I have been absolutely terrible at keeping on top of this over the last few days (I’ve obviously been having way too much fun!) so if you’re reading this, I dont blame you if you stop before the end!

Day 17

Magnetic Island Ferry – $30 pp if you book online, $34 at the ticket office.

All day bus ticket – $7.40 pp

Civic Guesthouse Hostel – $52 per night, private double

It was a little up in the air on whether or not we were going to go to Magnetic Island today or not. Matt hadn’t been feeling well and probably would have preferred to spend the day in bed however he put his big boy pants on and we hopped on the ferry.

We arrived on the island at around 10am after a 20 minute crossing. The crossing itself was pretty nice with views of Townsville fading into the distance. We knew we wanted to start the day with the Forts Walk. Magnetic Island was used as WW2 garrison and despite many of the fortifications being ripped down immediately after the war, the foundations, the command post and the communications post remain.

It is around a 4km return walk and took us a couple of hours to complete, including time to stop at the top for lunch and read all of the plaques! For those who don’t know, there is a running joke between myself and Matt regarding plaques. He loves them and will stop to read any plaque, any where.

Aside from the historical attraction to the area, it is well known as a place to see sleeping koalas in the trees either side of the track. We were lucky enough to see a mother and baby.

After the walk, we headed down to Nelly Bay. After snorkelling in the Whitsundays, I was keen to give it another go. Matt however still wasn’t feeling well so the plan was he would relax on the beach, whilst I ventured out onto one of the snorkelling trails. The trails on Magnetic Island are marked with buoys and are fairly close to the shore.

When we arrived, the beach was deserted. Nobody was snorkelling and there were no lifeguards. Undeterred, I got on my mask and flippers. I made it approximately 10m from the shore before I decided that the first buoy (100m in) looked a hell of a lot further away than anticipated and promptly chickened out. We went for a beer instead.

Day 18

Townsville to Mission Beach – 235km

Jackaroo Hostel – $15 unpowered in hostel car park, full use of facilities, free breakfast and glass of wine each.

At last, today was a little bit of a chilled day. We drove from Townsville to Mission Beach, randomly pulling off the road at a lookout point (which happened to be the highlight of my day). The view was just incredible and it was unbelievable that this was so close to the highway. We decided to eat lunch here before getting back on the road.

Mission Beach is part of the Cassowary Coast Region and this was our main reason for visiting. The beach itself stretches for 13km and is a popular site for skydiving. We spent a couple of hours wandering a long the beach and relaxing on the sand.

Tonight we were staying at the Jackaroo Treehouse hostel, which is a little out of Mission Beach, nestled in the rainforest. We were absolutely amazed when we walked in, it was one of the most picturesque hostels imaginable and it had a bar. What else could you want?

Whilst checking in, we heard some familiar voices coming from inside the kitchen and out walks a couple we had met whilst cherry picking in Orange (over 2000km away). In a country as big as Australia, it was a pretty big coincidence! We spent the evening catching up over a few beers of course.

Day 19

Raging Thunder White Water Rafting – Tully River – Normally $169 pp, I bartered it down to $150

Jackaroo Treehouse Hostel – unpowered camping $15

To celebrate my first year in Australia we decided to go White Water Rafting. I was pretty excited when the shuttle picked us up early on Friday morning to head up to the Tully Gorge.

The rafts held 6 people, plus the guide and we were matched with a family of four from Ireland who were on holiday. The parents of the family had done the same trip down the river 20 years prior and were back to share that experience with their kids.

After having our helmets and life jackets fitted. We headed out onto the rafts for some drill training! Once we were all proficient in rowing, leaning left/right, getting down and just generally not knocking each other out with the oars (someone lost a tooth in a trip the day prior), we headed off down our first rapid. Nobody fell out of the boat, nobody lost a tooth and everyone enjoyed it. Mission 1 was a success!

