The Wild and Wonderful Magnetic Island

The last time Joe was in Australia, he took a side trip to Magnetic Island and saw real koalas in the wild, eating their eucalyptus leaves. I remember squealing and exploding with jealousy when I saw his pictures, even though I was on the trip of a lifetime in the Philippines with Shea!

On this trip, I wanted to go to Magnetic Island with Joe and we decided to make an overnighter of it. We hunted around for a good place to stay that was cheap, had an en-suite (attached, private) bathroom that would be a quick jaunt to the water. Keeping in mind that our standards have been set pretty low for hostels, we were impressed by the spacious room we got for about $50 a night at Magnum's Backpackers. We had a kitchenette, huge bathroom, balcony overlooking the ocean, and were only steps away from the center of this "backpacker's resort." There were a few cafes, a cheap $6 backpacker's dinner we enjoyed, live music at night, great drink specials, HDTVs in the bar, a game room, friendly drunk Australians, and a few pools. 

The resort is just across the road from the ocean, so we took an evening walk on the beach (romance!) and examined all the strange things that low tide exposes. When we got to the other side of the beach, there were some huge boulders making up a retaining wall and it looked really fun to climb, so we clambered up to the road at the top. We saw some little furry things hopping around and then remembered that the lady who checked us in told us about the rock wallabies around the corner! 

Rock wallabies and a joey!

We were so shocked to meet these fun dudes! There was a really nice couple already there and they had special rock wallaby food that they shared with us so we could get a little closer.

What is this creature!? Am I gonna die!? Can I hug it?!

After we randomly stumbled on these animals, we started getting greedy. How close can we get? What will they do for us?

Not cute enough! Show me athleticism and agility!

 

Okay, you got that. Hmm, how about babies?!

 

SUPER BONUS BABY VIDEO:

Okay, so your babies are among the cutest in the animal kingdom. How are you gonna protect that thing?

That is one fearsome and crazy ho! Keep your baby! Geez. We'll walk on some rocks and see the beautiful view from your house.

I'm pretending to be a nimble rock wallaby here. Check out that stance - one foot on each boulder!

This is how my picture would look if I were trying to show you how introspective I was being while on the island. 

When we went back to the hostel, we realized we were starving and that we should take advantage of the cheap wine and meals for a relaxing dinner. As soon as we sat down, a kookaburra came flapping into town, scared the crap out of the harmless curlews, and watched us eat like a straight-up creeper for our entire dinner. We really didn't mind because when else would we get a kookaburra as a dinner guest? 

 

I would 100% recommend a stop at Magnetic Island for anyone visiting Australia. It was breathtakingly beautiful at every turn, it was less expensive than mainland, and they have a variety of resorts for every taste and budget. 

Thanks to anyone who checked out our vacation pictures! We loved taking them and hope you loved seeing them!

xoxo

Heather