Day 16, Year 3: Magnetic Island–Horseshoe Bay Lagoon Walk
Date: Sunday, May 25, 2008
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Location: Horseshoe Bay, Magnetic Island, Queensland, Australia

It was a lazy Sunday on Windbird. We started our day by calling our son Justin and his wife Jo and we will end our day by calling our daughter Heather and her husband Jed-and of course, our grand baby Sam. Sam is really no longer a baby. He is a full-fledged toddler and just a delight to watch when we call using our Skype video web cam. We are hoping that the signal is strong enough her to make for a successful video Skype call. We are waiting until 10 pm to call which is 8 am Sunday morning

for Sam. We always call him late in the evening just before he goes to bed, so we are looking forward to seeing him early in the morning this time. We called Justin and Jo this morning at 9 am, which was 5 pm their time yesterday. While talking with Justin and Jo we found out that Jo is opening a gallery showcasing her art on June 7. That is exciting news and we wish her the best in this endeavor. We called Justin and Jo from in town this morning, but we will make the call to Heather, Jed, and

Sam later tonight from the boat. We do have wireless internet in the anchorage here through Marinanet which is fantastic. Unfortunately, Townsville is as far north as this service goes. Somehow I feel that we will find ways to get internet in even the most remote places as we travel further north although that is not what we are told. I guess we shall see about that soon.

In the afternoon, we went for a walk on the beach with Patrick and Margaret of Aqua Magic and Donna and Gerry of Scot Free II. I had read that water birds and wallabies hang out at the lagoon. We did see a wallaby and maybe even a kangaroo (or a very large wallaby), but water birds were few and far between. On the way back from the lagoon we saw lots of Rainbow Lorikeets-so colorful and delightful to watch as they flit from tree to tree.

Early tomorrow morning Patrick and Margaret and Mark and I will hop on an early bus to Nelly Bay and there we will catch the fast ferry to Townsville. We go seeking information about places from here north, getting some needed supplies, and revisiting some of our favorite spots from when we were in Townsville twelve years ago. It will be interesting to see how things have changed.

On Tuesday morning, we leave here and head 40 miles north to Orpheus Island. By next weekend we will be in the town of Cairns. Slowly but surely we are making our way north. We are still on target to be in Darwin by July 7, and maybe even sooner. Sail Indonesia here we come!

080525 Day 16 Magnetic Island–Horseshoe Bay Lagoon Walk