Friday 22nd October 2021
Today we have to move early as we have a full agenda before we head on the boat at 2pm.

We have had a lovely stay at Bungalow Bay Koala Village for the last 3 nights. I have worked out that if I have a swim just before the pool closes at 9pm, it cools down my core body temp and I sleep a little better. The breeze seems to stop in the middle of the night which usually means I wake hot but it is improving. The temp here has been quite hot between 25° low and 34° high. So a bit tough for me. The Village is geared a lot to the backpackers and seems to be run by them as well. The pool with bar and billiards was busy most nights but they turn all the lights out at 9.30pm so the ruckus goes with it. Thankfully.

This morning we started our walk from Horseshoe Bay to Balding Bay and then on to Radical Bay at about 8.30pm. It was a lovely walk – about 5km – with a little elevation – about 3 x 80-90m climbs. The bays were both pretty but the Noreaster definitely gets in causing it to be a little choppy. As the stinger season is getting very close — Nov-Mar— we didn’t have a swim at either bay. We then hike back to Horseshoe Bay, arriving about 11am.

Second activity was a hike down 1km to Arthur Bay so I can have a snorkel. David was not keen to snorkel again as the conditions weren’t good enough for the time of the year risk for stingers. So alone I go out in the water even though some people had just seen a small reef shark. This is a little bit of a struggle for me but I manage to overcome going alone and spend about 45 mins in the water, always checking how far out I was going. It was quite cloudy again and was higher tide today which meant the coral reef was a little deeper. I saw some lovely coral and many fish including the Spiny and Agile Chromis, Scissor-tail Sergeant, Racoon and Threadfin butterflyfish, Spanish Flag, Surf Parrotfish and a blue spotted stingray with a white tip on its tail. I had a lovely time but was a little wary of keeping a lookout for stingers. We then walked back to the car and headed to Alma Bay again for lunch. A lovely shaded park on the beach.

Then on to the harbour to catch the ferry back to Townsville. We have enjoyed a lovely few days on Magnetic Island and look forward to going there again another time when the wind isn’t consistently N/NE and not so close to stinger season. At least we got to use our stinger suits.

We are staying in Townsville for 2 nights in air-conditioned comfort again. Yay!!