting waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Luckily it turned out she'd been bitten by a harmless tree snake. She'd probably accidentally stood on it and it had bitten her in self defence. Whilst this was going on we'd spotted another snake lurking beneath a drainpipe near our table. To us it fitted the description of a Death Adder but we didn't know much about it! A holiday maker assured us it was fine and not poisonous but we weren't convinced. Once the woman had been taken to hospital a girl from the campsite took a look at it. She peered underneath the drainpipe then immediately backed away telling us not to go anywhere near it as if it bit us we could be dead in about seven hours! Clearly it was a Death Adder. She asked us to stay put and make sure nobody got too close while she got the park ranger to come and remove it.

A little while later a scrawny looking older man with sleeveless top, shorts and no shoes appeared with a box. He found a stick, calmly lifted the poisonous snake into the box and took it away. The snake was incredibly good natured and didn't move at all as it was plucked from its resting place and placed carefully onto a bed of leaves in the box. He had brought the earlier captured tree snake with him and Emily couldn't wait to have a hold of it.

For the rest of the evening I was a little more nervous of what was under my feet as I walked around the campsite!

Back to the past - Onto Townsville

Time to get back to my Australian adventure...

Our first mammoth travelling day began with a false start. We'd intended to drive the short distance to Mission Beach and spend some time snorkeling and enjoying the nearby Dunk Island. But we arrived in the pouring rain to find a storm brewing and no boats going from anywhere along the coast for the next few days. We decided not to hang around and headed onto to Townsville where Katy was flying out in a couple of days.

The Lonely Planet describes Townsville as: " A laid back city that mixes it's casual cafe-latte culture with a healthy dose of the tropics." We found this to mean 'there isn't a lot to do!' The city was nice and relaxed - as expected but other than looking around the shops and sunbathing there wasn't a great deal of entertainment to be had.

We pitched the tent, cooked dinner and sat outside having a couple of beers when we were joined by a crazy Aussie playing the didgeridoo. He chatted for a bit before showing off his dij playing abilities then passing it around for us to all embarrasses ourselves blowing it like a fog horn. It is incredibly difficult to get the right mix of blowing through relaxed lips (like you're making a horse noise) to actually get the correct sound to come out of the didgeridoo. After a few beers we didn't stand a lot of chance but much hilarity ensued all the same!

The following day was spent relaxing, sunbathing and catching up on diaries (I may not have all of my travels written on here but I do have them in my diary to be added at a later date). That evening we sat around the tent and had a delicious BBQ for Katy's last night bidding her farewell before we went to bed.

The next morning five had become four and Katy was on a plane back to the colder climes of England. We spent the morning wondering around a craft market in town. There were some really nice things around but as most of them were heavy or breakable it was easy not to spend. In the middle of town a man was on stage signing some hits of yesteryear. In the middle of the dance floor area a crazy looking old woman was waving large feathers in the air performing a sort of dance routine - she was fascinating to watch. On the other side of the dance floor a group of Aboriginals were drinking and stumbling around trying to dance. This was the first time I'd seen the behaviour that has given some of the Aboriginals a bad name in parts of Australia. An older Aboriginal woman approached the crazy feather lady unnerving her, she picked up her stuff and walked quickly away. Then spotting some police went and spoke to them before returning to her spot on the dance floor. Getting more excited by the music more of the Aboriginals joined the dance floor and the crazy feather lady was approached again; this time she'd had enough, picked up her bags and quickly left - that was the end of our entertainment and we moved on.

Whilst in Townsville I saw a few examples of Aboriginals stumbling around drunk and fighting in the streets - even first thing in the morning - often they aren't dressed very well and look unwashed. I've been reading a book called the Lizard Eaters an amazing book about the Aboriginals living in the outback. They are incredibly skilled at their way of life. They would walk hundreds of miles to find water and never washed because there simply wasn't enough water to justify using it in such a way. The men would walk 50 miles or more in a day on a hunting expedition and sometimes come home with nothing to feed their family. They slept on the desert floor sometimes in the freezing cold next to fires they had to light by rubbing sticks together. They were incredibly good at identifying human tracks in the sand and if the person was known to them they could often name them by their footprints alone. They lived in such a way that everything we see as ordinary was alien to them. They'd never seen a vehicle of any kind, had no concept of how doors worked and would cower under bushes when aeroplanes flew over head because they had no idea what they could be. Even a lighter was magical to them - how could a small object produce such a life giving source as fire. Aborigines were living like caveman had done as late as the 70s without even knowing what existed outside their world; but many have now been moved into mainstream Australian society. Is it any wonder that a people who were living off the land just one generation ago have such problems integrating into a society they previously knew nothing about. I don't know much about how the Australian government has gone about integrating the Aboriginals (something I need to read up on) but it seems to me that sticking them in reserves on the edge of society has only served to alienate them.

Whilst in New Zealand we spent a lot of time looking at Maori culture. The Maoris seem to have integrated very well with all kids being taught the Maori language and culture in school. How come Australia, being so close to New Zealand, hasn't managed to achieve this same sense of cultural harmony with it's ingenious people?

Anyway.... Our last day in Townsville was spent avoiding the result of the Rugby World Cup final between England and South Africa. But when logging onto a computer I accidentally saw the result. We were going to the pub to watch the reply so I didn't tell the others anything more than I knew the score. However the pub was rubbish as they were also showing football so didn't have the sound on the Rugby, it's not much fun watching when you already know you lost - Nevermind at least we were there a few weeks earlier to see England knock out the Aussies!