Travelling to Magnetic Island
Or as the locals call it, ‘Maggie’.
Included in the package that we bought to explore Magnetic Island was a two night stay at Base hostel, it had a lovely pool and was situated right on the beach front.
On our first full day, we rented a 4x4, one of the main activities for travellers on the island. You either have the option to rent ‘Barbie’ cars, which are super cute however do not have access to the whole island. Instead we opted for the 4x4 and set off on our way. We started at The Forts walk, which is about an hour return walk through a really pretty park. You can also spot wild koala’s in the trees above, there are 5 that live there.
After the walk we visited Horseshoe Bay, where the front is lined with cafes and restaurants which are all fairly reasonably priced. We had packed lunches (budgets are running very tight this late in the trip!) but we made sure to visit the famous ice cream parlour Adele’s which was so delicious. We then drove the car around Horseshoe Bay in attempt to find the famous butterfly forest. We had no clue where it was and gave up after half an hour of aimlessly wandering searching for butterflies.
Next on the list were the other beaches on the island, including Radical Bay and Florence Bay. We accidentally didn’t read the sign saying ‘no hire cars’ on the road towards Radical Bay, and ended up having an extremely hilarious ride up there through some dangerously large potholes! On our drive back we saw two hitchhikers who asked to stand on the back of the car and we thought why the hell not… They were from Italy and immediately asked whether we had seen the incredible butterfly forest - how opportune! We dropped them off and set off to find the forest with their directions. We weren’t sure what to expect, but when we got there it was magical. You have to tap the tree trunks and each time you do, hundreds of butterflies fly overhead. This little haven of peace is incredible, entering the forest is genuinely like being in a cloud full of butterflies. We were so thankful we picked up those hitchhikers! When we looked overhead we also noticed that above the trees was what looked like large birds but they were actually bats! It was madness.
The last stop for the day was West Point, so we grabbed some icy cold Corona’s and drove across for sunset. We got extremely lucky with the clear sky and watched a beautiful sunset, it was the perfect end to such an amazing day.
