1/8 Got a bit of catching up to do.  Wrong about it being quiet, plenty of yahooing till the wee small hours last night, made for an interrupted sleep. We decide to take the snorkeling gear and check out Florence Bay. It’s such a rough and steep drive in, that hire cars aren't allowed on the road, which keeps the numbers of people down. We walk out onto a tree fringed bay with huge granite boulders each end and lovely calm water.

Magnetic Island has what is called fringe reef. Not as colourful as on the Barrier Reef but a wide variety of different types and shapes of coral. I spot an enormous turtle drifting across the reef and follow along. It doesn’t seem too perturbed by my presence and eventually disappears into the deeper water.  It must be pretty old as its shell is covered in weed which seems to be growing on it. We see lots of different fish, all shapes sizes and colours. A tour boat is moored to a buoy and the operator calls me over to show me a school of Bat fish they feed to attract for their clients. To see them side on they are like big, swimming, striped dinner plates. They are so used to people you can touch them under water. We have a wander around the Horseshoe Bay shops which haven’t changed since our last visit. Thai for tea at the Park restaurant.

2/8 Rose wakes up with a sore knee, not sure if it was from all the kicking while snorkeling. We head to Arthur Bay which is the bay next to yesterdays .  Beautiful spot and a beautiful day, with hardly a breath of wind.We have the entire Bay to ourselves for the moment.  I’m straight back into the water but Rose decides to take it a bit easy. More great underwater viewing, and we spend most of the day there. A few boats come into the bay, including a two masted boat straight out of “Adventures  in Paradise” for those TV trivia buffs.

Happy hour back at the Park bar, Pina Colada for Rose, beer for me.

3/8 A bit windy today so we check out the rest of the Island. Because of its shape and the number of bays, you can usually find a spot protected from the wind. The side closest to Townsville is a bit flatter and more mangrovey. Dickey knee and all, Rose can’t resist a walk so after lunch we head off to Balding Bay. Turns out to be a pretty tough trek, but worth it as we come onto another beautiful beach and have a well earned swim.

4/8 Fairly rough ferry ride back to Townsville. Weather forecast for the next week is pretty ordinary so we decide to head for Nicole's.  Strong headwind makes going fairly slow. Caravan Park on the  River.

5/8 Windy again. Drive for large part of the day. Stop for the night at Rockhampton. Nice caravan park, but we discover it is sandwiched between the main road and the railway line, so a bit noisy.

6/8 Another day of driving. Lots of roadworks with lengthy delay. Stop at Maryborough for the night.

7/8 We have a look around Maryborough. They have a weekly Thursday market in the main St. Quite a nice town. A large port on the river and lots of heritage buildings. Arrived at Nicole’s. Mark is away working on Curtis Island for 4 weeks so we will stay here and keep her company for about 3 weeks then head home.

8/8 - 18/8 I've been stooged. Nicole has got me painting the inside of the house.Weather forecast is for quite a bit of rainy weather so I'll be inside anyway.