Magnetic Island Part Dos

The weather was rainy again so we cancelled our reservations and didn't book the motor scooters around the island for precautionary reasons. It was probably for the best because it was another way to save money. We went out on a sailboat and went to the foreign part of the island where there was no one around. OF COURSE I got sea sick again. Most people went snorkeling but not everyone (Some people don't know how to swim and didn't feel comfortable). I wish I could have gone snorkeling but I took the dingo boat to the beach so walk around so I felt less dizzy. Word on the street is that when we take the boat out on Saturday to the Great Barrier Reef the water is going to be even more rough. Great I'm sure ill have a memorable experience throwing up all over the Reef. Hopefully not though.

After the boat trip, my friends Anthony, Amanda, and Amy went out back to the backpackers to change our clothes so we could go on a hike to see a fort. We ended up missing the bus by 4 minutes and the next bus didn't come for another hour and half. The time was 2:00 so by the time we got to the trail it would have been close to 5pm. No way we could have completed the trail before the sun went down. Soooooo what did we do? HITCHHIKED!! Yep you heard right! Four college students on the side of the road where their thumbs out. We figured if there was a place to do it, this island would be the safest. A couple from Melbourne was visiting their vacation home and gladly took us to where we needed to go. We made the hike and saw some incredible scenic views as well as the forts. On the trail back Amanda spotted a koala in the tree. We took a few more pictures of him because koalas are so fascinating to everyone. I climbed a small branch on the tree next to the koala. He was sleeping but he picked up his head and opened his eyes and I got really nervous that he was going to attack me so I immediately jumped off.

Perfect timing because once we finished the trail it was pitch black. When we caught the bus we got pizza at the Arcadia. It was surprisingly really good and we asked the owners if we could take a picture with them. They let us back in the kitchen to take a picture in front of the brick oven. THey turned the flame on the oven up for decoration and put the Italian flag up behind us to make the picture nicer. They were so nice to do that for us.

The following day we took the Ferry off of Magnetic Island and back to Townesville. We met up with our greyhound bus and drove all the way up to Cairns. The backpackers here is much cleaner so I feel better. We stay in Cairns for 5 days than head out west to the outback. Tomorrow we are going to a sky rail and an aboriginal center so I am anxious to learn about the Aboriginal culture (Won't hurt especially if I need to teach it in history class).

*I'll try and get pictures on my phone so that I can upload them to the blog.