Long weekend on Maggie

[bPeteb]

As we'd done last last (well, planned to do) BigAl has filled most of the long week ends with trips around Oz. Last year we even managed a long weekend on the NZ west coast for Australia Day. That weekend is our only miss this year.

Port Douglas NY. Tassie for easter, now up to Magnetic Island for Anzac Day long weekend.

QF flights, as usual.
Pre-booked Sealink ferry over.
Stayed at Island Leisure Resort Island Leisure Resort
Car hired from Car Hire - Magnetic Adventure & Hire

We had an excellent time!

 

[bPeteb]

QF business lounge was quite busy considering it was Saturday morning. Lots of planes, Oz is definitely coming back to life



737 up to Townsville with a shadow that stuck. View of the Sunny Coast, in the sun, something we didn't see much of on Maggie.



The Y snack...



Cab to ferry terminal and the ferry was pretty full. For some reason neither of us took any pictures of the ferry, or the 20 minute ferry ride

We walked to Island Leisure Resort from the ferry terminal at Nelly Bay. It took about 15 minutes but we walked around behind Peppers along the road instead of in front of it along the boardwalk.



We were really happy with our accommodation and the resort itself. Lovely manager (owner?). It was one of the renovated rooms, room 2. The only things that could have been improved, for us, were dc fans as one was either on full, or not on at all, and getting rid of the horrible ring of fluoro lights that circled the room. It was like being in an operating theatre with them all on

 

[bPeteb]

The gardens were immaculate, the rooms spotless, there is a games room with a pool table, mountains of board games, tennis racquets and balls for the full size tennis court, and a huge pool that looks nowhere near as big as it is on their website. Super deep as well

fake wildlife



real wildlife





once you were in the water it was just ok





our room from the gardens. I used to hate fake grass once but in FNQ it would be a nightmare to have to maintain lawns at a largish resort

 

[RB]

I enjoy your reports. Very interested in this as we are visiting Magnetic in late July

 

[kookaburra75]

MrsK and I will be riding along as well for this Trip Report. Maggie Island is a particular favourite for her, having done a couple of trips with friends.

 

[drron]

And you got a good shot of our house on the Sunshine coast.Upper right corner just inside the border.

 

[bPeteb]

We'd booked the car for 48 hours from Saturday arvo to Monday same time. Car hire is an odd thing on Maggie. Lots of companies with quite an 'exotic' collection of cars to choose from. Older sedans and small SUVs, newish convertible Minis and Fiat 500s, Mazda MX5s and Jeep Wranglers. Then there's the terrifying topless Daihatsus that have replaced the mokes that BigAl remembers from his visit of 34 years ago. Prices also all over the place too. Sealink offer a deal of ferry tickets, a drink onboard and car hire. We asked for a quote and decided it wasn't particularly good value...

We hired an older RAV4 from Magnetic Island Adventure and Hire because we through we'd be able to access places in a 4WD that we couldn't in a normal car. Sadly that wasn't to be. The West Point road was closed to hire cars until the council got a grader to it. The Radical Bay Road was closed completely due to damage from heavy rain the week before. Even the Forts walking track was closed.

Now that we've been we'd possibly not get a car at all as the bus service looked to be excellent. The buses regular and the route extensive. Over the time we were there we saw lots of people sat at bus stops with their carry-ons waiting for the bus to take them back to Nelly Bay. If you're not tied to having a car it is definitely worth considering.

We drove up to Horseshoe Bay and had a quick squiz. A waterpolo tournament was on our in the netted pool. North Queensland Games apparently. Then back to look for the rock wallabies where the ferry used to come in. Just two there mooching for food







the mighty RAV



stopped at the Arcadia Village pub for an ale



then back to Nelly Bay and the resort for what was quite a chilly swim

Walked around to the shops where there is a Foodworks and a bottle shop and we got some breakfast and non-breakfast supplies

Dinner was at Man Fridays. If you read the google reviews you'd maybe have second thoughts. It was, ok. Our waiter, her first night at work, was lovely. The person who many comment about had quite a different style of waiting. I have parents from the north of England so I recognised the 'manner' straight away. The food was just ok







but the sangria was excellent.



Loved the curlews wandering through the restaurant and the possums being fed right beside us.

 

[bPeteb]

Some night shots of the bus route and timetable

 

[bPeteb]

Sunday was walking day. This is the route using the AllTrails app. It says 9.1km but my watch measured closer to 13 by the time we got back to the resort (including detours).



It was a really excellent walk with some beautiful bushland and great views.

 

[bPeteb]

some more from the walk



















we had lunch at Scallywags - fantastic burgers although maybe one of us should have tried one of their stuffed potato. They looked amazing

 

[bPeteb]

Knowing how hard a booking is to get here in Brisbane we decided we'd contact SaltWater and request a booking for Sunday night. Lucky we did. Even two weeks out we were offered by only two slots. Dinner was excellent. No website, just a facebook page Saltwater Magnetic Island

Unlicensed, so wine picked up next door from the bottle shop





scallops


wontons


pork


seafood broth


cheesecake


dessert tasting plate

 

[bPeteb]

Monday, last day, was driving, walking, driving, ferry and flight home.

We drove up to Horseshoe Bay with the intent of walking the tracks of the headland to the north east. We'd been told by some people we'd met at Island Leisure that things were not the thing to walk in, not that we would have, but with shoes on and the tide in walking along the beach was a no go. We consulted Google maps and found the alternate non-wet route was via Heath and Dent St. Problem solvered.

Lovely walk up and over to the two beaches on the headland. You walk past a couple of houses available to rent that would be interesting to arrive at in foul weather. A creek running down from the headland



with some great views back into Horseshoe Bay



and more of the beautiful boulder-strewn landscape that is what Magnetic Island is all about



we got to the junction on the trail where left was Balding Bay and straight ahead was Radical Bay. We chose left, and decided it was time to get our gear off

Balding Beach was beautiful. The sun came out and we did what you do on a clothing optional beach and went for a swim







We should have walked over the headland (above) as Radical Bay was literally 100m away over the rocks. Instead, after tempting the fish for long enough we re-robed and returned to the track. We got back to the junction





and neither of us felt like going downhill to the bay and then back up so we just walked back to the car.

Lunch at Arcadia Village again, very nice, and then a visit to Picnic Bay, another beautiful bay/beach, and the location of the first hotel and jetty on Maggie. Of course we called into the hotel for a last drink on Maggie

 

[bPeteb]

Towmsville?



Picnic Bay, misogyny lives



Some amazing fig trees too.







filled the RAV up and they drove us down to the ferry



It was a tad rocky going back across to Townsville but for us a lot of fun. The lounge at Townsville was surprisingly busy. It is so much nicer than the Hobart lounge and that isn't saying much...

No luck with with my upgrade request so here's dinner



At least the sunset was amazing! Two from two





and with that our quickie to Maggie was over.