Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island is a short ferry ride from Townsville and famous for being the sunniest place in Australia with over 320 days of cloud-free skies.
Upon arriving, it was conveniently happy hour, which was a great deal for us—all drinks were $3. We sat on the bar’s deck along the beach and hung out with some of our fellow Oz friends. For dinner, we cooked for the first time. Most backpackers cook to save money, but so far we hadn’t needed to. We have been the masters at finding a bargain that splits perfectly two ways. Going to the grocery store was a bit of a challenge; we had to find food and portions that would be finished in three days and used in more than one meal. Turns out, we managed to waste nothing (and reallocate budgeted dollars to mid-afternoon daiquiris).
The next morning we woke up only to relocate our horizontal positions to our hammocks along the beach. The day was quite relaxing and uneventful.
With plenty of unused energy from the day before, we spent our last day on the island exploring its many bays and hiking trails. We split the cost of a mini-moke rental with two other girls (who luckily knew how to drive it) in order to get around the island. We set out on a 2-hour hike up to the Forts, which were remnants of Australia’s involvement in World War II. On the way we spotted a baby koala and mum napping in a eucalyptus tree. The watchtowers at the top, camouflaged as granite boulders, provided excellent 360-degree views of the island and Horseshoe, Arthur, and Florence bays.
Our last exercising adventure was up to Hawking’s Point from Picnic Bay to catch the sunset.