Half an hour after leaving Cape Upstart last Wednesday the wind died and we ended up motor sailing all the way to Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island, dropping anchor at 8pm. As the bay is 1.5 miles across with no obstacles it was easy coming in at night, especially with the help of Chris on Kassoumay shining a flash light at us to show us where to go.

We had intended doing a walk up to The Forts on Thursday afternoon but the catching up with Chris & Christine & Pierre-Louis on Kassoumay and Chris & Linda on Gitano took a bit of time so ended up being a bit late to do the 3 hour walk so did a beach walk instead and had a little walk around the village. We had a look through Barefoot Art Food Wine which is owned by Michael Edgeley's daughter Sacha and her husband. Sacha is an artist and her husband a Chef. That night we had Chris & Linda from Gitano for a barbecue dinner.

Friday morning we left Pied A Mer in Horseshoe Bay and went on board Kassoumay to Townsville where they were spending the night in the marina there. We were going across to supposedly pick up our remote switch for the inverter. Being in Horseshoe Bay we did not have cell phone service but once around on the Townsville side of the island I went to ring Battery World who had the remote, and found I had a message from Cameron which had been there for a few hours saying that Melissa was in labour. We were just walking up the pier after getting tied up at the marina when I received another text saying that Cam Junior had arrived but with no other details. Flynn Raymond ( the Raymond after Dave's father) weighed in at 7lb 3oz. All very exciting and good timing for us being able to be in cell phone reception.

Chris, Christine & us were heading off to have a Pub lunch at an Irish pub but found as it was after 2pm that lunch was off, so had a cold beer to celebrate the new grandchild and then headed on to the ReefHQ Aquarium. It is the most amazing aquarium and nowhere in the world has anyone built a coral mesocosm of this size. It was estimated that around 200 tonnes of sand and 700 tonnes of coral substrate were needed to build a suitable foundation for a coral reef system. The 4.5 million litres of seawater was shipped in from Myrmidon Reef, an outer shelf reef of the Great Barrier Reef. Stocking the Aquarium took a year. You will see some pictures of inside the aquarium if you view the album "Townsville".

We had asked for the remote to be delivered to the Marina Office before 5pm and when we got there it had not been delivered so rang Battery World to find out where it was. Well you wouldn't believe it, but when they opened the parcel to bill us MH Power (the Distributor) had sent a 24 volt one instead of 12 volt. Even the guy at Battery Warehouse could not believe it and he had been ringing all afternoon to try and get hold of the guy who sent it up but had no joy. We could just about write a book on the service in this country!

As it was 2pm when we arrived in the marina we did not get to see anything much of Townsville but on listening to the radio it sounds as though there is always a lot going on there. The Ulysses motor cycle club were having their AGM there and there were over 3000 of their members in the city and we saw quite a fair number of them out at Magnetic as well. The Club has a membership of 28,000 and one has to be over 40 to become a member - it is not a gang. There were some pretty flash motor bikes around.

We caught the ferry back to Nelly Bay on Magnetic, which takes 20 minutes and costs $26 per person one way but we gather the locals on the island only pay $14 plus get about 10 free trips a year. A friend of Kassoumay's whom we met while in Townsville gave us a lift to Arcadia where we had arranged to meet Chris & Linda. Every Friday night the Arcadian RSL hosts a night market where you can have a lovely, very cheap meal, buy locally grown fruit and vegetables and there are also stalls of local art, jewellery, clothing etc. We had a lovely meal and also purchased a dessert which was made by the wife of a NZ couple who had retired to Magnetic in 2000 from Timaru. The food is all made by locals and you could choose between Indonesian, Chinese, Pasta meals, Pizzas etc. plus an array of desserts.

Saturday morning we did a local board walk and ended up in a new subdivision which was being developed and five minutes walk from the beach. Sections were selling for $148,000 and house and land packages from $395,000. Magnetic Island is the only island on or near the Great Barrier Reef where you can own freehold title to land and enjoy essential services such as town water, sewerage and power.

Saturday afternoon we caught a bus to go a few km up the road and then did the walk to The Forts, all the while looking out for koala bears in the wild. The Forts was built during the second world war to protect Townsville from a Japanese invasion and in fact Townsville was bombed by the Japanese. From the Forts there was some lovely views over some of the bays on Magnetic and I have put some in the photo album. We walked all the way back to Horseshoe Bay so were away for 2.5 hours and saw one koala in the wild but he was too high up to get a good photo. We also saw a koala up in a tree outside a house not far from the village.

Just before 5.30pm we went ashore to enquire at a pub and a local bar if they were going to have the Crusaders game on TV but no such luck, both only had free to air TV so we came back to the boat and found one ABC radio station that was broadcasting it, although it wasn't always that clear. Yesterday's Sunday paper had the headlines in the Sports section on rugby, "Thank God he is going to coach us". It about sums it up - what fools the NZ Rugby Union are!!

Yesterday we went to the Bungalow Bay Koala Village and did a 2 hour guided tour which was good and very informative. You will see photos of us holding a snake and a crocodile and some better photos of a koala. Had to pay $14 to have a photo taken of us holding one so that is why there are none. Koalas only have a gestation period of 35 days but then spend 6 months in the mother's pouch before emerging and for the first five days out of the pouch feed on the mother's excrement before starting on the normal diet of gum leaves. Learned what to do if one gets bitten by a snake before you are able to get medical help. Also a little of not what to do in crocodile territory.

Last night had a curry dinner on board Gitano. While in Horseshoe Bay had Marinanet so was able to catch up with the family on skype and before we left this morning was able to view Flynn on the video call as Melissa and Flynn had just arrived home so that was lovely. I do miss seeing the little babies at this early stage, so it does help having the web cam and it is great being able to talk to and see both Brodin & Scarlett and hopefully they won't forget us!!

We up anchored at 11.30 this morning and are motoring to Casement Island in Great Palm Island. There has been no wind at all and the sea is like glass but there is a lot of areas of dead plankton & algae which makes the sea look like mud. In between these patches when the water is clear we are trying to fill up our water tanks but it is a bit of a battle. Dave has to keep turning the water maker off and on. We ran out of water last night as we hadn't made any in Horseshoe Bay as he did not think the water was that clean.

We should arrive at Casement Bay in a couple of hours and tomorrow we will head off to the Hinchinbrook Channel where Dave hopes to be able to catch some crabs - we bought a crab pot in Airlies Beach.