Magnetic Island and the Waterfall Circuit

There is an old physicists joke, that goes like this:

Q: How many numbers does a physicist knows?
A: 3 numbers: 1,2 and infinity.

This is quite the same for a koala seeker.
Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Townsville, is a place to see LOTS of koalas. How much is lots? Well, when we speak about flies then a hundred can be quite a lot (although some would rightly argue that even one is too much). When we talk about kilometers, than 2000 can seem quite a lot when driving a car, but not when flying. If we speak about koalas, then lots means, like in the joke, more than 2.
Maggie, as it is called, is a small tropical island, and it takes no more than 30 minutes to get there by a ferry from Townsville. There are shuttle buses that connect all the important points on the island, at least twice every hour. But the most popular vehicle there is a mock - a funny jeep-like vehicle the size of a carting car.
We slept at a rather noisy backpackers hostel in Arcadia beach. We didn't waste our time and went for a walk called "The Forts". In World War II, Australia was attacked by Japan and Townsville was at the front line. Magnetic Island was fortified and prepared for war, and some of the remains of the forts that were built still exist. This walk climbs to the tallest fort, with great views on the bays at the north and east. This, however, was not the highlight of the walk. During the two hours walk we were lucky enough to see two koalas on the trees. One of them was so close that we could almost touch it and cuddle it (which is basically the only thing that you want to do when you see a koala).

At night we sat in the bar and watched a game of... we actually don't know what game it was. There are two very similar games in Australia. The first is Rugby, which looks like the lawless cousin of American football, and the second is Australian football (Footie), which looks like the lawless version of Rugby. Needless to say that none of them have any relation to real football (which the Australian call "Soccer' like in the US), since there is only little use of the foot, and the thing that they throw is definitely not a ball!
These games are known for the brutal and wild violence that you can inflict upon your opponent, which is followed by a handshake and a friendly tap on the back. Just think how will Christiano Ronaldo would have reacted if tackled that way.
Whatever game it was, it was rather a dramatic one. One of the teams, who was far behind most of the game, managed to tie the score at the last minute and win in overtime. Whatever the sport is, that's how we like it!
Lilya didn't feel well on the next day so Oren went to hike alone on the trail leading from Arcadia to Nelly bay. This wasn't such a lucky day, so all Oren saw was one koala sitting on a tree close by and another female koala. How did he know it was a female koala? He knew that because it had a baby koala grabbing its fur and cuddling in her lap. This was such an amazing sight! The mother was holding the cub and both of them looked like a two face fur ball. Oren didn't need anything more that day.

But this day wasn't over yet. On the afternoon, after spending some time at the beach, we went to see the rock wallabies. Each day before sunset they are being fed at a place near our hostel. The party had already started when we came and the place was crowded with wallabies grabbing every food available from the tourist that were feeding them. We could photograph them from any angle doing their wallaby stuff. When we returned to the hostel we saw 3 kukaburras waiting for their food. You can say we had a good animal day!

Usually, you have certain expectations about the people you might meet in a backpackers hostel. Oliver, which we met that night was nothing like we expected. This Irish born, Sydney resident, ex French cook, retired lad, had lots of amazing stories about his travels around the world. Lilya liked him immediately, since he wore a Chelsea shirt, and indeed he was a long time Chelsea fan, that even climbed Wembly stadium to sneack into a game once.
Oliver was in 90 different countries around the world and he has a notebook to prove it. In his notebook he recorded all the cities and countries he visited with the dates when he did it. This list includes places like Afghanistan, before the soviet invasion, and 15 seconds in Lebanon in 1978, when it was still possible to jump over "the good fence" from Israel and return quickly.
We sat with Oliver for hours hearing his stories about the places, the travels, and especially about the ladied. Like a sailor, for every place there is a girl and for every girl there is a story. Oliver actually came to Maggie to write his book about his travels, but after he found out that the house he wanted to use (another fine story about a girl) was already in use, he stayed at this backpackers hostel. He also made friends, and introduced us to his room mates - a loud bunch of overly drunk Ozie boys that had also some funny stories to tell. Eventually, the owner of the pub had to kick us out, since we stayed very late (which in Australian standards is 10:30pm).
One the next day we returned to Townsville, took our car and drove to Wallaman falls, at the Wooroonooran national park. On the way we threw away 40$ when we decided to enter to the Mamu Mamu treetop walk. This is a highly accessible trail that has some nice balconies at the height of the treetops and a tower above the forest. However, we thought that the price was really exaggerated compared to what we saw there, and that the free walk in Lamington national park was as good.
We arrived on the afternoon to Wallaman falls, the highest falls in Australia. You don't usually think of Australia as a land of waterfalls, but these are really impressive, with a drop of about 340 meters. We went down to the base and up again. This is a very recommended place if your there.

Atherton tableland, between Townsville and cairns, is the home to few other falls, which you can see in a half a day of driving in the "Waterfall Circuit" that starts near Milla Milla. The most famous (and the most beautiful) are the Milla Milla falls, that has become the symbol of this area.

However, they are overly crowded at all times, so come very early if you want to catch them without people. We took some photos of the falls, and continued to Cairns - the great vacation city of Australia.


Tip 1: Go to Magnetic and take the time to take a walk there. You'll have a good chance to see a koala or 2.
Tip 2: The Mamu Mamu is much too expansive for what it gives, in our opinion. However, it is very accessible for disabled people.
Tip 3: Allow enough time in Wallaman falls, the trip down to the base is a must (and then you have to go back...).
Tip 4: There are a lot of organized trips from Cairns to the waterfall circuit but they cost to much. You can rent a car with a friend and do it in half a day for less than half of the price.