December 28
Originally, we had planned to drive down the east coast of Australia to the Whitsunday Islands. Turns out that was not such a financially sound idea, as rental car one way drop off fees are enormous. So we had made the decision to take public transportation down the coast instead.
Early in the morning, we departed Cairns on the Sunlander train, which goes all the way down to Brisbane, in an epic 31hour 1,000 mile journey, 2-3 times per week. We were lucky that it was running on the day we needed it to and had booked advance tickets to ride along down to Townsville, which was about 7 hours away.
The Sunlander turned out to be painfully slow, especially coming from Germany and being used to High Speed Trains. But it was fairly well air conditioned and seating was spacious so we didn't mind.
I had no expectations for Townsville. I thought of it just as another one night stop on our journey that was just a necessity than something I had booked because there was anything specific to see there.
So finding out that Townsville was a beautiful city with a stunning coastline, great bars and restaurants and an amazing vacation island right off the coast, was more than a nice surprise.
After checking into our hotel, we quickly got ready to hop on an afternoon ferry to Magnetic Island, which we had read features wild koalas....naturally, I was sold.
I still don't understand why anyone would put a giant fake spider of such proportions across a street. *baffled!*
Once we reached the island via a quick ferry ride, we thought we could just walk from destination and trail to the next but it turned out to be not so pedestrian friendly. We then noticed a small ad for tropical topless rental cars in the local guide we had gotten at the ferry terminal. Luckily they were still open at 4:30pm when we showed up and I am proficient in driving stick shifts. Because this little baby was one.....let me tell you that using signal and windshield wiper reversed is one thing, but shifting gears with your left hand is a whole new experience.
We then proceeded to a round circuit hike that was supposed to feature koalas and an old fort from when the Japanese attacked Australia in WWII. The hike took us all the way around the eastern top of the island with beautiful vistas.
And then as we walked along our trail, there was a stick stuck in the middle of the way with the world "koala" clearly written with little branches. Someone had spotted a koala and wanted to make sure future visitors had a chance to spot it as well.
He/she wasn't hard to find even though he/she was all the way up in the tree, slumping away like they all do because they need to sleep 20h/day.
We spotted another one without any help just off the side of a staircase leading up to the fort. Those furry little butts are not easy to find up in the trees but once you see one, you get a better sense of what to look out for.
After our koala trail, we continued to check out the other beaches on the island, including one featuring plenty of rock wallabies.
The rock wallabies are the smaller, cuter siblings of the kangaroos and are clearly attracted by people feeding them, despite all the signs asking people not to.....
If I had my choice, I would rename Magnetic Island to Majestic Island.
Originally, we had planned to drive down the east coast of Australia to the Whitsunday Islands. Turns out that was not such a financially sound idea, as rental car one way drop off fees are enormous. So we had made the decision to take public transportation down the coast instead.
Early in the morning, we departed Cairns on the Sunlander train, which goes all the way down to Brisbane, in an epic 31hour 1,000 mile journey, 2-3 times per week. We were lucky that it was running on the day we needed it to and had booked advance tickets to ride along down to Townsville, which was about 7 hours away.
The Sunlander turned out to be painfully slow, especially coming from Germany and being used to High Speed Trains. But it was fairly well air conditioned and seating was spacious so we didn't mind.
I had no expectations for Townsville. I thought of it just as another one night stop on our journey that was just a necessity than something I had booked because there was anything specific to see there.
So finding out that Townsville was a beautiful city with a stunning coastline, great bars and restaurants and an amazing vacation island right off the coast, was more than a nice surprise.
After checking into our hotel, we quickly got ready to hop on an afternoon ferry to Magnetic Island, which we had read features wild koalas....naturally, I was sold.
Once we reached the island via a quick ferry ride, we thought we could just walk from destination and trail to the next but it turned out to be not so pedestrian friendly. We then noticed a small ad for tropical topless rental cars in the local guide we had gotten at the ferry terminal. Luckily they were still open at 4:30pm when we showed up and I am proficient in driving stick shifts. Because this little baby was one.....let me tell you that using signal and windshield wiper reversed is one thing, but shifting gears with your left hand is a whole new experience.
If I had my choice, I would rename Magnetic Island to Majestic Island.
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