We’ve moved to Magnetic Island in Queensland. It’s the best (non-travel) decision I’ve made.

Here we are, Emmie and me, on our third day in our new home on beautiful Magnetic Island. The island is 20 minutes from Townsville in North Queensland and is home to around 2000 people. It’s a popular tourist stop on the coastal Queensland route, especially for backpackers who come here for the beaches, hiking, koalas and watersports.

We came here for warm weather and an affordable place to live after coming back from Asia  – and ending our year old trip early – due to the covid pandemic. Emmie and I had left Sydney on November 30 2019 and had planned at least a year traveling in Asia again. We started in the Philippines, spent a month in Myanmar and time in Malaysia before moving on to Tokyo and then 10 days skiing at the amazing Club Med Tomamu.

Because of covid, we had to come home early from Asia

While we were at Club Med, safe in our little all-inclusive bubble,  the virus escalated and when the Australian Government told Aussies to come home we did, landing back in Sydney on March 19 and quarantining in a wonderful friends granny flat on the central coast for two weeks before moving in with my parents south of Sydney.

Our home in Cronulla was tenanted, and with the uncertainty of the impacts of the virus we re-signed the tenants for another six months (at the reduced rate they asked for – I figured having anyone in there was better than no-one). Like most people, we didn’t realise how severe and long-term the virus would be, but I worried about my income – being that it is generated through rent and my blog – who’s traffic fell to almost nothing within a week.

Emmie and I stayed with my parents from April to the end of May, and when NSW opened on June 1 for intrastate travel we took off in an Apollo campervan (you can read Emmie’s top tips for kids here). We travelled around NSW for a month, exploring the coast and the central west – beautiful towns like Canowindra, Carcoar, Bendalong and Cowra – and I was optimistic that we were all getting on top of this virus and international travel would slowly start coming back to life. Still, I thought it would be a few months at least until we could return to Asia, and we needed a short-term plan.

Emmie had been doing Distance Education through the NSW school system, but at the end of the term (June) they let us know that she’d now completed two years of it  – the maximum time allowed, and had to go back into the school system. What to do?

I’d been trying to think of a plan. I didn’t want to stay in the burbs, and I didn’t want to rent near our home – it would be expensive, and busy and it was winter and so cold. I wanted to be somewhere small and tropical, somewhere warm and where we could explore every weekend. And I wanted to put Emmie into a small school.

The Universe always has my back

Here’s where the Universe stepped in. I’d been thinking we would move north to Cairns in Queensland, simply because of its brilliant location between the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Rainforest and many national parks with waterfalls, bush pools and hiking.

The QLD Premier had announced its border would open to NSW residents on 10 July and I’d found some apartments that were being offered for around $350-$400 a week. The problem was that as soon as the border opening was confirmed, prices went from short term rental rates to $300 a night holiday lettings. I was all out of luck.

I posted my dilemma on Instagram and Facebook and had so many incredible suggestions, and a few really stood out to me, especially Townsville, and a suggestion of Magnetic Island, just off its coast, only a 20 minute ferry ride from town.

It felt right and I sprang into action as I do, not really thinking anything through, just going with my gut. I found an apartment for rent, applied and was accepted within days.

We were going to Magnetic Island. Things were working out.

I booked flights and we set off for a camping trip with friends in Northern NSW for a week before we were due to leave for to Queensland. It was a fun trip but a bit of a stress as I watched the cases in Victoria grow and borders start closing again. Soon there were hotspots in NSW that were banned from entering Queensland and I worried that the borders would close to us and we would have to quarantine on arrival at our own cost (around $3500).

I remained optimistic and called the Island’s school, enrolling Emmie, filling in forms and ordering her school uniform. With or without quarantine, we were going to get there.

Luckily the border stayed open and we made it, flying into Townsville in masks on a Jetstar flight from Sydney. We had filled in our arrival forms – and had been nowhere near the hotspots not did we have any symptoms – and after about a 30 minute wait in the queue we were allowed to enter and jumped on a shuttle to the ferry terminal.

After a 35 minute ferry ride (we took the car ferry, the passenger ferry takes 20 minutes) we arrived onto the island and checked into our new home.

And breathed a huge sigh of relief.

We made it to Maggie

So now, here we are on Magnetic Island, or Maggie, as the island is affectionately known here.

Our apartment is a two bedroom, two bathroom place near the marina and ferry terminal and perfect for three months for us while we get our bearings and figure out if we will stay on and what that looks like. Our balcony overlooks the marina, the breakwater and the bay, and is close to the IGA, the ferry terminal and the bus stop. It’s a little worn and a little noisy but it’s in a good spot.

There’s an IGA close by and a Foodworks further down the road, and we can also order a food delivery from Woolworths at Townsville. We will need to go in and buy supplies from Kmart too – some bath towels, tea towels, coat hangers and few little things for Emmie to make her room her own. But it’s easy enough to jump on the ferry over and back.

We are going to take it nice and easy. It’s quiet, it’s warm, people are welcoming and we have months to slowly explore and get to know the island.

Emmie started school at the local school here and it’s incredible. Now I know why the Universe led us here.  It’s just what we needed.