Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island

Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Sun 27 Jul 2014 09:50
19:06.68s 146:51.57e   Magnetic Island – Horseshoe Bay
 
Magnetic island or (Maggie, as it is known to the locals) is a lovely island, about 8kms from Townsville.  The island was named by Capt Cook who had a problem with his compass as he passed by the island. Luckily we have had no such problems!  This is a pretty unique island in Queensland, in that parts are National Park, but a large area is regular land, with many homes that are privately owned. Its a perfect place to have a holiday house. Great beaches and views, easily accessible by ferry and a few different settlements to choose from. It is great to be on an island with a little civilisation. Horseshoe Bay which is very popular with Backpackers and day-trippers has a grocery store, a few restaurants, a booze shop and a fabulous ice-cream kiosk. 
We spent 8 days on anchor in here, before moving around to the marina on the other side (Nelly Bay)  While at Horseshoe we did a number of good walks through the nature reserve and spotted some more Australian wildlife.
 
    koala blog   kookaburra blog
 
Sleepy Koala                                                                                                   A Kookaburra ....”merry merry king of the bush is he!”
 
blog beach jo johyn      guest house
 
On the beach with Jo and John, after a walk over the hill                                               My kind of house ..... Horseshoe Bay
 
Once again we spent time with Jo and John on  Kirra Kirra, and also made some new friends. Mike met up with some local fisherman, who have trawlers that head up to the Gulf of Carpentaria for months on end. They swapped lots of fishing stories and Mike gave them one of his special hand made lures. They were equally generous, giving him packets of fresh bait (Garfish), which they catch commercially.  Unfortunately our fishing has not been great, but we did buy a big box of prawns which we have been enjoying.  We also met Mark, who has a Nordhavn 57 called Myrtle, she is the “splitting image” of Time 2.
 
blog fishing boat    blog myrtle
 
Trawlers looking like giant birds in Horseshoe Bay                                                                                  This is Myrtle ...a sister ship to Time2
 
 
We have now taken Time 2 round to Magnetic Island Marina – where she will stay while we fly down to New Zealand (north island) for a fleeting visit. Our first priority is to do some skiing and then some sightseeing closer to Auckland.  Lets hope the weather plays ball.