Magnetic Island

We're BAAAack! From Australia, that is, and now are in a mad scramble to get everything done before flying to Amsterdam tomorrow. But while I wait for a dryer load to finish, here's another post to tide you over till the next ones...on Brisbane and Seoul, Korea (a 23-hour lay-over stop).

This is the view from our living room patio windows in the apartment on Magnetic Island. OMG! That Donica really likes to find the absolute best places she can find for vacation. THIS place really fit the bill!

Just 8km offshore from Townsville in Queensland (the city in the background) is one of Australia's best-kept secrets: Magnetic Island. Australia is well into Autumn now so the weather was very pleasant and sunny every day. Not too hot and not too cold.

For the week, Donica rented this cute little Mini-Moke which was a fun gad-about for getting here to there. Australia is like the UK, with the steering wheel on the right side of the car and the driving on the left side of the road. Fun and games!

We even took the Red Baron one day for a 20-minute tour around the island. That tells you how big the island really is. NOT VERY.

Many of its beaches and harbors are isolated and can be reached only by boat or by walking trails. What a sight for sore eyes! I couldn't take any pictures while flying (I valued my camera too much, which would have been blown away the minute I put it up to snap a pic!), so this picture is taken while on a walk.

Some of the flora and fauna blew me away because it was enough different to make me take a second look.

Have you ever heard of Noni juice that claims to have all kinds of miracle health cures? Here's what the fruit looks like. When ripe, it has a pungent smell that has earned it the moniker of cheese fruit or even vomit fruit. Seriously! We smelled it and agree.

I was most in heaven when it came to seeing up close and personal some of the island's inhabitants, like this mother rock wallaby and joey!

The lorikeets were a hoot. Talk about the Three Musketeers!

This stone curlew stood frozen in time watching us watch the sunset one night on the beach. It was almost eerie except for the fact that he allowed me to take many photos.

But the crowning jewel for me was this one koala I awakened while on a two-hour walk to the Forts from WWII. Koalas sleep 20 hours a day, believe it or not, waking up around 4p. I was there at 2:30 when I found this beauty in the tree....and obviously awakened her while walking over the brush. In the next half hour, she showed me every side she had. In fact, one day I may do a post just of her (since I took 44 pictures)!

Talk about being a happy camper...on my last day there on the island. There was nothing else I could have asked for!

"Good-Bye from Magnetic Island," the sun seemed to say. It was truly a paradise for us and one we'll never forget. It was the ending to a great 3 weeks away! And now you know why it's called MAGNETIC Island!!

Now Donica needs to switch gears and get back into work mode...while I still play with my photos in Amsterdam. I have so much yet to show you! What a memory.

But in the meantime, we have miles to go before we hop back on the plane tomorrow...one of which is to go get the lawn mowed now, drive down to Donica's mom's house to get a liquidator's quote, and eat dinner with Amy and Nicholas tonight in honor of Mother's Day (since we won't be around next Sunday).

I do hope YOU'RE not as busy!?!