Magnetic Island

This is where the real Oz fun began...

Magnetic Island is about a 20 minute boat ride from Townsville just south of Cairns. I'd never actually heard of Magnetic Island before I arrived in Australia, and neither have any of my friends and family. However, we were recommended the island by a few different travellers we met whilst in Cairns. The island is very small and you get the sense that the people living on it have somehow never left Magnetic Island. That said, it kind of had an eerie, abandoned town kind-of vibe about it. That makes it sound awful which it truly is not, in fact it was by far one of my favourite places in Oz. We stayed in Bungalow Bay - a YHA hostel, which automatically gave it a lot higher standards than our previous hostel. The dorms were in little huts within Koala Village and were very modern and clean. The hostel's site was home to a number of native Australian animals, which meant each morning we would be eating breakfast with wild kangaroos and joeys. This was just incredible. During our stay on the island we went on walks through the forest and also fed wild wallabies. One morning we went on the animal tour/talk held in Bungalow Bay, where we held a baby crocodile, lizards, turtles, and even a koala! This was so so cool. Really, anyone visiting Australia anywhere near Townsville should not hesitate to hop on a boat across to Magnetic Island because it is WONDERFUL.