TOWNSVILLE – THE AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLER GUIDE

A little island that draws you in Magnetic Island, Qld Magnetic Island, off the Tropical North Queensland coast, boasts crystal clear waters and coral reefs. “It’s great fun for a day trip,” says Kruger who paraglided here and “loved every minute of it,” scoring it an 8.

 AT's guide to the best cheap accommodation for summer and Christmas holidays   Magnetic Island Why do we rate it? It will be hot, but this is the time to see Magnetic Island’s dramatic scenery without the price tag. We rate the flora and fauna in this exotic location. Where is it? Magnetic Island is offshore from Townsville, 1335km, or a 17hr drive, from Brisbane. It’s 350km or a 3hr 45min drive from Cairns. Car and passenger ferries operate between the island and Townsville. Where to stay Twenty minutes from Horseshoe Bay, Bungalow Bay Koala Village is an eco-accredited YHA...

Australian Traveller Magazine’s 100 Great Australian Holiday Homes When Captain Cook first cruised by Magnetic Island in 1770, he believed it possessed a magnetic force of some kind that was disturbing his compass. Although he may have been proven wrong on a scientific level, the tropical island – with its 23 bays, beaches and prime location in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef – continues to lure and captivate visitors. Nahmahlu is a huge villa set high on a hill in the southeast overlooking turquoise Nelly Bay, and is the ideal base from which to explore. The beachside property...

It’s the sunniest city on the Qld coast (averaging more than 320 days of sunshine a year), it’s surrounded by water and it’s on an island that’s 54 percent national park. Sounds like heaven. Well, heaven is floating just off Townsville on Magnetic Island. AT’s Great Barrier Reef expert, Fiona Harper, is building a home there and has this to say: “One of the few islands within the Marine Park where you can purchase free-hold land, the most incredible thing about Magnetic Island is that you’re living in a national park, on an island less than two hours from a...

Just 8km east of Townsville, “Maggie” is one of the few islands within the Marine Park with a permanent residential population. Popular with families, singles and couples seeking a laidback holiday, residents and holidaymakers reside in four small beachfront villages. Surrounded by National Park and green space, villages are linked by a single speed limited road. A mountainous island with a 25km web of bushwalking trails among granite tors and forest, 500m tall Mt Cook dominates. Walks vary from an easy 30min Picnic Bay stroll to the more challenging cross-island walk between Nelly and Horseshoe Bays. Trails brush past sweet-smelling...

The Melbourne Cup is the race that stops a nation; cane toad racing on Magnetic Island is the race that stops an Island and raises money for charity. Vern Thomas Jack (the Toadmaster) has been described as iconic and legendary, and 2007 marks his 20th year of holding court in the big racing circle outside Magnums on Magnetic (formerly Arkies), during which time he’s managed to raise around $200,000 for the local junior surf lifesavers and kindergarten. While reactions range from dealing with a certain ick-factor to an excited buzz, all watch intently as the toads wait in their Perspex...

This could be the world’s most bizarre drink. The Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms near Cairns, operating from the Eureka Hotel, the oldest building in north Queensland, is the only café in the country that sells Kopi Luwak. And since it’s the world’s rarest coffee blend, it costs $50 per cup. Let’s talk you through it: The beans are harvested in Indonesia on the islands of Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi. But they’re not, and this is the important part, simply plucked from coffee plants. Oh no. They’re collected from the poo of the Common Palm Civet, or Luwak, a catlike...