By lunch time we were all pros and having the best time. Matt was in his element and for once, was actually smiling! Lunch was sandwiches, soup, salad, salad, coleslaw etc and we ate by the river. The soup was most welcome as the water was absolutely freezing and by this point, we had all been pelted with it on more than one occasion. We managed to get the raft wedged on a rock and spent what felt like an eternity being power washed by thousands of litres of water until we finally shuffled free.

After lunch it was more of the same. Each rapid was different to the one before and each one was named. They were generally named after an event that happened there which made for some fun little anecdotes from our guide.

We got the opportunity to swim through a rapid towards the end of the day. We had to jump from the bank into the water as far as we could and were immediately taken by the current. You have to put your legs straight out in front of you as protection. The force of the water was remarkable and we were pulled under the water repeatedly and were swept into rocks. Once out of the rapid, you had to swim, hard, to the edge where the boats were waiting. The guides all had ropes so if you were swept too far, they would pull you back in. Luckily, neither one of us needed the rope but I was fighting for breath when I made it to the shore.

When I initially jumped into the river, I managed to breathe in a ton of water and when I resurfaced I never managed to regain control of my breathe so as you can imagine, being constantly dunked underwater when you couldn’t hold your breath was not the nicest of experiences.

I hated every second, but it was pretty interesting (and terrifying) to feel what the current could do. Luckily I had a life jacket and some very experienced people around me so the level of danger was fairly low. It doesn’t bare thinking about what would happen if you were unlucky enough to be swept into that river without all of that!

After my trauma, we were pulled back into the raft for some more fun bits! We had an amazing day and were really sad when it was over. It is definitely something I would recommend and I can’t wait to try it again in another location.

Day 20

Mission Beach to Cairns – 140km

Josephine Falls – free

Mad Monkey Village Backpackers – $22 pp/pn, 4 bed dorm

The main objective of the day was to see a wild cassowary and I was determined. We were hoping we would see some in Mission Beach, where the majority live and even though they are often spotted in the hostel gardens, we weren’t so lucky.

We decided to head to Etty Beach and as we parked, I glanced to my right and there he was. As easy as that! Mission complete by 10.30am. We spent a little while watching him from a far. Cassowaries are known as one of the worlds most dangerous birds and if they feel threatened, will attack humans. They have an enormous, pointed, inner claw that is just plain terrifying. Despite this, they are pretty damn cool!

With our mission complete so early in the day, we decided to head up to Cairns a day early, visiting Josephine Falls en route.

The falls were beautiful and we spent a little while watching the water from each lookout point.

This was in stark contrast to the bird who flew straight into our car on the highway. Gross alert. When we pulled over, he was wedged between the roof and roof rack. I refused to look and Matt had the unfortunate task of pushing him out. We think he we was killed instantly. Blurgh. RIP little bird.

On arriving in Cairns, we decided to take advantage of the free gym pass provided by the hostel before heading out for the most amazing double cheeseburger. Life is all about balance! On our wander into the centre, we came across a free concert in the park which was super cute. There was hundreds of people gathered around the stage on picnic blankets and camping chairs, a bar and tons of food vans. The headline act was Pete Murray. I have no idea who he is, but his music was pretty good and the crowd were singing a long so I’m assuming he’s well known in Aus!

Of course we grabbed a beer, found a spot to sit and enjoyed the show.

Day 21

Cairns Aqua Park – $20 for a double 50 minute session
Mad Monkey Village Backpackers – $22 pp/pn, 4 bed dorm

Today we decided to be big kids and visit the Cairns Aqua Park, a huge inflatable obstacle course in the middle of a lake. When we arrived it was pretty much deserted and we were told that we would pretty much have the place to ourselves. Great – less children to land on and squash!

We had a such a good morning, I havent laughed that much in so long. We spent it running through obstacles, swinging into the water, sliding down slides and landing in a heap more times than I can count! Matt was absolutely king of the monkey bars.

The afternoon was spent wandering around Cairns and eating ice cream by the marina. The evening was spent with Matt bed bound as I managed to drop a metal pole on his toe. Whoops. His toe is turning black. Hoping he can walk in the morning so we can still climb Walsh’s Pyramid.