For weeks we have been searching Magnetic Island for the best beaches and sights to see, and we have heard from all the locals about Five Beach Bay, this cove on the other side of the island that can only be reached by boat, something we've been lacking up to this point. We finally hit a stroke of luck and the manager here offered to take us out to the bays, and what a sight it was to see. After almost hitting a huge sea turtle and also almost losing our boat off the beach from the waves, we took a short hike up some rocks and came upon a 30 ft waterfall that flowed onto the beach and into the ocean, absolutely breathtaking. So of course we got in it, what else would you do at a waterfall?

And I just got done booking my flights and upcoming trip..on the 15th of this month, we will bus down to Airlie Beach, where the Whitsunday islands are located. If you don't know about the Whitsundays, do a quick google search and you will understand why this is a very exciting prospect for me! We will be getting on a yacht and taking a 3 day, 3 night cruise around the Whitsundays, making several stops at the phenominal beaches there, and one day we sail out 3 hours from the islands to the outer Great Barrier Reef, where I will be embarking on my first scuba dive, as well as unlimited snorkeling on the reef, which will mark the completion of #2 of my 2 goals in Oz, to see the reef...#1 was to hold a koala, check.

Then, I will get back to shore tuesday the 18th and spend the night at Airlie beach, and Wed morning I take a ferry to Hamilton Island to the airport, and fly out to Melbourne. I made some friends here at the hostel last week from Melbourne, and they have graciously offered to let me stay in the family's spare bedroom, so I will be finishing out March seeing Melbourne. And it just so happens as I found out in conversation that they have actually been having "Texan night" every two weeks for 3 years now, no lie, where they cook texas food and who knows what else Australians do for Texan night, but whatever it is, I will be honored to bring some authenticity to this sacred event by heaps of Ya'lls, actually pronouncing my r's, and saying the word saucepan correctly, instead of sawspin.
From Melbourne, I will be flying to Perth, which is just about the only city on Australia's western coast, where I have another contact through a lady I work with here. A dear friend of my coworker owns a huge ranch south of Perth and shouldn't be a problem to go stay out there for a bit, and eventually I would head into the actual city of Perth, but I will get that all sorted once I get over there. And just for a quick geography lesson, my flight from Melbourne to Perth is basically the equivalent of flying from tip of Florida to the northern tip of California with absolutely nothing but Outback desert in between, so needless to say not many backpackers get over to Perth, but everyone says it has the most incredible beaches in Australia, and from the sound of it, a much more authentic Oz experience vs just staying on the East Coast with all the other thousands of travelers and seeing the typical tourist sights...I never was one to take the typical path. So we'll see how that all pans out, but for now, 2 more weeks on Maggie Island with all the great people we've become friends with!

Oh and having a great tan from 18 days without a shirt in February hasn't been too bad either, that was just for all my fellow pasty peeps back home without a beach to go to everday :) By the time we are done with the Whitsundays it will be 35 days without a shirt; I don't really know how I'm going to cope with wearing actual clothes again once in Melbourne, it might be a rough adjustment period.