Anne Skyvington
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Anne Skyvington

The Craft of Writing

  • Writing
    • Craft
      • Structuring a Short Story
      • Alternative Narrative Approaches
      • Genre in Writing
      • A Grain of Folly
        • Novel Writing
          • The Sea Voyage: a metaphor
          • How I Created My Debut Novel
          • What I learnt from writing a novel…
          • Short Story
            • At the Swimming Pool
            • The Night of the Barricades
          • Poetry
            • a funny thing happened …
            • An ancient mystic: Rumi
            • A Window into Poetry
            • The Voice of T.S. Eliot
  • Publishing
    • A Change of Blog Title
    • 5 Further Publishing Facts
    • 5 Facts I Learnt About Self/Publishing
    • Highs and Lows of Self Publishing
    • A Perfect Pitch to a Publisher
    • A Useful Site for Readers and Indie Authors: Books 2 Read
  • Book Reviews
    • A Story of a Special Child
    • Discovering Karrana
    • A Young Adult Novel: My French Barrette
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • The Trouble With Flying: A Review
  • Mythos
    • Ancient Stories from Childhood
    • Births Deaths and Marriages
    • Duality or Onenness: The Moon
    • The Myth of Persephone and Demeter
    • Pandora’s Box
    • 7 ancient artefacts in the British Museum
    • Symbolism of Twins
    • The Agony and the Ecstasy of Change
    • Voices From the Past
  • Australia
    • A Country College Residence
    • A Kit Home Goes Up in Vacy
    • A Sydney Icon or Two
    • 5 things about Coogee
    • Moree and Insistent Voices
    • Things To Do in Sydney
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    • A Bird’s Eye View
    • A Tuscan Village Holiday
    • Back to Cavtat in Croatia
    • Travel to Croatia
    • 5 or 6 Things About Valencia
  • Guest Post
    • a father’s tale … by Ian (Harry) Wells
    • A Guest Poem: “First Loves” by Roger Britton
    • A Love Sonnet by Ian Harry Wells
    • “Snakey” by Roger Britton
    • Randwick Writers’ Group: Sharing Writing Skills
    • A Story of a Genteel Ghost told by Roger Britton
  • Psychology
    • Creativity and Mental Illness
    • Networking and Emotional Intelligence
    • C.G.Jung’s Active Imagination and the Dead
    • Psychology as a Field of Study
    • Western Influencers Down Through The Ages
  • Life Stories
    • Adriatic Romance … Rijeka to Titograd
    • Always something there to remind me…
    • A Well-Loved Pet
    • Candidly Yours…
    • Memoir Writing
    • River Girl: An Early Chapter of my Memoir in Progress
AustraliaTravel

Magnetic Island will pull you in…

written by Anne Skyvington June 28, 2018
magnetic-island-bay

Magnetic Island

Magnetic Island is part of the Great Barrier Reef.  Just outside our unit is a marked underwater reef that one can follow, either with a snorkel or by renting a  flat board, to view the coral. The island is shaped like an equilateral triangle. Each side of the triangle is 11 kilometres in length. The edges are scalloped by numerous inlets or bays, with sandy beaches where you can swim during the “safe” season.

Magnetic Island is a suburb of Townsville, which is only a 20 minute, 8 kilometre ferry ride away.  A very independent and environmentally aware population of 2,000, resides on the island.  The council has erected a large solar panel, which enables the island to supply 40% of their electricity needs, given that they are blessed with over 300 days of fine weather. It’s part of the “dry tropics” with rain falling only in summer.  The guide who drove a group of us around the island has brought up his young family here and is passionate about it.

Captain Cook discovered the island, and felt that it had interfered magnetically with his compass, hence the name: Magnetic Island.

Beauty of the Bays

We stayed at Nelly Bay, which is where the ferry from Townsville docks. In the course of the first day, I visited Picnic Bay, the oldest settlement, Geoffrey Bay, which is a national marine park with no fishing allowed, and ended up at Horseshoe Bay for lunch. There are countless walks around the island that you can take, from easy up to long and arduous.

nelly-harbour

Nelly Harbour sailing boats

geoffrey-bay

Geoffrey Bay Marine National park

Horseshoe Bay

Horseshoe Bay in the afternoon

Koalas and Butterflies on the Island

koala-and-baby

Magnetic Island Koalas

Many tourists from overseas are entranced to gain their first sight of marsupials, especially the koalas, which were introduced into Magnetic Island, and which form part of a very healthy-looking group.

blue-tiger-butterfly

A single Blue Tiger butterfly

The Rocky Terrain

 

granite-boulders

Granite Boulders

Hoop Pines

Hoop Pines Magetic Island

Hoop Pines

Hoop Pines are the trees that were around in the time of the dinosaurs.  Along with the granite boulders, they typify the Magnetic Island landscape, and are often found in rocky terrain. Their bark splits horizontally, giving them their name.

Allied Rock Wallabies

The rocky terrain and dense vegetation of Magnetic Island is home to small grey/brown marsupials called Allied Rock Wallabies, that are very hard to spot among the rocks. They have the ability to scale rock faces in leaps that appear to defy gravity, due to their cylindrical tail and broad feet. I managed to capture one of them in full flight at the bottom right of the photo below.

Rock Wallaby in Flight

Spot the Rock Wallaby

Rock Wallabies

Rock Wallabies on Maggie

Military History

The World War II Fort building overlooking Florence Bay and the ocean is worth a visit. You walk for about two kilometres, then climb steeply up 800 metres to the top of a peak before you reach the observation deck and the concrete fortification buildings.

the-fort-florence-bay

The Fort Observation Deck

Townsville was bombed during the Second World War, but not as seriously as Darwin. Military men and women lived at the top of this mountain for months in harsh conditions during the wet season. The canons were never used in anger, but the watch-out from the fort played an important role in the protection of Townsville and Australia during the war.

Other Activities I undertaook before I left: Horseriding trail, ending up by unsaddling and riding mount into the sea; Snorkel tour and boat hire; renting a Barbie topless jeep.

Magnetic Island will pull you in… was last modified: January 18th, 2019 by Anne Skyvington
blue tiger butterfly colonyinteresting things to see on magnetic islandwhat are hoop pines?where is magnetic island?who named magnetic island?
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Anne Skyvington

I have been a reader/writer all of my life as far back as I can remember. Blogging has opened me up to another world, where I can share my skills and continue to create through word and picture. Writing is about seeing the world and recreating it for others to see through different eyes.

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About The Author

Anne Skyvington

Anne Skyvington is a writer based in Sydney who has been practising and teaching creative writing skills for many years. You can learn here about structuring a short story and how to go about creating a longer work, such as a novel or a memoir. Subscribe to this blog and receive a monthly newsletter on creative writing topics and events.

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About The Author

About The Author

Anne Skyvington is a Sydney-based writer and blogger. <a href="http://anneskyvington.com.au She has self-published a novel, 'Karrana' and is currently writing a creative memoir based on her life and childhood with a spiritual/mystical dimension.

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