Magnetic Island and the end of the pillgramage - Cairns

After staying in Bowen a week, I jumped on the bus to Townsville, the largest city in the tropical north. From there I took the 20 minute ferry to Magnetic Island and stayed at a hostel called Base. Large, right on the water with people diving, snorkelling and kayaking in the bay. The evening I got there I met a couple dutch, welch and british people. It was guys cross-dressing competition and ladies night with 1$ champagne. (really bad champagne) Enough said. Spent another night there and during the day rented a bike and toured around the island, doing the forts walk (3km, WWII armamant to protect Cleveland Bay and Townsville) and finally seeing some wildlife - Koalas (I saw 2 along the way). With the bike I went to the north of the island to horseshoe bay and along the way passed many nice beaches. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible, so it wasn't quite as nice as it could have been. On the morning of the third day there, I caught the ferry back to Townsville and the bus to Cairns (5 hours). Arriving late, I checked in at the Travellers Oasis hostel, on the futon. Even with all the accomodation in Cairns (something like 20 hostels) everywhere was booked solid. At any rate, the futon in the common room wasn't that bad. The next day I recovered a bit, walking around town, visiting the Peter Lik gallery and the Esplanade. The weather was still overcast and drizzly.