Three Generations of Scotts go to Magnetic Island 1st - 7th May

Beach Babes

The girls at Pirates Lair (Greg's name for the place)

 

I don't know anyone who spends more time at the beach than this family. I'm surprised they haven't all grown gills. Everyday begins with a swim at the Horseshoe Bay swimming enclosure and then we decide what activity we will do for the rest of the morning. Sometimes it is a visit to another beach or to one of the wildlife attractions or even just a 'chill' on the beach here. On Thursday we caught the bus to Arcadia and they enjoyed a swim in the surf at Alma Bay. I watched the baby as she slept soundly in the pusher under a shady tree with a steady breeze keeping her cool. Later we strolled over the road to the Arcadia Hotel and had lunch by the pool and of course the girls spent most of the time swimming there. We had such a lovely time there that we will do that again.

Anna and Jess enjoy the sunset at Horseshoe Bay

Today we took the bus to Picnic Bay and spent some time at the playground and then found a cool spot under the trees for a play. Jess discovered a stage there on the beach front and treated us to a performance of 'Frozen'. Several people passing gave her a clap and one dear lady even recognised that it was a song from 'Frozen'. Three year olds are not known for their tunefulness. Lunch at the Picnic Bay Hotel was delicious. We had the Sunday Roast special and it was a very good deal at $15 a head.

Talking to the Animals

Feeding the wallabies at Arcadia

On the day we went to Arcadia we walked out to the old ferry terminal and fed the rock wallabies. You can purchase a $2 bag of pellets to feed them at the newsagent, which we did, and Jess and Anna both had a ball feeding the wallabies. Anna didn't have much luck as she was a bit too noisy and excitable and the wallabies were highly suspicious of her.

Bungalow Bay Koala Park 

Jessica Kisses the Red Tailed Black Cockatoo

The visit to the Koala Park at the Bungalow Bay Resort turned out to be a 'girls day out'. Peter and Greg walked over the range to Nelly Bay to buy some glue for the dinghy as the bung for draining the water out broke and left a large hole which flooded the bottom of the dinghy every time we used it. The glue has worked so far. The girls arrived at the Koala Park and joined a group of about 30 people for a tour. At first I thought it was not going to be very good for the little girls, but as we progressed and more animals were brought out for handling things improved and it turned out to be a great excursion. Jess was able to hold and pat a turtle, lizards, a baby crocodile, a red tailed black cockatoo, a koala and a huge python. Anna slept through all but the last 15 minutes or so and that was probably a good thing as Leisha helped Jess with the animals and I was chief photographer. I couldn't believe that Jess let the cockatoo take a sunflower seed from between her lips, or that she was willing to let the python be draped over her shoulders.

The Snake lady of Bungalow Bay

The Kayak

Clive, Peter's brother, has lent us a blue kayak. Greg and Jessica have spent any spare time rowing it around the bay. It is now filled with 'treasure'. Treasure is any shell, coral, nut etc that Jess takes a shine to. No-one has yet figured out how to tell Jess that she won't be able to take any of this 'treasure' home to WA with her.

One overloaded kayak

Olivia

We have come up with a workable sleeping arrangement on board Olivia. Greg and Jess sleep up on the vee berth at the front, Peter and I are in the main cabin and Leisha and Anna are in the quarter berth, a double bed at the back. This allows the adults to put the girls to bed and we then haves a pleasant nightcap accompanied by family and sailing stories to complete a lovely day.

I can't believe that we have only two more days at Magnetic Island. On Wednesday we will sail back to Townsville where Greg, Leisha and the girls will stay on board Olivia at the Breakwater Marina and Peter and I will go back to Andrew's place. They will have three days in Townsville before the long flight back to Perth.

Who doesn't love a koala, Leisha and Anna