The ferry ride was only about 25mins, but was quite rolly – something we were quite familiar with from the last 3 days of our yacht sailing. At least this time we were in a big stable boat. But I knew then our chances of snorkelling were pretty thin – and swimming was going to be cold.
The first change I noticed from my childhood times on Maggie Island was that the ferry now docks at Nellie Bay, not Picnic Bay as it used to. We motored past Picnic Bay and the old jetty is still there, but obviously not in use anymore. Nellie Bay now has a protected harbour ( like a marina) where the ferry docks. We walked off the ferry and then the 100m to the mini moke hire place. I remembered these mini mokes as a kid – they are a great mode of transport for that sort of island. We knew we going to have to hire 2 mokes for our family as they only seat 5 people max. We had checked out prices etc and it was going to be pretty reasonable. However, as it turned out, they must have a lot less mokes these days than they used to – there were none available – the only vehicles available were the ‘topless cars’ – old Diahatsu Charades with their bodies altered. They were painted all sorts of bright colours. They were a bit more expensive than the mokes unfortunately, but if we wanted to get around the island we didn’t have much option. Then when the lady drove the first one out from behind the building for us, we all nearly died with surprise – it was bright pink and looked like Barbie’s car! “This one is for the girls” she said (she was a lady with a sense of humour). Then she went and got the other car – it was bright green like a Kermit the Frog car! Sam let out a huge sigh of relief that he didn’t have to sit in a bright pink car:). Well then there was not much negotiating over who was going in which car. Hannah and Beth wanted to be in the pink car – and Dad couldn’t be in that one, so I was driving it. Michael, Lauren and Sam were happy to be in the Kermie car. I think it was almost the highlight of our trip to Maggie Island to be buzzing around in those cars.
Michael said he would follow me. “You know the island” he said, “so lead on”. And we were off – with the wind in our hair – lots of wind. We drove first to Picnic Bay, only 5 mins south of Nellie Bay. It was very quiet – so different from my memories of it. This was probably partly to do with the unfortunate weather (and being a southern bay, it was copping the brunt of the wind) and partly to do with the fact it was no longer the entry point for visitors. There was a bit of a mall along the front and the tavern on the corner near the jetty was still there (and spruced up a bit). Now being closer to the jetty, we could see the signs which indicated that it was being restored as a heritage jetty. The kids had a bit of a play on the beach and the climbing trees on the edge of the beach and we had some morning tea. As we wandered on the foreshores of Picnic Bay, someone took a photo of our pink car – it was obviously a sight to be remembered!
Michael and I discussed where to go next – we’d seen a brochure outlining some of the walks on the island. Since it was not going to be a nice day for swimming we decided to do one of the walks next. There was one that was not too long going from Horeshoe Bay to Balding Bay next door, both on the north side of the island. We hoped thatnit would be less windy on the north side. So we got back in the cars and headed north, back through Nellie Bay, past Arcadia, over the mountainous area and down into Horseshoe Bay. This had changed quite a bit since my childhood also, but for the better. I had remembered this bay as a bit unattractive and boring and not as popular as the other bays. But it now had quite a lovely atmosphere about it. The foreshore had nice picnic areas and playgrounds (and markets on today, being Sunday) and the street had attractive landscaping and outdoor eating areas. And it was buzzing with people, although not overcrowded. There was a fair-like atmosphere with reggae type music coming from the markets. We parked our cars and got ourselves ready with lunch and drink bottles in backpacks, then started along the eastern end of the bay to where the walk commenced. We met quite a few other people doing the walk as well. It took about 20mins one way to get to Balding Bay. It was a lovely spot. There are no roads to it so fairly secluded. We stayed there for about half an hour, eating our lunch and watching the kids play on the water’s edge or explore the rocks at the side. There was not much wind on this side of the island thankfully. We then walked back to Horseshoe Bay where we’d said the kids could put on swimmers and go further in the water if they wanted – Hannah and Beth wanted to – Lauren and Sam were not quite as keen to get cold. I ended up getting in with H &B as the bottom dropped off quite suddenly and it got deepish quickly. The water was warmer than I thought, and we weren’t the only people swimming. There were some water sports happening a bit further west along the bay – some tube rides (floatation tubes people sat in and got pulled along behind a boat). Sam had read where there was jetski hire at Horseshoe Bay and had hoped to do that. However we found out they weren’t operating this week for some reason. But we said Lauren and Sam could do a tube ride. Michael was able to go in the boat to take some photos and video. They both really enjoyed it and walked up the beach at the end with huge smiles on their faces. Everyone dried off and changed into warm clothes and then we had some hot chips whilst sitting on the foreshore. We had ended up spending about 4 hrs on this side of the island and really enjoyed it. It was now 3pm and we were planning to get the 4.45pm ferry back to the mainland. So we decided to drive back to Arcadia for a bit of a look (but no more swimming).
Arcadia was the name of the suburb/locality but it incorporates 2 bays – Alma Bay and Geoffrey Bay. Alma Bay was one of the main swimming bays when I was a child, and had the stinger net. But today it was blustery and no one was swimming. The kids played at the playground (or trees or the older ones) for a while and then we walked over to the Arcadia Tavern, which I remember was always buzzing on my previous visits as a child. Once again, not so much today, but probably due to the weather. The old ‘bikini tree’ was still there but not so prominent and some parts had fallen off. They still advertised Cane Toad races there, which I remember viewing as a child. I also remembered staying at an A-frame house a couple of years running over Easter, and was pretty sure this was at Arcadia. I had images of it in my mind and asked the others if we could explore the streets to see if I could find it. I think I did. The place looked familiar, but I couldn’t go too close as there were people either living or staying there. I took a photo.
Then we decided to pickup a snack for afternoon tea and eat it at the other end of Picnic Bay. There were no bakeries open (being Sunday afternoon I guess) so we stopped at an IGA and bought biscuits and chips. The children ( and us) seem to always be hungry – I guess because we are doing so much. We found a sheltered area at Picnic Bay to have our afternoon tea, and then headed back to Nellie Bay to return the cars and get on the ferry.
The ride back was quiet as everyone was tired. I managed to do some typing my blog on the iPad. We loaded into the car and back to the caravan park, picking up a few supplies on the way. We had one of the frozen meals out of the camping freezer that night, did all our swimmer rinsing and hanging up, I showered the girls and washed hair and then everyone was ready for an earlyish night.