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Gday from a very very skanky hostel in Townsville. We (Janina and I) stayed here on Saturday night before heading over to Magnetic Island on Sunday, so it's no great shock this time, but jeeso, it's raaank! Didn't even have a shower here when we stayed on Saturday, for fear of what I might catch. Still, $22 per night and staff so stupid that we only paid one key deposit of $20 but got two keys, so that'll be a nice profit of 20 bucks when we check out tomorrow :)
So the last time I wrote was on a very rainy day in Mission Beach. Thankfully we've seen nothing but sunshine since leaving there! It wasn't a bad place, just a bit boring. Can't remember if I actually noted what we did there but it mostly consisted of sitting in the TV room! We watched The Rebound and Australia, both not bad films. We met some nice people in Mission Beach, some of whom we have seen again since (everybody is generally heading south). It was a bit of a funny 5 days though. The bad weather combined with the news that my best friend is not gonna be there when I get home made for a bit of a brain-f*ck! (I promise I am happy for him! Was just a shock).
On Saturday it was time to say goodbye to Mission Beach and get back on the Oz bus, where I was greeted by Wings (the driver I'd had from Byron to Sydney) so that was cool :) There were only 5 other people on the bus (Janina has a Greyhound bus pass) so it was a fairly boring drive to Townsville. Also pretty annoying to find that the hostel recommended to me by Oz Experience was (A) nowhere near the ferry terminal for Magnetic Island and (B) a complete dump. Oh well. Wings was taking the other 5 girls over to Maggie Island but he managed to find the time to drive me to my hostel - my own personal Oz bus! He also gave me his Peanut Slab as a birthday (/sympathy) present, sweet :) Janina arrived a couple of hours later and was pretty p*ssed that she was made to pay $5 for checking in "late" because it was after 7pm… (SH!TTY HOSTEL!!!) So we got out of the hostel ASAP and headed to McDonald's (yes, again) to use the free Wifi (and also because we didn't dare set foot in the kitchen).
The following morning we took a taxi down to the ferry terminal and boarded the ferry to Magnetic Island. The sun was shining and we were very excited to get away from this dump and head to tropical paradise! We stayed at Base, which is literally right on the beach. After a bit of a fiasco with the rooms, we were given the keys to our "Sanctuary" room… as far as I knew, it was only named that because it was a 6 bed female dorm. Turns out it's named that because it's a 6 bed female dorm with air conditioning, a fluffy white towel, shampoo, conditioner, soap, a real duvet (not really necessary but with the air con on full blast it was actually really nice) AND between 6 and 7pm, as much "champagne" as you can drink! I was delighted to find that I was being given all this just because I paid an extra $9. Was also really happy that I'd be able to have something bubbly to drink on my birthday, as the hostel was licensed and therefore you weren't allowed to BYOB.
That first afternoon we just sat on the beach for a while, went to the supermarket and then had a few (free) glasses of bubbly. We took a wander down to the beach with some cider and just chilled out for a bit. Then just before midnight Janina suggested we go back to the bar and I had the feeling she was up to something! She went away and I was standing at the bar on my tod when suddenly the barman put on "Happy Birthday" and told the whole place that it was my birthday! I felt like a bit of a t*t as I was standing alone, but then Janina came round the corner with a big sparkling cake! (Actually it was "fairy bread", supposedly a traditional Aussie thing to have at kiddies' birthday parties - basically bread squashed together with sprinkles!) Was really sweet of her.
So on my actual birthday we used our voucher for our complimentary breakfast, which was bacon and eggs on toast - ideal, as I'd been craving a fry-up for a long time. We then used our voucher for complimentary snorkel hire and took the bus out to Arthur Bay. We had to wear stinger suits which were really attractive… the snorkeling wasn't bad, but I guess our standards are pretty high seeing as we've snorkeled on the reef in Cairns, which I would think is incomparable to anything else. After that, we came back to Base and I phoned my sister and my folks. Was nice to speak to them but seemed weird to hear them say "Happy Birthday" when I'm on the other side of the world, in a bikini, on a tropical island… generally that's not the norm…!
I went for a shower and was ready to indulge in some free champers, but Janina wasn't ready yet… so I just went and made a start anyway! How many times do you have your birthday on a tropical island with free champagne? For a Scots girl, not many. It was nice standing looking out to the sea at twilight, sipping on free bubbly on my birthday. Two Swedish girls from our room came to join me, followed by Janina. We had some more bubbly and used another voucher (!) for our complimentary welcome cocktail. One of the guys who works behind the bar was on a day off and came to sit with us, which turned out to be another bonus as we barely paid for any drinks all night - when he told the bar manager that it was my birthday, he went away and came back with a bottle of bubbly for me :) I've done pretty well this birthday! I think the only time I paid for drinks was when a Swedish guy at the bar told me it was his birthday, to which I replied, "No, it's MY birthday", and then he proceeded to order 8 Jaegerbombs without consulting me first… so I had to pay for 4 of them (and drink 4 of them) - crazy Swede! The rest of the night consisted of dancing on the tables with some people we'd met in Mission Beach, and then, naturally, we ended up in the sea… put drunk people next to a beach and this will always be the way the night ends. All in all, my 23rd will be one to remember :)
So yesterday was a fairly rough day. We stayed in our beds until midday (thank god for air con) and then dragged ourselves to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. We made our dinner and ate it on the deck, looking out to the ocean. Then we lay in the hammocks at Base for a while, which was so nice. Lying under palm trees, in a hammock, looking up at the stars :) Again, we went down to the beach and I think I may have finally found the Southern Cross (I've only been looking for 7 weeks…) Needless to say, it was a pretty early night, and this morning we got back on the ferry to Townsville. Here I am now in this dump of a hostel, soon to go back to McDonald's to abuse the free Wifi and upload this document to my blog! (And yes, probably have lunch… whatever; Australia has already made me fat, why stop now?!) I seem to be COVERED in bites, which are driving me nuts - I actually tried to count them and so far I've counted more than 50. I look like some sort of diseased freak :(
Tomorrow I'll be back on the Oz bus, headed for Airlie Beach, where I'll do my Whitsundays sailing trip from. Should be nice :)
Thanks to everybody who texted me or wrote birthday messages on Facebook. Hope everybody is well and coping with the cold weather at home (sorry!) Until next time… Too easy mate!
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