Magnetic Island

Its my last weekend before I leave Australia. And, its a little bittersweet. I'm looking forward to going home after a side trip to One Thing '08. I miss my family, church family, my cat, friends and Futsal. I'm not really sure what is next for me. A chat with a good friend reminded me that often, all we get is light for the next step. And, my next step is to go home. I, of course, would love to have the next 8 months planned out....but, such is not God's way. All of which has nothing to do with Magnetic Island. So, onto that....

I arrived on Dec 18th. And, spent the night at Base Backpackers. An ok place if I wanted to party, drink and stay up, but I was wiped - I was out at 8pm despite the loud noise and party going on outside. The next three nights are being spent at Bungalow Bay, Koala Village. Now, this is a cool place. We slept in a two person twin bungalow. Right within the resort was nature reserve featuring Koalas, crocodiles, cool birds and funky lizards.

The first night we walked up on what's called the Forts Walk. It has the remnants of an old military post (WW II, I think) that was used to guard the East Coast of Australia. We saw a Koala on the way up. Very, very neat....I'd only seen them in captivity. On this walk, I kept thinking about how these soldiers must have felt living in this beautiful place, but always at risk. It seemed like such a vast contrast.

The next day was spent on a sailboat called Jazza. We put on stinger suits (its that time of year on Magnetic Island) and snorkeled for hours. Stinger suits are cool. They protect you from sting rays, jelly fish and you don't have to worry about sunscreen. I'm not sure how hip they are, but they are really handy. The guy on the boat quoted to us Jer 29:11 and had Christian music going - how neat is that ?

The following day was less filled but also fun. We had a lovely buffet breakfast Auzzie style. Relaxed and enjoyed the island. We spent the afternoon riding a horse. I've never ridden a horse - it is quite the experience. I kept trying to tell the horse what to do and I swear I could hear him say, leave me alone I do this trail two times a day, seven days a week. He bucked and tried to kick another horse. And, finally I fell off into the soft sand. My vacation buddy was quite amused and I'm just bruised.

Not much else went on....it was a relaxing 4 days.