A Magnificent Birthday | Magnetic Island Part Three

We celebrated my mum’s birthday on our second full day on Magnetic Island. To begin the celebrations, we headed to our soon-to-be favourite cafe on the island: Scallywags. A pirate themed cafe open 7am-2pm, serving coffees and juices, and a wealth of great food options for various dietary requirements.

The atmosphere, decoration, and staff were all great. Mum had a picture with a pirate and Dad and I admired our table that had been made from an old door! Mum and I both ordered the vegan breakfast burger, which was a delicious and fuelling way to begin the day. Next we headed around the corner to Island Living, a shop that offered snorkel hire, and picked up some snorkels, flippers, and wetsuits. Mum and I went for zip up wetsuit jackets to offer us a little warmth in the “cool” winter waters, and also to protect us from the sun whilst we were out enjoying the reef! After some recommendations from the man who gave us the equipment, we took the Barbie Car to Alma Bay. 

We found a spot on the sand to base ourselves, and got our gear ready to get into the water. After laughing at my mum walking backwards towards the water with her flippers on, I decided to put mine on once I was in the water. The temperature didn’t make me gasp, but it did take me a few minutes to regulate my breathing with my face in the water. Once I did, I could enjoy the sensation of floating in the water, and admire the coral that came into view, the schools of fish that sauntered past, the richness of the world beneath. The more I swam, the more I noticed: the variety of textures of the corals, the different heights of the stones they grew on. At times I was suddenly mere inches from the coral, and I navigated very carefully to avoid touching it. 

Back on the sand, Mum and I played games of hangman in the sand whilst dad dozed, until we were ready to head to the next bay. We woke him and told him where we were heading, and thus where he would drive us. We returned to the carpark from which you can embark on the Forts Walk, only this time we headed down the steep and rocky descent to Arthur Bay. We had viewed the bay the day before, from a viewpoint near the beginning of the walk, and now we discovered how it was reached. The walk was perhaps fifteen minutes, but long enough for us to understand that it would be a tough return journey.

For the meantime, though, we had a quiet beach to enjoy. Larger than Alma Bay, but more isolated, meant we had so much space almost to ourselves. However, the waves were choppier here, and the visibility for snorkelling was pretty much nil. All we could see were dark clouds of sand. So I removed my snorkel and flippers, and dived amongst the waves, enjoying the rhythm and the feeling of my body moving through the moving water. 

Mum and I took a walk-turned-wade-turned-swim at the far right side of the bay, where the water was calmer and clearer, and saw hundreds of tiny fishes dashing through the water. We kept still, to try and see any more that were nearby, without the disturbances of our feet kicking up sand, or the distraction of our own movements. 

After some time, we decided to tackle the hike back up to the carpark. We took it slowly, under the guise for checking the trees for any more koalas.

Back at Island Living, we dropped off the snorkelling equipment and browsed the arrays of jewellery, trinkets, clothing, and other souvenirs. I walked out with a new pair of silver starfish earrings that reminded all of us from that scene in Aquamarine, which several of my friends have referenced since seeing me in them.

We returned to the Airbnb to shower and get ready to head out again. We took a pre-dinner walk around Nelly Bay, and explored one of the residential streets full of building work. Then we headed to the table we’d booked earlier at Granite, a pizza – and more – restaurant, next to Island Living. There, we had little pizzas and cocktails. We also had chocolate cake with raspberry sorbet afterwards – because you can’t celebrate a birthday, let alone a fiftieth, without some sort of cake. It was very tasty, and filling.

Spending time over dinner, was so enjoyable. We were even visited by a couple of curlews, who poked their beaks around the gate from outside the restaurant. We hadn’t been to the cafe that we’d visited both days previously, and I told mum and dad that our curlew “friend” from there had come to find us! The island was becoming a familiar place, already.