Video Transcript
Welcome to Wout of the World.
You’re joining me today in Australia. We’re in Queensland, just off the coast from Townsville, and this here is Magnetic Island.
That’s right. We’re continuing the big lap down under.
And over there, we’ll be driving the East Coast, the South Coast, all the major sites all the way to the West in this super nice four-wheel drive campervan.
This is what you saw so far. From Darwin and the Northern Territory, we already drove to Cairns, and the Great Barrier Reef.
We were on a mission in Mission Beach, which was to find the elusive living dinosaurs, the Cassowaries. And now we drive to Townsville in three hours for a new East Coast adventure.
We’re here and this is Townsville, so let’s do a little city safari. Townsville is a city between Brisbane and Cairns and has about 165,000 inhabitants. It was named after Robert Towns, who first ordered the construction of a shipyard over here. And today, this is still the most important source of income, because in the industrial port, there are a lot of minerals being shipped and metals being processed. So a real industrial town. From here, we’ll be going into the nature. Why not?
Townsville is interesting for colonial buildings, modern architecture, and street art.
It has one of Australia’s key military bases, and it’s sunny almost all the time.
It’s great for camping too, and inexpensive compared to other hotspots in Queensland.
We got some proof again of the fact that wildlife is always nearby in Australia. We were just watching a movie outside of the camper van, and all of a sudden this rock wallaby hops by. Normally, they’re very shy, so I chased them a bit and right next door at the caravan of the neighbours, I could make some awesome shots of him. They’re so cute.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention right here on the campsite, next to the swimming pool, we have a little water park. It’s awesome.
This is so awesome. But the real reason to be here is waiting in front of the Coast.
Today, I visit Magnetic Island, a beautiful rocky island just 20 minutes off the Coast from Townsville. I went here by ferry, and there isn’t only nature to be found here. It has a lot of history too, because Captain Cook himself named the island Magnetic Island when he came sailing around and his compass was disturbed by a magnetic field. And this magnetic field still works because it draws visitors from all over the world with more than 300 sunny days a year. I’m going to discover what’s so special about Magnetic Island.
The SeaLink ferry takes passengers to this little slice of paradise over 15 times a day.
Tickets are around 20 Aussie dollars, and the trip takes about half an hour. I arrive in Nelly Bay, and from here, it’s pretty easy to find my way around the island.
The bus is fairly busy, but it makes sense because it costs only $1 for a day. Where can you find that? On Magnetic Island, there are several walking tracks that you can do. I visited the first one that’s called the Forts Walk, which is the most important one and the most rewarding one, because at the end you can see some nice old fortresses from the Second World War, but more importantly, you can spot koalas on the way over there. So I’m looking up.
As a matter of fact, this place has the largest colony of koalas in the northern half of Australia. After just 15 minutes of walking, I see two koalas up here in the tree, but they’re both fast asleep, so maybe they will wake up soon. Let’s try and see.
It does take a while, but the adult koala gives me some proof of life…and back to sleep.
So what do you think of the view, guys? And there is another koala right over here in this tree. Oh, it’s moving. Once again, I’ve reached the top. It was quite the hike, and it’s warm, but the view is magnificent.
So I’m now at the top of the highest of all the fortresses with a 360 view all around us, and I think this is the best spot of the island. Look at this.
The nature is incredible, but it’s also nice to learn a bit of the involvement of this island in World War II, mostly for observation and intercepting radio signals of the enemy. And what a view did they have while doing it. We won’t ever see them closer than this one.
As I walk back to the bus stop, I find another koala with a baby on its back. They are both wide awake and really made my day. It was so tempting to just jump in that tree and start cuddling them. But I didn’t.
Time to continue our trip on Magnetic Island. This was the Forts Walk. It was beautiful. The views were amazing. And I think six is a perfect score for koalas. Let’s see what else we can find on Magnetic Island.
Wait a second. Just walking here, seeing this car over here, I suddenly remember I’ve been to this island before. It was eight years ago, and there was a similar car like this one involved, a tropical topless car, really nice and pink. It went a little something like this.
Hi, Barbie. Do you want to go for a ride? Sure, kid.
Jump in.
Okay, we did have a lot of fun, though.
These cars must be unbreakable, still driving around here. I drive up to the north.
My next stop is the largest and the most popular bay on the other side of the island.
From Nelly Bay, you get here in 15 minutes, and this one is called Horseshoe Bay. It’s crowded over here, but it is beautiful.
From the sky, we can see not only the white and turquoise blue Horseshoe Bay, but also the nearby Balding Bay and Radical Bay. The entire island proves to be very mountainous and beautifully green from up here. Let’s continue because there are more awesome animals waiting. My next stop is called Alma Bay.
It’s close to the town of Arcadia. It’s beautifully set between rocks. It’s perfect for swimming. And also within five minutes, you can walk to the rock wallabies from here. So I’m going to do that too. And first, enjoy this beach.
Now let’s go and find some rock wallabies, and I should find them because I came prepared. Not only do I have this, but I also got this, their favourite food. Or did you think this was my lunch? Not so bad.
From Alma Bay, I walk over to Geoffrey Bay and the rocky peninsula in the middle.
Over there, I have a dinner date with the cutest animals on the island.
And so we’ve learned the way to the wallaby’s heart is through the stomach.
They love my carrots, and again, I am lucky to find a baby one, too.
And some colourful lizards join the party. How lucky was I?
I saw a bunch of rock wallabies. They did like my carrots, and now they’re all gone. So I was here on time, late afternoon. I’m heading back to Nelly Bay from Geoffrey Bay, where we are now, to see what’s over there. But this day is turning out pretty amazing.
I’m almost at the end of my visit to Magnetic Island, but I walked back from Geoffrey Bay to Nelly Bay to have the most spectacular road and Coast walk of the island. Just look at this behind me. Sun is setting and I’m almost back at the pier.
Rarely, I visited an island that’s so pretty with mountains, beaches, rainforest, hikes, and such easy to spot animals. It’s all very relaxed and therefore a must do in Queensland.
Cheers, and let’s go on to the next one. I think I deserve this one. Cold Great Northern.
Back with the family. I miss you guys so much. We’re ordering pizza, by the way. Yeah.
Pizza!
We enjoy the campsite for some days and get ready to drive on to the next adventure. It’s time to continue our route down south along that East Coast, and the next stop will be Bowen.
We’ll cruise the Whitsundays and see the best spots in all of Australia, all the way around.
Don’t forget to subscribe, and I’ll see you there. Ciao.
Wout of the World
Online travel show in Dutch and English with World traveler and actor Wout of the World. In dozens of episodes Wout takes you out for adventure all over the world, always in the most budget-friendly way. Enjoy over 120 countries from your couch, phone or the computer.