Marginally Magnetic

Well, I think I've made my first big misstep of my trip to Australia, but given the fun that I've had over the past few weeks, I suppose I can't complain. Magnetic Island seemed like an easy enough place to visit and the hostel here is one of a chain I stayed at in New Zealand that I really liked. But it ended up taking so much time to get here that I'll only be spending a day here. I caught the 9am shuttle from our hostel in Airlie Beach to the bus station. Then the 4 hour bus to Townsville. So far so good. Then a 30 minute walk in 90+ degree heat from the bus stop to the ferry terminal. Then waiting for the next ferry. When I checked in I was told the ferry left at 3pm from the rear of the terminal and there would be a boarding announcement. Odd since it left at 3:30 from the front of the terminal with no announcement. All off us backpackers saw people boarding a ferry and had to ask. I finally arrived on Magnetic Island (called "Maggie" by the locals) but didn't see the hostel's shuttle anywhere. I called the front desk (thank goodness again for my Australian cell phone) and was told to catch the local bus and I would be reimbursed at the hostel. Another 20 minute wait. Then we all had to drag our bags on the bus and onto the seats, rather than the undercarriage compartments that most buses use. When we finally got to the hostel, I stepped out of the bus and was attacked by a mad koala, and ended up with scratches all up and down my right leg. Who knew they could be so fast?

Ok, so I really fell on the last step of the bus trying to drag everything down the stairs. Not a good start to my island experience. At least it made bringing my first aid kit worthwhile!

After a 40 minute wait at the front desk, I was finally in my room with 4 bunk beds that was occupied by about 12 people. (A group of Swedish girls who were staying in various rooms but socializing in mine.) Not a big deal, but they made no effort to make it easy for me to find a place for my things. Their stuff was everywhere, and only half the beds were being used! There are underbed storage bins, but I couldn't even get to them though the pile of clothes, flip flops and shampoo bottles. I decided to get out of the room and do some laundry and then get dinner. Unfortunately, this hostel requires twice as much cash for the key deposit as other hostels, unknown to me, so all my cash went to that. And the ATM was broken. So I had to head back to the ferry terminal to get cash. I gave up on the bus after 25 minutes and started the 30 minuite walk. Of course the bus passed me right before I got to the next stop. I found an ATM on the way and a supermarket at the terminal, but no restaurants. So I bought the only thing available at the deli counter as they were closing up and caught the bus back to the hostel. The hostel is great, but it's very isolating as there is NOTHING for at least 15 minutes each way. So once it gets dark and the buses stop running, you can't go anywhere else. Tonight was a rock & roll trivia contest, which is right up my alley, but I arrived back too late to join a team and, to be honest, I didn’t see any teams I would have wanted to join. So I'm sitting outside typing this blog on my palm pilot and listening to the trivia chaos. A fun day, huh? At least the weather has been nice, although HOT, and it's a cheap side trip. Here's hoping tomorrow is better.My "souvenier" of Magnetic Island.