Sailing...

Leaving Cairns, we continued our journey south. Our first stop of any interest was Magnetic Island, a 20 minute ferry ride from Townsville. From there, we booked a hostel for a few nights, found a home for Wally, then boarded the ferry across incredibly choppy waters, which made for a wet and interesting ride over. On the island, there were many beaches that seemed to have great coral and snorkelling, so we loaded up our gear and went walkabout. Much to our dismay, it was still quite windy out and after 15kms of walking through bush trails, we found not a single beach where it was calm enough to snorkel. Thankfully, it was a nice day and we at least were rewarded with some beautiful views. That night, we went for another walk up through old forts and gun placements from the Second World War. This walk is known for it's great koala spotting, and we were lucky enough to spot two on our travels. One way far up in a tree, and another was more mobile than either of us had ever seen - sliding down one tree, climbing out a branch, then hopping into another tree to eat. We even managed to get within 10 feet of this one.
A few nights later, we landed in Airlie Beach, a very popular backpackers town. We had booked a sailing trip for Jodi's birthday, and loaded onto our boat, Freight Train, on Friday morning to head into the Whitsundays. On Jodi's birthday the next day, she was lucky enough to visit Whitehaven Beach with incredibly white silica sand as far as they eye could see, drive the sailboat, do a scuba dive into a small coral reef, snorkel with a turtle and giant napoleon wrasse, and watch the sunset across the waters. She figures this was a birthday that will not be forgotten and probably never repeated again. We even managed to snorkel again the next day and find a huge potato cod along with scores of other tropical fish. All was good until the boat engine quit, and with no winds to sail by, we waited on the boat for three hours to have a repair crew come out and get us on our way back to shore.
We headed south some more along the coast, eventually reaching Rockhampton, the self proclaimed Beef Capital of Austraila. Went out for a terrific steak dinner for Jodi's Birthday in a 130 year old pub, and found their free zoo and botanic gardens.
From there, on to the sister towns of Agnes Waters and the Town of 1770, named after the historic landing of Captain James Cook. We did a day trip out to Lady Musgrave Island, at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, and it was fantastic. Toured the island where Jodi managed to get herself pooped on by a Noddy Bird, and was assured it meant good luck. Snorkelled again, feeling so glad to have bought our own gear in Cairns, and found three green turtles at a "cleaning station" where fish come and clean their shells for them. Also saw more unicorn fish, clown fish, sea stars and cucumbers, and thousands of others all showing off their bright colours. Later, did a glass bottom boat tour, where we found a black tipped reef shark and a hawksbill turtle, which is apparently quite elusive.
Next up was a stop in Bundaberg, home of the Aussie famous Bundaberg Rum. We took a tour of the distillery, and learned how they turn molasses from the abundant local sugar cane into delicious rum. A few samples later and we were feeling just great. We even got in a game of mini golf and 10 pin bowling that night.
Currently in Hervey Bay, working out details for a 4 wheel drive tour to Fraser Island. Spent the afternoon in a pub celebrating the Melbourne Cup, known as the race that stops the nation. Entered a sweeps, and Jodi got the 2nd place horse, winning herself $14. Fancy hats and all, it was a fun day out.