island paradise

this past weekend i went out to magnetic island with about 7 (or 9 depending on what night you counted) other people and it was AMAZING. seriously. Friday afternoon we got over to the ferry terminal and after 25min we were on the island.
bus over to magnum's hostle and we set up in our good sized room that fit 10, and kinda smelled (we later realized it was the oder of wet and unwashed dive gear... we didn't improve the stench). we walked 2 doors down to the dive shop and got all the gear we would need for the next few days - dive gear for mike, dan and jenna, snorkle gear for julie, will, andrea and me. we slipped into our stinger suits and all went for an evening snorkle in Geoffery Bay. (this is andrea in her stinger suit that was just a little too big... heehee
it was a quick one, mainly because visibility was crap so late in the day, and the bay was full of baby jellyfish. they were in great clouds and even though everyone got stung no one but julie (and mike a little) felt anything so it wasn't a big deal, just irritating. we went back and showered off the salt water (andrea and jenna in the shower here) and then we had real food. OMGZ i haven't had anything but rez-hall crap for about a month so this is a big deal - i usually love how mel goes on about her fabulous meals and this is my first chance to do so! there was this little bistro place and it seemed like it might be crap but wow. chicken cesar heaven. after eating we played a few goames of pool, and discovered that all of us are terrible at pool. it didn't help that the pool balls are tiny over here lol. the tables were under black lights that attracted the usual moths, one large green one actually hissed at us when we tried to move it and when we threw it off the table, it landed on the bicep of a guy setting up his shot... so what does he do? he eats it! he bit it off his arm and spat it out - funniest thing i've seen in a long time. anyhoo, mike and dan eventually got more interested in the rugby game that was on TV, while will, jenn and julie played the longest game of pool EVER. we also played some poker, which i am getting better at :)we soon retired to the room for the night since we were getting up early for water sports :D
and this was written under one of the beds, how nice :P
the next day we got up and ready for snorkle/scuba things, and headed over to Alma bay. Will, Julie, Andrea and i were snorkeling, and the water was beautiful. this bay was very sheltered so no jellies in the shallow parts, though once we got deeper there were still clouds of them. we swam a good ways out in the middle and couldn't see much from the surface, but when we got over to one side of the bay and it was more shallow, visibility was pristine. we saw big reefs and chased angel fish and swam into a school of very large parot fish, even saw a little sting ray :) i had a disposable underwater camera so eventually those pictures will be developed and scanned but for now here are some pictures i stole from mike, who was out with the divers - maradeth, dan, and jenna :)
After chillin on the beach for a bit, we walked back for lunch and a dip in the pool. i split a chicken burger with andrea which was soooo gooood, and then we had a little time to relax and return the stinger suits (the snorkelers did anyway) before the afternoon/evening activeties began

so while mike, dan and maradeth went for an afternoon dive followed by a night dive, the rest of us caught a bus up to horse shoe bay for sea kayaking. we sat on the beach for a bit eating ice cream while we waited for our guide to show up. he was this portly british guy named steve who was pretty entertaining and made us wear these rediculous suits to protect us from jellies just in case we happened to capsize. we got out to the bay in the 2-person kayaks and man, it was beautiful. there were sea turtles surfacing all around us - dozens! and they were BIG. we also saw some beautiful bird species, and a few of us (myself included) spotted dolphins! we then sat in our kayaks sipping champagn that steve brought out and we watched the sunset. paradise. again the pictures are on the water-proof disposable camera that will be developed and scanned in... eventually :P
after getting back on shore and changing into dry clothes we went to the mexican restaurant on the bay - called noodies. its the first mexican i've had in over a month, thats just madness to me! and julie had never had it before! i was actually impressed, their encheladas weren't bad (even if the salsa was ever so slightly pathetic) and the margaritas were descent :) we got a jug of strawberry margarita so it came with the sombrero, and i of course had a traditional margarita :P We were also visited by this little possum friend who was sitting on the roof

We got back and met up with the night divers (they saw a baby shark, we saw turtles, you descide who wins) and chilled for the night. rum and coke and beer and a few interesting shots later we went to bed (no one got real drunk, drinks are expensive!) and the next morning, mike and julie and i left on the 8am ferry because bio oceanography had a field trip mike and i had to go on. julie just came back to study but its a good thing she did because i needed a ride back to the docks at 11. 9 people were supposed to show up for that group, and a grand total of 3 were there, including me. so that just meant a lot of work for the 3 of us, adding to my exhaustion but interesting all the same. the boat i went out on the the sample collection is aparently going to be in a movie - has been a set in fact - and has been carting around kate hudson and matthew maconahey (i can't spell his name) for a few months. cool right? we also sighted some dolphins on the way back - a little closer than what i saw on the kayaks.

off to get some food. not real food mind you, its back to gruel for a few more weeks :P