Townsville to Magnetic Island
Townsville from Castle Hill
Welcome to Peter and Liz's 2026 sailing season. I have been here in Townsville for nearly two weeks and the weather has been beautiful. Sometimes it is a little windy, but that means refreshing breeze to keep me cool. After a problem free flight on the midnight horror from Perth to Townsville, settling into life on Olivia III continued where I left off in October 2025. Peter and friends, Robyn and Dave, sailed Olivia from Cairns to Townsville as I ran out of time and had to return to Albany. Now I am back on board and loving it.
Whilst in Townsville Peter has been working hard for the last month taking care of maintenance. He has replaced the packing gland on the rudder stock, replaced filters and oil on main motor and outboard, had the bottom of the boat rubbed down to remove growth and greased the prop, lubricated all the metal motor and rudder mounting areas, checked the inverter and refrigeration system to ensure they were working, fitted the mainsail (removed due to cyclone season), inflated the dinghy and many other necessary jobs. Olivia is now ship shape and ready to go. There seemed to be quite a bit of socialising involved as well. Amanda and Peter picked me up at the airport and she dropped us at the marina where I conked out for the afternoon.
We spent a week stocking up on food, washing clothes, sheets, towels etc and catching up with friends and family and generally having a lovely time. During this first week the wind blew freshly from the SE and it was perfect for a pleasant life in the marina. We, along with other boaties from the marina, gathered at the new Marina Cafe most days for coffee and on Friday evenings for dinner. It is such a great spot for good food and catching up. Keeping an eye on the weather forecast informed us that there was a quiet few days with little wind at the end of my first week so we took the chance and motor sailed to Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island.
Our land transport. We have one each.
We love this island. There are scenic walks with varying degrees of difficulty, many coffee shops and restaurants, old friends to catch up with and places of interest to explore. A new experience for us was the discovery of gigantic clams in White Lady Bay, which is on the eastern side of Horseshoe Bay. Spring tides meant that the reef was more exposed than usual and as we slowly and carefully made our way over the rocks and decomposing coral to the waters edge' we discovered these massive creatures clustered together in a rock pool at the edge of the low tide mark. I was reminded of a story we had in Primary School about a pearl diver who got his foot stuck in one while he was diving for pearls. Peter informs me that that was just a myth and didn't happen. There goes another of my childhood beliefs.
Massive clam shells in White Lady Bay
They are alive and well
Adrian and his wife are still proprietors of Adele's Cafe on the Horseshoe Bay waterfront and they still do the best coffee on the island and I can't go past their amazing display of locally made ice-cream. I make myself do at least a 5km walk before I earn the right to indulge myself. The rum 'n raisin, strawberry icecream and passionfruit sorbet are delicious.
We have met friends on the beach in the evening for a BBQ. John and Lizette and their teenage daughter are anchored behind us in the bay along with another young lady who is now a companion for their daughter who was complaining about missing her friends. She seems much happier now and is looking forward to exploring far north Queensland and adventuring into Indonesia in the near future.
Today we walked into the bush behind the low sandhill along the shore of Horseshoe bay to observe the bird life in the billabong there. Unfortunately some time ago a decision was made to open the bar on the small creek in Horseshoe Bay and let the salt water into the billabong. Locals tell us that this action has caused many of the paperbark trees that are living in the wetland to die. In places it looks devastated, however there is signs of regeneration so hopefully no-one does that again. The main lake has recovered and is now full of reeds and new growth. If left to its own devices nature knows best.
We are now looking forward to another week of idleness here and then a last trip into the Breakwater Marina in Townsville to restock, launder and a last catch up with relatives and friends before venturing south to the Whitsunday Islands for more exploring.
