A Little Drink

Many towns along Australia's east coast serve as a gateway to a better destination and Townsville is no exception. The biggest city in North Queensland, Townsville is the hopping over point to Magnetic Island, a stretch of beaches that earned their name because they interfered with Captain Cook's compass. Backpackers rave about Magnetic--beautiful bays, great food, and lots of wild life--but the farther in we get in Australia, the harder it is to really make an impression on us. Everywhere is beautiful--the entire coast is full of gorgeous beaches, the treks are loaded with birds, reptiles, and wildlife, and the towns are places you can imagine coming back to time and again. It's not that Australia has ceased to amaze us--quite the opposite--it so constantly delivers that I am holding onto "amazing" as a supreme judgement only to be used when it is really worth it.

We spent just a day on Magnetic, taking the ferry there and back. The day was cloudless and scorching hot but we decided to trek from Horseshoe Bay to all the little bays that can only be reached by foot. We started out across the a stretch of sand and within five minutes, we were lost. There were no signs and water on three sides of us, so our only option was to turn around. A houseboat bobbed in the little creek to our right and in a last effort, I yelled out a greeting to see if anyone was inside, hopefully a warm and welcoming stranger who would offer us directions. Instead, a man most likely equal in weight and age (somewhere around 90), with a long white beard, appeared on deck. He put two fingers to his mouth and ears and then crossed himself, an gesture I assumed was meant to indicate that he neither spoke nor was able to hear. I waved, said thanks and was about to move on when he began shouting a string of expletives at me to the point of how much he hated travelers, that he wouldn't help us, and why didn't we ask the town to put up better signs. We found out later that he has been illegally squatting on that creek for fifteen years. Eventually we made found our way and trekked along the coast from Balding Bay to Radical Bay and finally to Florence Bay.

At Florence, we stopped to rest and admire another couple's foresight--they had sarongs laid out with snorkel gear, wine glasses and the leftovers of a picnic. As we were leaving, the couple emerged from the water. We exchanged a few lines about the weather and the sea and before we knew it, the four of us were headed to the local bar for a "little drink." The couple, a 69 year old Austrian who has been living in OZ for 52 years and his 36 year old wife, were as nice as they come. By the time we were wrapping up our second drink, it was decided that we were coming over for dinner and were invited to stay the night. By night fall, a few more friends had joined. Bottles of wine and cider flowed, plates of fruits, cheese, and olives kept coming and that was all before the meal. Conversation was mostly about travel and what it was like to live in all the countries represented at the table--US, Israel, Australia, Britain, New Zealand and Austria. In the end, we made our way back to the ferry but not without promises to visit again sometime soon.

To see photos of Magnetic Island, please click me