THE SLOW ISLE Yunbenun Dreaming
MAGNETIC ISLAND has always attracted those seeking a slower pace of life, but as NEW WAYS of experiencing it bubble up, it’s set for a SURGE in popularity with those a little more discerning than the backpacker crowd. CELESTE MITCHELL gets REACQUAINTED.
THE HUMIDITY OF THE WET SEASON clings like Lycra as we climb the granite steps cut into the headland. It’s only a short trail – 1.7 kilometres, or so the sign says – but I’ve already lost track of how long we’ve been walking. I’m too busy smiling, stopping frequently to marvel at the beauty dished up at every altitude – slivers of sapphire sea, gnarled trees sprouting from car-sized boulders smattered with lichen. The track forks and my friend and I descend towards the sea, somehow summoning butterflies to surround us while freshwater flows down a thin ravine beside our feet. We reach the bottom, a clearing, and endless blue sky illuminating the frangipani trees and coconut palms that frame Radical Bay. It’s the most magical part of the day and we’ve got the place to ourselves. But as radical as it may seem, this is far from an isolated incident on Magnetic Island.
I’ve returned to Magnetic Island (Yunbenun) many times since first visiting a decade ago, and it never fails to tug at the heartstrings. Lying eight kilometres offshore from Townsville, this boulder-strewn beauty is the only Great Barrier Reef island with its own postcode, and a clutch of 2100 people who call it home. It’s surrounded by 23 bays, protecting the kinds of beaches Alex Garland tried to distil in his novel The Beach, and the fact most are only accessible by boat or sweaty hike makes them all the more rewarding.
Maggie, as it’s more affectionately known, has always appealed to real-world defectors and now it’s increasingly becoming a hotbed of digital nomads. The island’s natural magnetism is what prompted designer Frankie Ratford to sell everything she owned and buy an A-frame house in Horseshoe Bay to list on Airbnb. After a swift renovation, Maggie A-frame was born and I’ve booked in to reacquaint myself with Maggie’s charms.
Any trip to Yunbenun starts with the short 20-minute ferry ride from Townsville and hiring a car; the mini Mokes of my memory
Wulgurukaba (Traditional Owners, the canoe people) lore says the boulders were created by Gabul, a giant carpet python who carved the landscape of all the islands off the coast of Townsville. He came to rest on Yunbenun, where his head can still be seen in the Arcadia headland. While much of the island’s physical Indigenous imprint – shell middens and rock ar t – lies hidden within the 2790 hectares of national park that makes up a little more than half the island, the snaking, raised pathway from Geoffrey to Nelly Bay was named Gabul Way in 2013 as a tribute.