Magnetic Island, Queensland, AustraliaIt was a glorious morning as we cycled along The Strand to the ferry terminal where we were to catch the ferry to Maggie!
Cycling on Magnetic Island is a popular way to explore the island.
New cycle pathways have been created; sadly, however, they don't cross the entire island to Horseshoe Bay yet!
Poor Jackson was recovering from the same tummy bug that Emily had; however, he bravely cycled on.
Now, there are some hills on Maggie and we were grateful for the gears on our folding bikes to help us up and over these hills.
The views were stunning as we cycled to Arcadia where we enjoyed morning tea in a local cafe. We continued cycling to Arcadia Bay where the cycle path ended and some hikes began. A Townsville bike shop local had told us we could cycle the hiking path. We quickly ascertained that this wasn't possible with our bikes. We parked our bikes at the start of the trail and we began to hike the 2 km to the start of the Forts walk.
The Forts is reputedly the best place to spot a koala, as well as to discover the many WWII fortifications. Jackson is our champion koala spotter and he didn't disappoint us by spotting our one and only koala of the day.
After a late lunch at the Arcadia Pub, we cycled back down, up and over to Picnic Bay which had further stunning vistas and sea breezes. Sadly, all too soon it was time to cycle back in time to catch our ferry back to Townsville. We would love to return with our bicycles and stay for a while on Maggie in the future.
Mum and Dad decided to cycle a little further past The Strand, around Kissing Point Fort to Pallarenda. This proved to be yet another glorious bicycle pathway to enjoy in Townsville.
On our final.morning, there was still birthday ice cream cake to devour. We did our best to eat as much of the ice cream cake for breakfast before driving up Castle Hill to bid farewell to this north Queensland coastal city. Thanks for the fun times Townsville: we will definitely be back!
2025-05-22