Roo Around The World

Our last few days in Airlie went by without much to write home about if I’m honest. Once you’ve done your Whitsundays sailing trip there’s not really that much going on, or anything particularly exciting to do, so we spent our days chilling out at the lagoon, watching movies and eating…a lot. We said goodbye to Rachel for a while, as she went off to Townsville to do some volunteer work for a couple of weeks, promising to come see us on Magnetic Island for Rosa’s birthday the following week.

So, after four pretty boring days in Airlie, Rosa and I (a twosome for the first time since Singapore) caught the bus up to Townsville, a charming little place used mostly as a jumping off point for Maggie Island. We checked into our hostel, the brilliant Civic Guest House Backpackers, had a wander around the town and just had a pretty chilled evening. The next morning though, while we were eating breakfast, we got the lift we’d been waiting for when our friend Rochelle (or Shell) came walking into the kitchen, putting the biggest smiles on all our faces. Shell is a friend from Camp Sloane, and we hadn’t seen her since November, and even that was just a brief visit, so it was absolutely brilliant to see her and be able to catch up.

And that’s what we did. ALL DAY. We got food, we chatted, we got coffee, we chatted, we wandered around, we chatted, we had dinner, we chatted, we went to bed, and we chatted. It’s surprising how much three people have to say to each other…you’d think we’d eventually run out of the things to say!

The next morning, still buzzing with excitement at all being together, we boarded the ferry to Magnetic Island and made our way to our hostel, Base, right on the beach. It was absolute heaven, we sat on the decking, eating our lunch and, yes you guessed it, talking each others ears off about anything and everything…but mostly we talked about camp and our love and excitement for it. We spent the next few days sunbathing, drinking coffee, cooking and making silly videos (which I will post up soon enough).

On Saturday though, it was all change. Why? Because it was a very special day. It was Rosa’s 20th birthday…one she’d been looking forward to for quite a while. No longer a teenager, it was time to grow up.

YEAH RIGHT!

Rachel arrived in the morning, and it was so awesome to see her after a week of missing her lovely face (and her cooking!). We all went for coffee and a wander around the island before picking up our Topless Car that we’d bought at cut price from the winners of the trivia quiz a few nights previously. The car was hilarious, like a little plastic Barbie car and we had so much fun cruising around the island, with the wind in our hair and smiles on our faces. That evening, after dinner and dropping the car back (and a rather scary walk in the dark), we went to the hostel bar for a few drinks and birthday celebrations (including cake). These celebrations included requesting songs (some of which were played and some of which were flat out refused…not fans of One Direction?!), dancing on the tables and having crazy chats with a crazy man. Not a bad night if you ask me.

The next morning it was time to leave our little island bubble and head back to Townsville, where said goodbye to Rach and went back to our fav hostel from before. We spent the rest of the day just milling about and having a laugh before watching a movie and going to bed (exciting, aren’t we?).

Next up, Cairns, the last stop on our tour of Oz!