(it reminds me how good are monday mornings ...)
As I go to checkout, I see that the reception is closed, there's nobody ...
I ask a cleaner what I have to do, and how I can get the money of the key deposit back.
He tells me I can put the key on the desk, slide it under the "curtain", but for the key deposit, he can't help me ...
I put the key where he told me, and add a note explaining the situation, and asking if there's any way I can get my money back (I don't really believe anything will happen, but well ...).
I then walk to the coach stop, 10mins away.
The bus is on time, at 6:15am.
(it's an OzExperience coach, same system as Stray that I did in NZ)
In the bus, we only are 16 (in a 35+ seats bus, that's good).
We start driving South, as the driver (Lugsy ?) explains us how it works, as well as giving us some info on what we see and where we're going to.
The first particular thing we see is the "Great Pyramid", which is the biggest naturally pyramid shaped hill in the world.
(every year a race is is organised to see who reaches the top and comes back the fastest ...)
We then pass through Bedinda, a small village that has the "trophy" of being the wettest place in Oz ... (~10m rain per year)
The battle for the first place is always between the 3 same neighbour villages : Bedinda, Innisfail and Tully (what a great and rewarding competition ...).
We then make a stop in Innisfail for breakfast (for those who didn't have one) : at the Macca's (MacDonalds) ... Mmm, nice breakfast ...
The next stop is in Mission Beach to pick up and drop off some people.
(there's nothing special about this place, except for beautiful beaches and views on Dunk Island)
Lugsy explains us that the rainforest in North Queensland is the oldest in the world (due to the separation of continents and it's isolation before the Europeans settled).
He also explains us the important role of the Cassowary in the survival of the forest : he eats fruits containing seeds that he doesn't digest, and later on ... "Spreads" them in the wild.
We then make another quick stop in Tully (the 2nd biggest banana exporter in the world). There, we stop to take pictures of the Giant Gumboot, a 10m high gumboot in rememberance of the precipitation record they had a while ago ...
(everywhere along the East Coast there are some "big" things to represent something "special" ...)
When leaving Tully, we're lucky enough to spot a wild Cassowary running away !
(it's huge, but it's still very rare to see one)
We then drive to Townsville, where we make a quick stop for lunch before catching the ferry to Magnetic Island.
Magnetic Island is also called Maggie, and often referred to as "Paradise" ...
Nicknamed like this for it's beauty, wildlife, and climate - generally around 320 sunny days per year ...
(it also holds the biggest wild koalas colonny of Australia)
The ferry takes around 20mins.
Once on the island, I take a bus to go to Bungalow Bay, where my hostel is : the YHA Koala Village.
I check-in, but unfortunately realise that to get in the sanctuary, I have to pay an extra.
(they advert that it's the only hostel in the world with an on site sanctuary, but don't mention it's just nextdoor and need extra fee to get in ... Which in the end is logical, else I imagine the damage with drunk people going around the sanctuary and trying to play with the animals ...
After leaving my luggages in my "room" (a A shaped bungalow), I go for a walk.
I first go to Horseshoe Bay, just nextdoor.
While walking, I see some wild wallabies, kukaburras, lizards, parrots, cockattos, etc. (everything but the big stars ... no koalas ... pfff)
The wildlife on the island is incredible.
I then go for the Forts Walk, one of the main walking trails on the island.
It goes up a hill that was used during the war as a defending base against the Japaneses (some big guns were set there to shoot incoming boats).
At the start of the walk is told to take big care of the deadly snakes (Death Adders) that are present in this area ... (very reassuring)
The walk in itself is quite good, with really nice views on some bays and the ocean, as well as some "old " ruins (remember, we're in Australia ...).
The main dilemna is where to look when walking : up to spot koalas, or down to avoid walking on a snake ?
In the end I will not see any koalas (what a disappointment) - nor snakes ...
I then go back to the hostel, take a shower, do a bit of Internet and have dinner.
(Steph, the Austrian girl, has sent me some pictures of us ! Cool ! It reminds me how much fun we had, and how much I liked her ... This girl is amazing - I really want to see her again)
(while eating, there's a big bird walking around, waiting for someone to give him something to eat ... He's so funny, as he's really "polite", and shy - don't know the name of the bird and don't have any pics, I will find out :-) )
I stay in the common area (outside terrasse), where tonight is Bingo night ! (Yay !)
For fun I enroll in the game.
The first round ends up with a tie.
To determine the winner, they have to get the more clothes from the other people and make a pile ...
Follows a madness where they're running around asking people's clothes. Everybody ends up half naked ... It's fun.
After that, the 2nd round is normal (only 1 winner).
The third round goes on, and I win !
But I'm not the only one, there's also a girl, and so we have to make a challenge to determine the winner.
This challenge requires to have a friend helping us.
The girl asks one of her friends to join.
I don't have friends (I'm a lone traveller, once again all by myself ;-) ).
The game master asks the audience if anybody wants to be my friend ... A few girls volunteer and start shouting to be the one. :-)
The most motivated reaches me first. It's a nice blond girl.
The game master then explains the game : the winning team is the one that switches clothes the fastest ... (top and bottom to be swapped, not underwears ;-) )
We look at each other, showing her I'm sorry she came to play, but as soon as the start signal is given, she almost instantenously gets in underwears (blue bikini, on a lovely body). I'm wearing easy to remove clothes too and do as fast as I can to get in my boxers.
We then quickly pick the other's clothes and put them on ... (she was wearing a mini short and a body shirt ... I had to put them on ... A bit weird ...)
But we were the fastest, and thus won the round !
The price is a 20$ free drinks voucher.
When going to the bar to get our prize, I thank her and we start talking to each other (after having seen each other almost naked ...).
She's Grace, from Ireland, and invites me to join her and her friends at their table.
They're 5 Irish travelling together, 4 girls and a guy (the 4 girls are really nice and good looking, and the guy is really cool, a good group !).
There's a last round of Bingo going on.
After that, we spend the rest of the evening together, talking, drinking, and laughing ... A lot of fun.
They then all go to sleep, as it's already late (and the bar is closing), I stay a bit longer with Grace.
We talk a bit more, then kiss each other (+shower ...).
I then go to my room, and go to sleep.
A really good day. :-)
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