For the princely sum of $3.75 pp, you can ride the Sunbus all day, hopping on and off where you please.  Seeing as it only takes 15 minutes to get to the north side of the island, you don’t spend a lot of time actually on the bus.  It runs from Nelly Bay up to Horseshoe Bay, with a secondary run to Picnic Bay, roughly once an hour.

We began our journey north by walking to Geoffrey Beach, via the new elevated boardwalk.  Up and over the headland, with great views the length of a lovely, and almost deserted yellow sand beach, then a gentle descent amongst piles of granite boulders, and hoop pines.

From here we took our first bus.  We discovered that much of Magnetic Island is quite wild and steep, and with very narrow roads.  We also discovered that the buses are very popular on Sundays.

We joined the throng disembarking at Horseshoe Bay, taking note that the gelati shop is right next to the bus stop, and storing that piece of useful information away for future reference.  The Sunday market was winding down, and we had a quick look, but nothing grabbed our interest. 

We headed for the nearby Butterfly Walk – a small patch of rainforest where several species of butterfly rest on their migratory journey.  If you move slowly and stay quiet, you are rewarded with seeing them flitting amongst the trees, or resting on a leaf or twig.

The butterfly trail led us back towards the western end of Horseshoe Bay, via some more enormous boulders.  Once on the sand, we kicked off our shoes and socks, and paddled and beachcombed.  The water was warm in the shallows, and the beach was almost bereft of people.

Back to the “town” of Horseshoe Bay; it was time to visit the gelati shop and catch another bus.  The boysenberry was an excellent choice.  The bus stop was crowded, but luckily an extra bus was provided, and before too long we were back in Nelly Bay.

We finished our exploration with a final bus ride to Picnic Bay. There we walked out on the jetty, which used to be the arrival point for people coming from the mainland, until Nelly Bay was opened in 2001. 

We now have some decisions to make about tomorrow’s excursions.