Wow, what a retreat - Australia's little bit of paradise. Got to Magnetic Island  - know as Maggie by the locals - on Friday. Staying at THe best place in Aus - Bungalow Bay, Koala Village. It's a sanctuary for Koala's and other wildlife. Staying in these cute little 'A' shape bungalows. The hostel is more like a hotel with its spa pool, bling restaurant, and bar. There are a few people camping but you know me - I don't do camping anymore...!Everyday at 4.30pm the resident rangers hand fed the local lorikeets that reside on site. What a spectacle -those who have watched Hitchcock's "Birds" should steer well clear. Like clockwork the rainbow coloured birds start going mental and then swarm down to the ranger and start pecking away at him and the food he carries. He then drops their food at various places around the "stage" area and the feeding frenxy begins. They even encourage audience participation but personally I'd rather not get covered in bird poop - no matter how beauiful they look. Nathan on the other hand got well stuck in - check the pictures and you'll agree he looks like the Bird Man of Keighley.Saturday I signed us up to Koala Bush walk that takes in the fabulous grounds of the hostel - got to hold a crocodile, boa constrictor and koala. Crapped myself when holding the first two and the koala crapped on my hand when I held it!!! Got some cure pictures of the whole thing.Sunday morning and things got even better when  again I'd signed us up to Brunch with the Koala's. They have a fab decked area within the wildlife sanctuary and they cook up a mouthwatering brekkie for you starting with champagne with guava juice (sluming it indeed!!) (girls this tastes fantastic). After brekkie I convinced Nathan to do one of the many island walks. Even though it was 28 degrees I wanted to get active.Took a few hours to do one of the circuits which takes in about 5 bays and sweated hald my body weight away but worth it. This place is ace and will miss it when we leave. Few days ago we did Airlie Beach (totally overrated) which is the stop-off for The Whitsundays. Following my sea sickness episode in New Zealand we opted for a day trip instead of the usual 3 night 2 day jobbie. So drugged up we boarded a fabulous boat with Mantarey Tours and set sail for Whitehaven Beach. Beautiful doesn't even come close to this place...white sand that's so fine it squeaks under your feet, crystal clear aqua blue waters and hardly anyone around. After some lunch we sailed off to Mantarey Island where we donned out snorkelling gear and jumped into the Reef. Beautiful coral, all shapes sizes and colours. Best bit was swimming next to a sea turtleInbetween Airlie Beach and Hervy Bay we had to stop off at a place called Rockhampton to break up the journey. Warning to all NEVER STOP there  - there's NOTHING to do...the only local attraction is the Dreamtime Cultural Centre that looks to promote Aboriginal Culture. But I quote Nathan "it's the biggest pile of w**k ever" The only good bit was the traditional dancing they had on which was banging - cool moves and fantastic beats - but they only had the show on because of a large tour operator visiting. Had we arrived on a different day they wouldn't have performed. Bent especially as its cost us about 30 quid to get in!!!Anyway, off to Cairns on Tuesday then hopefully off to Melbourne before the week's out.