Magnetic Island

23rd January, Townsville, Australia

Manda writes:

Today we went across to Magnetic Island. It was named by Captain Cook in 1770 as a result of his ships' compass going all funny. High iron content on the island at the time or just a dodgy compass? Too much booze perhaps? I guess we'll never know.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect of the island with a name that was giving nothing away. A few travellers that we'd met on the road recommended that we go check it out.

We took a car-ferry across to the island. Forty minutes and a Cornetto later, we had arrived at Geoffrey Bay in Arcadia town. As soon as we came off the ferry we had a choice of going left or right. With cars queuing up behind us, speeding up our decision-making/guesswork, we took an incisive left. We saw rocky bays on our left as we followed the coast and green scenery with giant granite boulders dotted around. We got as far as Picnic Bay and turned around and drove to the other side of the island - Horseshoe Bay. I was surprised at how quickly it took for us to get from one side to the other - approx. 15 minutes.


View over Rocky Bay.


The kombi parked up on Magnetic Island near a lookout.

We stayed in Horseshoe Bay for lunch. There are a few eateries, pubs, hostels and newsagents along a small strip of road. Since it is stinger season, there was an enclosed area for swimmers to swim in.

Magnetic Island is a tranquil place with many bays. It is roughly 52 sq km in size and is dominated by Mount Cook. A few of the bays cannot be reached by road. Some can only be reached by boat or by foot. We wanted to go see Radical Bay but we found the track had too many big holes in - we had to reverse all the way back up!

Buses run on the island and mokes. A moke is like a tiny kit car - a squashed down jeep with a canopy. They look cool - I'm not sure how comfy they are to ride in, but they were everywhere.

Being Australia day on Monday, the island was buzzing. We managed to find some accommodation after a few attempts. Many of the good air-con rooms had been taken. A lot of the locals take their holidays here, especially on an extended public holiday weekend, like this weekend. We found a nice hostel on Horseshoe Bay called 'Maggie's Beach House'. A nice place with a good atmosphere.

Each bay has its own character and there is a slight old-fashioned feel to it. According to the guide books, this island has been open to tourists over the past one hundred years - some locals even live here and commute to Townsville every day. What a nice place to live!